Testimonials
Ryan took in our 9 month old rescued pup, Aston Martin, under his wing for a 1 week board and train program in July 2015.
During our in-home consultation, my boyfriend and I weren’t quite sure what to expect considering this was our first time looking into a professional dog training program. Ryan introduced himself and told us a little about how the program worked and what it had to offer. He asked us what we were hoping to achieve for Aston and gave us a lot of great insight on what he would be able to accomplish with our little pup. He gave us a quick demonstration on how to get our pup to sit properly and we were amazed on how fast he was able to get Aston to sit on command. You see before meeting Ryan, Aston would only sit when he felt like it and or if a treat was involved. Ryan also went over with us in full detail on the training tool he uses and made sure we were comfortable with his training methods. He even did demos on us using the tool so that we can see for ourselves what it would “feel” like to go through the training. We really appreciated the fact that he took the time to do this with us because sometimes using “ecollars” gets a bad rep but when used properly, it can really be a very productive training tool.
During the 1 week board and train, Ryan sent us a couple of progress videos, which helped put me in ease knowing that I had a glance of how Aston was doing during this whole time away from home. I definitely looked forward to receiving a message while on vacation and seen the impressive progress that Ryan was making with Aston. It’s no joke that I was going to be coming home to a changed dog, but definitely in a good way.
When it was time to bring Aston home, Ryan took the time to go over with me how things went for the week, what he was able to accomplish, what I needed to maintain to keep the structure that he built for Aston, how to properly use the remote/training ecollar, and to ensure I felt 100% with Aston’s progress and the training he provided. He even went as far as training me on what to do in certain scenarios that may happen to Aston in the future such as if Aston decided to misbehave and or try to meet a new dog without permission, etc. In other words, those “oh-$hit” moments in any pet owners life and what to do when I run into those situations myself with Aston.
One of our biggest goals for Aston was to have him be able to be off-leash and recall on command. The reason why is because my boyfriend and I live on a very busy public street and we wanted to reduce the risk of something happening in case Aston somehow got out of the house and decided to run outside. This training was perfect for Aston because he was taught to sit (with an implied stay) and “come” on command when recalled. Ryan helped me practice this in front of the very busy street we were once afraid of but after testing out the training Aston went through, I felt comfortable knowing that I had control of Aston and that Aston would feel safe following my commands.
Overall, the experience with Ryan and the program he runs using Sit Means Sit training was more than a godsend for our little boy, Aston. I would highly recommend his service to any pet owner who would like some professional help in shaping their dog to the best dog they can be. Not to mention Ryan offers group classes every week for his clients to keep the training going for the dogs which ultimately is worth the money already since it truly feels like you have support for a lifetime, which I can say for sure not many dog training programs actually offer.
We got Jedi from a breeder on the east coast and on his first day home, we noticed he had some aggression issues. A couple days pass and as he got more comfortable settling in at home, we discovered that Jedi was very territorial and possessive with food and later found he was also aggressive towards other dogs. I would be so afraid to grab a bone from him without getting attacked. This behavior only got worse the next few days and I knew I had to get help. I found out about the Sit Means Sit program through a couple of old friends and emailed Ryan (TuHai) immediately.
During his initial visit for Jedi’s free consultation, we had a candid conversation about Jedi’s behavior and what, in our minds, would be a picture perfect result of training. Jedi was only 8.5 weeks old so we started with the puppy package which included 4 in-home training sessions. During these 4 weeks, Ryan (TuHai) addressed Jedi’s aggression and helped us lay down the basic foundation of commands. We decided to sign Jedi up for 2 weeks of board and train to give him around the clock training with Tuhai and his assistant Taylor. Receiving video updates on Jedi’s training every couple of days were definitely the highlights of my week. The results truly speak for themselves. Jedi came home a more well-behaved and obedient pup. I can walk him off leash, his recall is darn near perfect, and he learned to control his aggression.
Learning to trust Jedi and get over my anxiety after being bitten was not easy. I could not say enough good things or thank Tuhai enough for everything he’s done for us and for Jedi. He really takes the time to listen to our concerns and customize a to fit our need.
Training doesn’t stop here! Once you enroll in one of the training programs, you are a part of the Sit Means Sit family for life. Tuhai hosts group class every weekend to help you and your dog continue learning new commands or brush up on old ones. It’s also a great opportunity to socialize with other dogs and dog owners.
It’s an investment you and your dog will benefit from the rest of your life.
My wife and I adopted a DEAF red heeler and we decided to put her and ourselves through some training as we never had experience owning a deaf dog. We looked at some other local training places before, but we weren’t satisfied with the results during the process. Example: If our dog wandered off to sniff around their response was “”she’ll come back when she’s ready”” and we would just sit and wait and wait some more and then give her a treat when she finally came to us. It got us thinking, “”man, if we want her to ‘Come here.’ She needs to ‘come here’ NOW. This is for her and other dogs’ safety. We ended up cancelling the rest of our classes and felt our time and money was being wasted.
In comes Sit Means Sit. My friend recommended Ryan (TuHai “”too-high””) as a dog trainer and his group Sit Means Sit. We called TuHai and set up an in house consult. He came in very excited to meet our dog as he mentioned he’s always wanted a Heeler. We shared “”problems”” we were having, such as barking at shadows, lunging at cyclists, pulling on her leash when walking and a long laundry list of things. After hearing our concerns, TuHai, told us not to worry and that a lot of these “”problems”” will be corrected once she was in the program. After a few weeks of deliberation, my wife and I decided to do the 2 week boarding program (this comes with free lifetime once a week group classes) and timed it so while we were busy prepping for our wedding, our dog would be out getting her boarding/boot camp training.
During the 2 weeks, TuHai would send us youtube links of our dog and her progress. He did a great job addressing questions we had during the process. Once the 2 week boarding session ended TuHai came to the house and returned our dog to us. It was like getting a completely new dog! TuHai explained all our dog needed was structure and a consistent form of communication which she may not have had her whole life. It was so amazing to be able to communicate with our dog with the tools TuHai used and to have that feeling of being calm and in control of the situation. People have asked if the boarding training worked and my response to them has been “”it worked too well…lol”” Even if we have our dog off leash and give her the sign to use the bathroom, instead of sniffing for the perfect poop spot she’ll just follow and heel by our side instead. If i take a few more steps forward, she’ll follow and then sit and wait for the next command. Our dog gets so focused on work and waiting patiently by our side that she wont think about pooping unless she really has to poop.
Now whenever I’m with our dog I feel like I’m at stress level zero. TuHai helped train our dog and us the owners. He gave us the tools and taught us how to use them effectively to make sure we can communicate successfully with our deaf dog. Life post Sit Means Sit has made owning our deaf dog a more rewarding experience and I truly feel I can give our dog a second chance at life with her new family. I highly recommend TuHai and his team to anyone looking for dog training.
This review is loooong overdue.
My boyfriend and I adopted our Shiba Inu, Simba, almost three years ago. We learned that he had aggression issues: resource guarding and fear aggression. Simba would generally antagonize people just to see what he could get away with. He would sometimes find random things on the ground, the occasional slice of moldy pizza or a bone, and snap it up before we had a chance to pull him away, and would growl and hiss at us as we tried to get him to drop his newfound treasure.
Things became particularly dire when he wouldn’t stop biting me to scare me away when I tried to wipe his paws. His bites would eventually break skin. I was well aware of the Shiba Inu breed, the temperament, and training challenges before we adopted Simba. I spent months researching training techniques, chatting in forums and blogs, but after a year and a half of DIY training, we decided to consult a professional.
Enter Ryan (TuHai). He came highly recommended by others in our Bay Area Shiba Inu Meetup group. We emailed TuHai about Simba in December 2015, and he invited us to a group class to meet him. We watched a group class, saw one of his German Shepard’s obey a command and was instantly impressed.
We emailed Ryan with a long list of training objectives and signed Simba up for a three-week bootcamp (board and train) while we were away on vacation in February 2016. It was expensive ($$) for a three-week training, but well worth the money (+ includes weekly group classes, if you can make it). Ryan sent us videos of Simba’s progress almost daily. When I got Simba back, he was a new dog! (He also lost a few pounds). After the initial training program, we attended group classes when we could, and Ryan spent a lot of time working with us to teach us how to reinforce the training: hand feeding, place training, crate training. For months, we spent 20-30 minutes a day reinforcing training techniques.
Simba is still stubborn, independent, and self-serving, like any Shiba Inu, but he hasn’t bitten me since he returned from training, which is incredible. Our walks are more efficient and I don’t have to worry about him picking up random food off the street anymore.
Best of all, a few months ago, he picked up a gift that I received (not a toy), and I looked at him and saw some fear in his eyes like he was getting ready to guard his newfound toy. I said, “Drop it.” And miraculously, he listened and dropped the item without a treat or a bribe in front of him! At a recent visit to my parents’ house, he picked up cat poop (my parents’ neighbors have an outdoor cat that likes to poop in the yard). We were horrified. To our surprise, when my boyfriend told him to “drop it” he was reluctant, because he really wanted to eat the poop, but he ultimately dropped it.
Ryan is also available for boarding or board and train if you’re going out of town and need a sitter. Simba loves Ryan, but he was not very enthusiastic the last time we dropped him off because he knew that Ryan makes him work hard.
We have a 15 month old Mini Labradoodle who would growl, bark and (would sometimes) lunge aggressively at people and other dogs 3x her size. Her previous owner had spent a fortune on various training and group sessions all over the Morgan hill, Gilroy and San Jose area and still to no avail. I love Gracie so much and as a first time dog owner I started to lose my confidence the worse Gracie got. I tried everything I could for her but knew I needed to get some help.
Thankfully I found Sit-means-sit and after reading the many great reviews I gave them a call and had an appointment scheduled with Ryan the next day. He was very professional and passionate about his program. He gave us a run down of all the available options. After answering a few of my questions about his program I really liked him and knew Sit-Means-Sit was the right program.
Gracie was enrolled in the 3 week board and train program with Ryan. It was difficult not seeing Gracie but Ryan had sent me updates via, text and email (while I was overseas) of Gracie’s progress. The updates showed a huge change in Gracie, she looked very happy, healthy and in her element. When I got Gracie back Ryan showed me what he had worked on with Gracie and later gave me the chance to try it out. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing she was so well behaved she was a completely different dog. Several weeks after the program Gracie is still doing so well. It’s also great that Ryan checks in every now and then to see how we are doing. Enrolling Gracie into the Sit-Means-Sit program with Ryan was the best thing I have ever done for her and myself as a new dog owner. Together we are both happier and more confident. I couldn’t thank Ryan enough!!