Terry Haskins was recommended to us by our veterinarians who observed how active and unmanageable our young goldendoodle, Lily, could be despite having attended several other training programs. “High energy” is how Terry described our 45-pounds of ball-chasing enthusiasm. But obedience was a foreign concept for Lily until she learned it through Terry’s training methods, while maintaining her entertaining spirit. We’ve heartily recommended his program to other dog owners. He is an excellent trainer.

Townley and Norman Budde
Hingham, MA

Before contacting “Sit Means Sit” my 13 month old, 15 lb. Papillion “Athena” was out of control. Being a first time puppy/dog owner, I know there are things I should have/could have done differently. With multiple felines in the house, Athena was extremely jealous. We could not sit on the sofa with any cat without Athena acting crazy and wild. There was one time, Athena’s grandmother was just passing by Athena and she jumped up on her backside and tore a whole in her robe. Lucky for Grandma, she didn’t do more damage than that! After that little episode and our poor cats hiding under beds, I decided I would look into a K-9 Training class one town over ~~what a HUGE mistake that was. Remind you, Athena is a Papillion!! After taking a brief tour of the facility, the owner of the company decided he would clip Athena’s nails. I didn’t even have a chance to tell him, she does not like having her nails done and at her regular groomers, it usually takes 2 groomers and a small muzzle to complete the task. The owner put her on the table and attempted to clip one of paws. Needless to say, she went to “nip” at him. Right away, he informed us, we need to seriously consider “putting her down”, and that she is “not trainable”. As you can imagine, we were completely horrified to hear this!! With that said we picked up our dog and left, feeling many different emotions. From sad to angry to hurt to uncertainty.

The following weekend, I was in line at a local Laser Car Wash and there was this truck one lane over with photos of dogs (BTW – one was a Papillion J). There was a website on the truck www.sitmeanssit.com . A couple of days later, I checked it out and was intrigued by what I saw. I scheduled a free, in home consultation – “Enter Terry Haskins”. I can not say enough good things about this man or his product. After the initial 1.5 hour FREE consultation, I noticed a huge difference in my dog. It was truly amazing. I decided to go for it and signed up for the training w/Terry. Terry came back for 4 in-home lessons and Athena always got so excited to see him. We now can sit on the sofa with a cat in our lap and Athena laying down right next to us. We take Athena out on “leash less” walks in the neighborhood – yes, I said “leash less”!! Whenever friends come over to visit, they say Athena is like a completely different dog ~~ a pure pleasure to be around!

I highly recommend Sit Means Sit and the E-collar to anyone even remotely considering this training. I give Terry and his collar Five *****’s.

Laurie Wilcoxen

South Weymouth, MA

When we got our Great Dane puppy, Lucy, we were committed to making sure she was a well-behaved and well-trained dog. With Terry’s help, we were able to properly socialize and train our 100lb puppy. As a result, Lucy is one of the best behaved dogs in the dog park and extremely mild with other dogs and kids. Terry is patient, and adjusts his training to every dog, owner, and situation. Also, it gives us piece of mind to know that whenever we need additional guidance Terry is available to help us out.

Irene M.

“Terry Haskins provides a terrific service to dog owners, and to dogs. Of our two labs, one was increasing his dominant, controlling behaviors to the extent that we were starting to consider options. We found Terry through our Vet and he transformed our dog into a happier, anxious to please, no-longer-quite-so-tough guy. The change in him was apparent to all who knew him. Terry’s follow-up is great also. Excellent experience!”

Ellie PH

I was spoiled with my first Labrador Retriever, he was perfect, he didn’t really want to chew anything, jump on people, he just wanted to please me. Then six years later, I decided to get Bromley a little brother Labrador named Stratton. I quickly realized that they had very different temperaments. Stratton would eat anything if it didn’t eat him first. He had no idea how big he was and would run into people or jump and had very selective hearing. I took Stratton to puppy kindergarten with Terry, where he learned the basics and also socialization and exposure to different surface textures, sounds and people which helped him with his confidence. He was doing great but at around one and half years old, he started to rapidly forget his manners. If there was something else Stratton would prefer to do when I gave him a command, he would look at me and then go the other way. So I emailed Terry about what was happening and he quickly got back to me about a stage called…. Labrador Deceivers… Terry came over to see Stratton and after the first session, Terry affectionately said, “He has turned into a punk.” He was testing his boundaries. So Terry suggested I come back for some more advanced courses for Stratton. We worked with the e-collar and some retrieval type work so Stratton felt like he had a job. He quickly was able to remember his manners and more. Terry was very patience with Stratton and me. He suggested many options to try to get Stratton physically and mentally tired. Terry also was great in always being available for questions after my training was over. Thanks to Terry I love going to the park with Stratton and don’t have to worry about him running the other way, jumping on anyone, barking or many other unwanted behaviors so now I have my two great labs. Thanks Terry

Torrey C.

Not only has Terry Haskins helped me train my own dogs, but I have seen him work with dozens of clients and heard their feedback firsthand. I owned a dog walking company for 6 years and now manage a vet hospital. What people don’t realize when they sign up for dog training, is that it truly is about training people. One of the many reasons Terry is so successful is because he is fantastic with people. This is one of the things that sets him apart from so many dog trainers. So many times, people get into dog training because they love dogs and don’t want to work with people. Terry is an animated teacher who brings enthusiasm and passion to everything he does. He successfully teaches people, in turn getting them to understand how to communicate with their dogs. Terry leaves you feeling confident that you can handle your dog, even after the dog trainer leaves. His techniques work, and I recommend him to anyone that has a dog as part of their family. Any level of dog ownership can benefit from the communication that Terry teaches.

Nancy M.

Our experience with Terry has been nothing short of amazing. When we adopted our dog after she had already been given up twice due to behavior issues. Out first days with her were no better and we truly felt like we bit off more than we could chew. In our first visit, Terry was very reassuring and told us our dog would become the one we wanted. I have to say, although the reassurance felt good, I was a bit skeptical.

My doubt was quickly alleviated when within one week I was walking our dog off leash. Within a month she excellently behaved and attending group classes. While there was work to reinforce Terry’s lessons, his guidance and insight were invaluable. I have recommended him to many people and everyone has the same type of things to say about him.

Chris V.