“I Said Sit!” School for Dogs

We’re so fortunate to have found I Said Sit. They worked wonders with our husky puppy. She was very challenging when we first adopted her. We did the puppy daycare training where she got trained by the wonderful staff. The amazing Max worked with us (as well as our puppy) and she transformed into such an amazing dog. They were able to accomplish so much with her in those 3 weeks. I highly recommend the daycare training for behavior-​challenged dogs. After a few months, I felt like we needed some fine-​tuning (actually I’m the one that needed reminders on how best to work with her), so we did the Saturday manners class with Max, Jeb, and Cindy. What a great class! We got lots of individualized attention and they were so helpful with answering all of my questions. It is truly amazing how far our husky puppy has come since she first walked through their doors. She gets so excited whenever we pull into their parking lot. The trainers are gifted at what they do.

I just love this place so much. everybody is super nice Jeb is so patient my dog and I we are all smiles every Saturday morning. I can recommend this school to everybody. I participated in the obedience class which is very helpful to stimulate my dogs brain. I can’t wait to sign up for the next class. Max and Cindy are also super helpful. Thank you so much for this fun activity we are looking forward to every weekend

There is never a happier dog than ours when we pull into the I Said Sit parking lot. Lovely trainers who not only make our little girl feel very loved, but have gone out of their way to teach her «owners» how best to deal with her. They go out of their way to do extra training with her, keeping her engaged and happy. Every single person we have dealt with has been professional, polite, and intelligent. Believe me when I say that ours is not an easy puppy (Australian Cattle Dog/​Chow mix), but they have done wonders with her. Their patience is a thing of beauty! Thank you Jonathan, Janet, Zack, Jeb, John et al for your fabulous help!

Update: I found the trainer I was looking for and I couldn’t be happier.
Sean O’Shea of The Good Dog, located in North Hollywood.
Fantastic with dogs with any and all behavioral issues of every degree of severity: aggression, both human– and dog-​, severe anxiety/​insecurity, leash reactivity, you name it. And he’s SO NICE, as are the other AWESOME trainers who work with him, Laura and Brittany (there’s one more, Tony, but I haven’t had contact with him.)
Plus he has tons of free training videos on YouTube, an excellent FB page and blog. This is who I was looking for, for years.
Highly, highly recommend. Ten stars.

We use I Said Sit! for daycare, boarding, and private training for our two Australian Shepherd puppies, and we’ve had the most wonderful experience there. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and care for our pups as if they were their own dogs. They know and work with our puppies’ individual quirks, and take as much pride in their accomplishments as we do. The best recommendation I can give, however, is that our usually shy puppies love going there, and have a great relationship with all of the trainers. Our dogs don’t have tails, but when we drop them off their little butts are definitely wiggling with excitement! I Sait Sit! is definitely a gem in our book, and we’re glad to consider them part of our family.

Let me first say, this is about the facility, not the trainers. I took my dog here for a Feet & Paws fitness class that was being offered on Classpass. When I went into the facility (at about 7 20pm on a Wednesday) the stink of pee was so terrible that I almost backed out of the class. Unfortunately, I was the only one signed up for the class that day (as it’s new) so once the trainer spotted me, I felt awful and couldn’t leave. However, towards the end of class, I was getting so nauseated from the smell that I finally told her we should cut the class short, and told her why. It’s awful. Just awful, and I feel terrible for the nice lady who leased the space to have a class there.

This place is great. Right off the freeway. Good size classes, 6 – 7 puppies per class. Instructors teach owners to use praise to train puppies. My Husky puppy benefited greatly from Puppy Play time. They have a great facility.

We first enrolled our puppy here when she was 8 weeks old. We signed up for the puppy manners class, a 6 week program that teaches the very basics. IT WAS SO HELPFUL. Everyone at the school is incredibly warm, friendly and so knowledgable. You really feel like you and your dog are in capable hands. Our dog absolutely LOVES it there, her tail goes crazy — she’s since stayed overnight once, and has just completed a day training program where she learned sit, stay, loose leash walking and how to be more focused in general. The difference is amazing. We will definitely be taking more classes. We can’t recommend this school enough!

I called to inquire about this facility. Although it may have been the perfect place for my puppy, the people who work there were very rude.
I am disappointed, and this is the first time I have written a negative review on Unilocal ever…

Not a bad place to start your puppy off. The puppy six week class is rather informative, and gave us some great foundation on how to communicate with our pooch.
The school loses a couple of stars for the following reasons… mostly, inconsistency among the trainers and staff. Example… a solid rule of training taught here is to only give a command ONCE when a certain behavior is desired. Follow that up with watching one of the lead trainers working with a dog in playtime simply trying to get a dog into sit saying, «Sit…no…sit.sit…SIT…sit…no…sit…sit…SIT…» Not exactly the practice what you preach examples we were looking for.
We got a great deal on the puppy class when they offered their $ 25 special for the whole six week program, but when we were forced to miss a class due to a family emergency, they would only allow us to make it up for $ 30…that’s a single class for more than we paid for the entire series, even though they were still offering the $ 25 special. I suppose it’s moderately fair, sure, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. Moreover, they didn’t tell me I would have to pay that much until after I had already missed the class, because no one took the time to get back to me and explain my options. Sigh.
Another star gets lost for our experience boarding here. The communication about their expectations from us was a bit boggled. When initially making the reservation, I was clear that we would be dropping our pup off for two nights, and returning to town late Sunday afternoon to pick her up around 5 or 6 pm. No objections were offered to that. We asked if we should provide her food and were told, no, they have a special blend of puppy food that they’ll feed her. We then arrive on our way out of town and are questioned as to why we didn’t bring food for her… um… Ruh-​roh!!! Moreover, when I confirm that we’ll be picking her up early Sunday evening, we’re told that they close on 2 pm Sundays. Wha? I get that you have hours, but perhaps that could have been expressed when we were making the reservation. We had to arrange for a friend to pick her up and bring her home for us… thank goodness for reliable friends in the absence of consistent information.
This review is based on our experience of one class, and one time boarding. The headmaster of this facility earns praise as one of the best trainers in the city, and I have no doubt that that description is sound and accurate. However, you must understand that unless you specifically hire him as a private trainer, you will be working with his staff of youthful trainers, some of whom exceed expectations, but some of whom seem rather inconsistent.

These guys have the best approach to dog training. I had an consultation with my very anxious dog and they were very kind to both of us. They paid very close attention to our every move and made sure my dog was never pushed beyond his threshold. They asked us all the right questions and didn’t try and sell me anything, in fact they gave me lots of tips. They gave me the confidence to keep doing what I had been doing and to take things slow and keep it positive. I was very impressed and if I had the money to send my dog here then I wouldn’t hesitate.

The first time I came here was when they first opened. I was blown away by how great they are with the dogs and the training they do. On top of that the staff is super friendly and so knowledgeable I would never take my dog to another place. Also inside Is super cute and clean. Most places I have been to before, smelled horrible and were very run down. This place is quite the opposite. lastly the training is unlike anything I have see before and works great. so if you are worried about what to do. its no problem they actually insist that you learn with your dog so this way there is no confusing the dog and it makes sure the training lasts forever.
Now whenever someone asks me where they should take their dog for training or boarding I tell them to go here.
So if you want the best training for you and your dog I Said Sit, is the place to go to.

When I brought home my 2 month old Golden Retriever, Buffy, the first place I called (in a panic) was «I SAID SIT!». I was a little freaked out that I was going to ruin this beautiful puppy by doing the wrong things. I’m a geek and I think I read too much… Jonathan talked me off the ledge (gently) and had us come in. We started private lessons with Noah (for me) and puppy class (for Buffy). It was amazing! Over the next year we took Obedience 101 and then Therapy training and Buffy passed her Pet Partners Therapy test at 1.6 months old. We now volunteer as a therapy team at Children’s Hospital LA and we couldn’t have done it with «I Said Sit!»! We will be back for more training and guidance… Thanks everyone at ISS!

I Said Sit is fabulous. Two years later and my dog continues to board and go to day care at I Said Sit, and I continue to get training and tips from all the fabulous staff on how to further along my fearful dog’s progress. They are honest, hard working, continually educate themselves on training techniques and research, and are fully committed to all their clients– dogs and humans. I would not go anywhere else.

We have a great dog but he doesn’t like going everywhere. When we take him here, however, we cry with joy because he is so happy and cannot wait to get inside. True story!

These people really love dogs.
Over a year ago, I wrote a glowing review and decided to remove it because I wasn’t sure if the training was worthwhile. Our puppy is now 25 months old, and I can say without doubt that it was entirely worthwhile for us.
My husband and I both work, and the puppy training was integral in our success with raising an 8 week old labradoodle. This school taught both the canine and the human members in our family about how to raise an obedient dog.
Being a first time pet parent, I was shocked by how much work still needed to done once the professional training sessions ended. I thought I was getting a perfect puppy after the four weeks of «boarding school.» I have three single leather shoes to prove that that isn’t the case. It took/​takes a lot of effort, but we have a confident, happy, and 95% obedient two-​year-​old puppy. He knows over a dozen different commands.
I hope the concerns about the behavior of the staff that dot the other reviews are read with grain of salt. I was never personally off put by being asked to wait, or being given specific instruction. There were a few interactions that reminded me that these people are dog trainers, not customer relations specialist.

This is the second time I have come to use the trainers at I Said Sit. The first time was when I just received my new Parson Terrier as a puppy. She was eight weeks old and did a month-​long daycare boarding class. (This means that she went in to train and board in the morning and stayed all day and came home at night with me.)
Now that my dog is two years old, I began to experience what I would call two year old aggression behavior, common in Terriers. In addition, I have a rescue dog, and the two were experiencing some behavior issues between the two of them. So I decided it was time to go back to Jonathan and get some more training for my Parson terrier.
I wish I had gone sooner!
What I have discovered is that when you are not training your dog, your dog is training you. I found that my behavior had been modified to match Riley, my terrier’s behavior. In addition, it was making things more difficult with the rescue dog I had at home. I went specifically to address my concerns about the boredom and anxiety that were occurring between the two dogs in their confined space (we live in a townhouse)
I couldn’t be happier with the results I’m seeing. Riley started again last Monday, and by Thursday, I was already seeing results. I want to stress here that the I Said Sit team uses reward based training, not punishment of any kind. Riley is excited to arrive each morning and happy to see me at the end of the day. Her anxiety level has gone way down, and her behavior is improving by leaps and bounds. In addition, I signed her up for a“Nose work” class on Sunday, where she can get a little more activity to occupy her very interested Terrier brain.
The process goes something like this: you arrive for your first consultation with the trainer who will be training your dog, and the owner, Jonathan. For an hour you describe what issues you are having and how you are currently managing them, and the trainer begins to not only take notes but show you alternative methods you can be using to train the dog.
Let me stress: this is not a training center where you leave your dog and it comes back to you trained. This is a cooperative team approach to training both you and the dog, so that at the end of it, you can take your dog home and confidently continue the methods that you learned in the training here. Each time there is a lesson, you get a hand written lesson review and home work to complete at home. You must do the homework and reinforce the dogs training in its own environment. I have found that the more time I put in training Riley at home the more successful she is at her lessons at school and the more her behavior improves. In addition if you have multiple dogs, the trainers recommend that you bring the other dog to the weekly lessons so that the dogs can be trained together. In my case, only one dog is going to board and care, but on my weekly lessons I bring both my Parson terrier and my rescue dog, and we train them together. This is so the whole family learns to behave the same way in a group or individually. It works very well.
I cannot recommend the team at I Said Sit more highly! As I said I’ve used them twice in the past two years, and each time have found their methodology to be exactly what my family needed to help our dogs have a happy life. In addition I finally figured out that every moment in my relationship with my dog is a training opportunity, and should never be a source of anxiety. It took me two years to figure that out, but something just clicked this time. Run don’t walk to I Said Sit, and give your dog the opportunity to be the treasured pet that you have always wanted.

I just went on Unilocal to check out reviews of I Said Sit! because I’m yet again referring someone there. But she said that there were a few negative reviews. I was shocked! So, five kids and an ill father who lives with us, I have to take a minute to post something.
This dog training facility is by far the cleanest, most professional and knowledgeable of any I checked out for my Charlie, and of the four people I have referred, ALL were beyond happy and will be repeat customers. Even the comment about parking is strange to me. There’s two areas to park and how much more convenient can u get, being right off the freeway? Jonathan and his staff were with me and my friends whom I referred nothing but nice and gentle (frazzled and frantic, huh??!), kind and professional. Never have I seen inappropriate crating or anything like that.
In any case, you will not be disappointed! It’s a truly impressive facility with truly impressive staff! Ugh negative and bitter people! Not okay!

DO NOT BRING YOUR DOGS HERE. We went here to try to get our dogs help. Bad anxiety and leash reaction with each other. When we first met jonathon he came outside and met us. I liked that it showed initiative. Then we came inside to his office. We sat down and we held our dogs close to us as he instructed. He starting throwing treats when they sat or laid on their own to reinforce good behavior without us telling them to do it. I agreed with his method. But from here it went down hill.
He started getting more frantic and all over the place later on especially when my fiancé was asking him questions. He would kinda treat us like idiots. Ok not a problem sometimes people are mistaken because they’re very smart. Then he got more aggressive and sales tactics on us. That’s a no with us. Especially With me. I’ve owned businesses. But his overall attitude was nasty and seemed like he was burnt out from his career. I’ve noticed that his recent Unilocal have been bad as well. Which tells me maybe it’s time to change careers. It’s sad because we really wanted this to work out. And you have a 155 consultation fee as well which was a waste of money. I could understand paying a fee for an informative session but clearly this was not the case.

To say I’m disappointed is an understatement: My original review is below.
After much digging and pressing Jonathan to find out exactly what was done with my dogs (which he still refused to do), he told me via email that in the 20 Day Program my dogs spent CRATED OR PENNED 75−87% OF THE TIME! (and quote from his email «the dogs are in their pen or area for a while, usually about 2 hours then out for a lesson or exercise time, then back in their area for rest. and that is repeated. its about 2 hours rest then a half to an hour out in training or play) So when you drop off your dogs there all day for training, AT MOST THEY’LL SPEND 2 HOURS TRAINING, AND AT LEAST 1HOUR! The rest of the time they are in a cage or penned!
Jonathan tried to blame us for the dogs failings to learn. Maybe, it’s because they can’t learn when they are caged?
Here is my original review.
My wife and I brought two dogs to them. Mainly because one had fear issues and barked a lot at strangers even in our house so we couldn’t have friends over without one dog barking all night. Since we had two dogs, they recommended that we train both dogs. We did, and spent just shy of $ 3000. We did a 20 day program (one month with weekends off) with private sessions. We dropped the dogs off there in the morning and picked them up at night. They pretty much had the dogs all day.
End result: No change in the fearful behavior of one dog. The two dogs for some reason developed severe aggression towards each other during the training.
Their solution to our problem was to completely separate the two dogs, which sounds more like a barricade than a solution.
After spending 3K in training, I would hope at least some change, maybe they would learn a new command, or something, but no, not the case at all. That’s the most frustrating part. I can understand that maybe some issues can’t get resolved with training, but after a month of training, not one change in either dog? Not one new trick, or obey a command? My wife gets better results just by reading a few books and teaching them stuff.
I wrote Jonathan an email explaining my frustration and disappointment. His response to my long email: «thanks for letting me know». That was it. So I figured I better let you Unilocalers know my experience there.
BTW, Jonathan finally wrote us back only because I left this review, and only to tell me that it was all my fault! Eventually he admitted that maybe it was them.