Sit Means Sit Dog Training - Cecil County Maryland and Delaware

We enrolled our 5-month-old Great Dane puppy at Sit Means Sit and were beyond happy with the results. Because of his size, we wanted to be sure he was well trained, and we had been struggling to keep his focus during training at home. Heather worked with Barkley for four weeks, and the transformation was incredible. Not only did she train Barkley, but she also took the time to train us, showing us how to confidently and effectively handle him. We couldn’t be more pleased.

We really enjoyed working with Sit Means Sit! My husband and I had previously tried to train our pup Benny on our own, but with working full time, we felt ultimately what was best for him was to get some productive, structured training. Hailey, his trainer, was great! We saw great progress from Benny very quickly. Hailey also worked with us and taught us what Benny learned each session so we could continue training at home! We are very pleased with our decision to go with Sit Means Sit to train Benny.

Pongo (six years old) was adopted by my partner and me in November 2025. By January, we'd observed a lot of issues. We eventually connected with his original owners. They explained how they couldn't get him to walk on a leash, how he ate furniture and killed small animals in their backyard, and how when left alone, he ate himself. On the other hand, after bringing Pongo home. We noticed he was counter surfing, that he was chewing on himself and had bald spots, that he didn't know any fundamental commands, that he would pull so hard on the leash and dig in the trash, not liking kennels, and that infinite problems continued to arrive as the months passed. We started the day training program on February 14. Within the initial two weeks. Pongo understands simple commands. (Sit, come, down, perch, place, stay, door manners, leash etiquette, heel walking, and more). Pongo had learned and improved by week four, but there is certainly still potential for improvement. We are overjoyed that we can take our dog out on nearby trails when the weather warms up and continue on our adventures. Without having him run off and wondering if he'll return. Overall, thanks to Beth and Heather for working with our fur baby. We really appreciated going back in the afternoon to see our Pongo and learn about what you guys did with him. Both of them were excellent!!! I appreciated how they addressed any questions we had. They were able to teach us how to help our dog. There were no judgments being made against us. They were both very supportive. Overall, an excellent facility with compassionate staff. Finally, we enjoyed receiving the dog report cards and pictures. They were well-written, not vague.

Really enjoyed doing this training with my 12-year-old son and his new puppy. It really helped him be more responsible and taught him how to interact with the puppy without getting frustrated. Marisa was great and very patient with all of us! Below is my son’s review… Great experience! My dog is really obedient now because of what we learned! There are dogs that might bark middle of the session but overall great place.

I could write a small book praising this business and team for all they have done and continue to do for my dog and I. I was looking for somewhere that could help me eventually get my dog to be an off leash dog with good boundaries, confidence, and obedience. I am not a stern kind of dog owner that so many places and trainers seems to say is needed to train dogs, so came into this really not confident myself. I signed my 12 week old puppy for their puppy obedience course and haven’t looked back. The philosophy here is not punishment or alpha type of training. They simply teach, reinforce, redirect, and build the dogs confidence to do what is being asked. Once we completed the puppy course, we went right into the one-on-one training program with Heather and we have made such amazing progress. I say we, because I think more than anything, I needed to be trained on how to do this process with my pup. Heather has been so patient not only working with Luna and her puppy brain, but also answering all my questions and offering reassurance as someone who has never put my dogs through a structured training program. Sit Means Sit has been so flexible with tailoring a training program to Lunas needs and my lifestyle. They have made a point to address areas of concern I have, customize training techniques to how I do things at home, and offering various ways to do things. The principles are there but they really understand that these things are not one size fits all. They treat the dogs like family and the training really works! Luna is only 6 months old but already knows how to sit, stay, come, go to and stay on place, heel, and is making progress in even more areas. I could not and would not hesitate to suggest Sit Means Sit to anyone looking for their new dogs or even dogs that are older but still have training needs. I really wish I brought my previous dogs here because I can see how much more confident and outgoing Luna is already while still being a good girl. Also, love the Daycare program here! I can drop Luna off and the team helps work through her separation anxiety, reinforce her training, and give her some play time while I work. Please, go check it out and ask for Heather because she really is fantastic with the dogs and their owners!

When I went in for the evaluation, with my dog, Daniel and I chatted about the things that we needed to work on. We sat down, and Daniel showed me what was involved for training. It was very matter of fact. I did not feel any pressure. He was very clear that the collar came with the purchase of the four, or the five, week training session. He explained that there were sessions for my dog alone first, with an hour session for us to learn that day’s lesson. Then we, after her 4 or 5 sessions, go for group sessions. He also recommended I purchase a cot, for my home, so we could practice “place” at home. After a couple weeks, she goes to her “place” all on her own and she loves it. I purchased my plan and then scheduled our first session. I brought her to her five sessions and we are now at the step of graduation. Drop offs, can feel a little quick because you never know if there are more dogs coming in, but I never felt like my dog was put in a situation where she was going to be reactive. The policy is that you wait outside while there’s a dog in the lobby. You don’t always see the trainer when dropping off. It’s not necessarily one on one as they have several trainings a day but my dog learned a lot. When I first met Daniel, I explained to him how my dog has fear of kids and men. She also reacts to bigger dogs. Coincidentally enough, on the last day of her solo training, Daniel’s son, Reid, came in and she showed her true colors. She lunged and growled at Reid. Reid, approximately 12-14 years old, is the owner‘s son and he was never in danger, but it was nice that they saw one the things that I’ve been seeing with her. Reid is trained and so he worked with her to help her after they muzzled her to ensure he was definitely safe. I can’t say how impressed I am. During our skills graduation, Reid also worked with both of us. There was one person who was very surprised that she was triggered to kids, even though I had mentioned it. I would recommend to have a section of “triggers” on the dry erase board. That way every trainer can be aware of what triggers a dog has. Overall, our training experience was great. I have had large dogs before, and have used collars before, so collars do not dissuade me from training. I understand they are a tool. They worked on eye contact with my dog. We had been working on eye contact before we even enrolled for this training, but the eye contact now is phenomenal! They also worked on things like heel, distractions, and place. Things that will help a lot when someone comes to my home so I don’t need to put my dog on a leash, or put her up, in her crate, so that she can experience having people over without barking, or jumping on someone, or having to be placed in a crate. I don’t expect five solo sessions to cure the reactivity that my dog has, but I am seeing changes and that’s a start. She’s come upon several dogs that usually trigger her, and instead of going to the end of the leash and pulling and growling, she now has a mini tantrum and is making occasional eye contact with me. I find that to be somewhat of an improvement. Continued training will help her to eventually fully make eye contact and not react. But for now, she is not lunging and pulling which is important. Heather, Hailey, Marissa, and Reid were phenomenal with my dog. I know that because when I came in to train with my dog, she would go up to them and lean on them and wag her tail. That’s her tell when she likes someone. Not Reid, yet, but I’m sure that will change as we keep interacting with him. Her response to the trainers told me that she was enjoying what she was doing there. I never felt like the trainers were harming my dog. Reid was the surprise we didn’t see coming. A young kid, maybe 12-14 years old, who is trained to work with dogs and who challenged my girl by working with her. My dog thought she was boss! Hahaha. Looking forward to our group sessions! See you guys soon.

We highly recommend this dog training facility for their professionalism and effective training methods ! Excellent experience! We had Alexis and Hailey as COCOs trainers.. Both were absolutely wonderful to work with. Alexis and Hailey went above and beyond to help our dog succeed! We are extremely happy with our experience here! Truly recommend:)

Words can't express how grateful I am for Sit Means Sit. Louie came back from his two-week board and train a completely different dog - calmer, happier, and so much more confident. Before training walks were a nightmare and strangers were a huge trigger. Now, we enjoy peaceful walks and his manners at home have improved beyond what I imagined. My family and friends notice too. The best part? The support didn't end when I picked him up, the team continues to check in and cheer us on. SMS didn't just help Louie, they gave us both a new lease on life. I'll be forever be thankful for their dedication and care.

Sit Means Sit Dog Training has been an absolute joy to work with! My toy australian shepherd Sweet Pea was extremely reactive and felt impossible to manage before I signed her up for these classes. Now she’s a lot calmer and has the obedience skills for me to reinforce every day. Her reactivity and separation anxiety are a lot more manageable now that she has the skills and I have the knowledge to keep things under control and focus her attention on obedience instead of problematic behaviors. The trainers here are all super friendly and treated Sweet Pea with so much care, kindness, and respect. Thank you SMS for helping build a foundation of obedience that I’ll be reinforcing with Sweet Pea from now on!

We were pleasantly surprised how much we learned about training our fur baby, Cooper. Not only did we learned about training, Haily explained about his puppy personality. We are very pleased with our results & experience.