I’ll never forget the day I was introduced to the Sit Means Sit program.
Lou Ann Sherman came to my home to meet with me and tell me how the
program works. After demonstrating the remote collar and explaining the
positive reinforcement concepts of the using the collar we went outside
for a demonstration.
Two of my 3 dogs came outside and were in my fenced in front yard. Lou
Ann went to her SUV and came back with Max, one of her two boxers. With
Max she brought a small white stool and placed it on the ground in front
of my driveway. My dogs were barking and were a distraction for me, but
not for Max. Lou Ann gave the command “place” and Max climbed up on the
white stool and sat. I was “somewhat” impressed, but I assumed that Max
must be pretty use to strange dogs barking at him when Lou Ann did this
type of demonstration. Lou Ann never raised her voice and spoke in
little more than a whisper.
However, what did impress me was when my cats came home to see what all
the fuss was about and Max laid eyes on the cats. Lou Ann reinforced
with him that he was to “place” and “place” is exactly what Max did. My
cats are the bullies of the neighborhood and routinely jump out of
hiding to scare neighborhood dogs, including a black lab who lives next
door. My cat Smokey decided that Max needed to be jumped at and went
right up to his nose. Every muscle in Max’s body was ready to lunge
after Smokey, but he held his ground and stayed his place. Lou Ann
explained that both Max and his sister Selene are not very fond of cats
because of being teased by their neighborhood cats. It took everything
Max had not to go after Smokey or Rocky.
Next, Lou Ann brought Selene over and had her place, sit, down and come.
Like Max, Selene really would have liked to snack on Smokey or Rocky,
but she did exactly as she was commanded. Within the first 3 minutes of
Lou Ann’s demonstration I was sold on the Sit Means Sit program.
Since 1978, my husband and I have owned seven dogs. We have participated
in other obedience training programs with our dogs. We both love
animals and have always said we wanted a dog we could bring anywhere
with us. Thanks to Lou Ann and the Sit Means Sit training program,
Jasper, my Standard Poodle, can go anywhere with me. He is the model
canine citizen I’ve always wanted.
~ Myra A. Kosak