Sit Means Sit

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the responseIf no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered] Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:I have called multiple times and never gotten a response to my phone callsSaying that I "simply needed to call" is ridiculous because I attempted to do that for months and never got anyone to answer my callSonny never addressed the fact I had sent her multiple emails in her responseTherefore, it's not a dubious assertion to state that my emails and phone calls have been ignoredI do not want to train my dog with Sit Means Sit if they're going to claim that I'm lying about trying to contact themIf I was able to get in touch with anyone from Sit Means Sit, I wouldn't have had to escalate my situation to the Revdex.comI sent in emails with proof of my concerns that were not responded toBeing busy doesn't mean that multiple emails can be not addressedI find it believable that a staffer would get aggressive with my fiance as he asked that we get our money backSonny doesn't say I can get my money backShe instead wants me to get the training that I had paid forObviously, this is not what I wantI want my money back Regards, [redacted] ***

We received your communication recently after discovering it, along with some other mail pieces had been sorted into the Veterinary Hospital's mailbox where we share an addressImagine our surprise to get a pile of letters from multiple organizations requesting responses all from Ms [redacted] 's complaintThe complaint you received from Ms [redacted] was inaccurate at best and libelous at worst and has been published to other organizationsHer account is rife with inaccuracies and falsehoodsI will attempt to address each claimWe do not represent in any scenario that we train with a vibrate settingWe are electronic collar trainersWe have never trained a dog with a vibration setting, nor would we begin to nowVibration as a tool is not an effective methodologyWe train basic obedience, behavior modification, therapy dogs and medical alert dogsWhen we start with an initial consultation, every dog owner is required to experience what the electronic collar feels like in their own palmOnly after a clear explanation, experiencing the collar, reading and executing our agreement do we move forward with collection of payment, scheduling and trainingOne stipulation of that contract that is initialed by each client is a no guarantee and no refund policyWhile we can train any dog, we cannot guarantee that the owner will follow through with our instructionWe have included copy of actual contract Several attempts were made to contact Ms [redacted] Unfortunately her phone number was transcribed incorrectly and messages were left with a wrong number that weren't returned by whoever we were calling to let us know we had a wrong numberWe assumed Ms [redacted] was not returning our callsAt no time did Ms [redacted] attempt to contact us to schedule the first training appointmentOnly after running into one of our trainers at a dog park we sponsor did she mention that she had signed up with Sit Means Sit and wondered when she could start She "ran" into one of our trainers because he approached her and asked her to control her dogTed, our trainer was there with a black English Labrador he was training accompanied by a potential trainer we were evaluating with a Pit-bull he was working withThere were approximately 20-25+ dogs in the park at the timeUpon entering the park Ms [redacted] 's Labrador approached our English Lab first in an anxious and aggressive manner, hackles up, lips drawn back and growlingshowing typical signs of an unstable dogTed had to pull her dog off of the English Black Lab immediately after entering the parkAs Brad entered with the Pit-Bull, Ms [redacted] 's dog exhibited the same behavior and continued to press and attempt to dominate the new arrivals to the parkTed and Brad and the two dogs moved to the far section of the park to work their dogsMs [redacted] 's dog followed and continued to hound the Pit and the LabMs [redacted] tried to call her dog off but had no controlTed spoke with her asking her to please control her dog because if it continued to hound the Pit-bull especially he would react and attempt to correctShe attempted to control her dog with no successIt was at this time she mentioned that she had signed up with Sit Means Sit but hadn't heard from usTed indicated that he was surprised as training generally starts 7-days after sign up as a rule unless the client specifically requests a later sign up timeHe had asked if she had attempted to contact us and she said she hadn'tHe gave her a card She indicates her friendly Labrador in her complaint with potential referencesThe dog is friendly toward humans as observed in our evaluation but Ms [redacted] has no control over the dog in a high distraction environment like a dog park and her dog is unstable, anxious and domineering toward some dogsIf her dog were excellent and under control she would have never contracted a professional trainer in the first placeClearly she knew there was a problem and one she was willing to pay for beyond cheaper alternatives Our English Black Lab meandered around the park with the Pit interacting with all the other dogs in the park from puppy to large mastiff without incidentThere was, however, another dog in the park exhibiting many of the same anxiety traits as Ms [redacted] 's dogAgain the handler had no control of his dog allowing it to jump all over, hump and attempt to dominate other dogsThat owner was also asked to please control his dog because eventually the Pit would correct the behaviorThis type of behavior in dogs elicits potential responsesFight, flight or avoidanceThe pit began with avoidance but eventually turned to correct the Chocolate labIt did not attack the dog unprovoked but did turn to correct and essentially say enough is enough and it is loud and scary (to the layperson) and involves mouthsUltimately, this is undesired behavior but even the best behaved dog will take only so much hounding from an unstable dogTed explained to that owner, it would be like someone coming into the dog park, picking a human and then shoving him or her around the park until they either left the park or fought backThey then moved to another side of the park where again Ms [redacted] 's dog jumped all over the PitThe pit corrected her lab but this time an Argentinean Mastiff (Dogo Argentine) got involvedWhen the Pit corrected, the Dogo decided he did not like her dog's anxiety either and sank his teeth into her labs hindquartersTed was able to call of the Pit off quickly having him sit infront of him while Ms [redacted] struggled with the Dogo's owner to separate their two dogsThis took some timeMeanwhile the Pit sat facing Ted and next to BradAny damage done to her dog should be directed at the Mastiff Ms [redacted] asserts that the Pit was seriously aggressive and attacked dogsThis is completely falseHad that been the case he would have never been brought into a public environmentShe is likely relying on the “reputation" that all Pits are aggressive by nature which is also a fallacyThe Pit did not run into the park and attempt to dominate any other dog (like hers did), did not react in an aggressive manner to any human adult or child in the parkDid not rush to attack any dog, namely the she claims were attackedIt corrected dogs that where highly unstable and domineering and over which the handlers had absolutely no control overThe other 20+ dogs in the park interacted fine with the Pit and the English LabIf Ms [redacted] is honest with herself, I think she can recall several other instances where her dog was corrected by another dog Conveniently Ms [redacted] has forgotten the fact that the Pit was correcting, not attacking and that the Dogo Argentine went after her dog and continued to fight with her dog long after the Pit was pulled off, who Ted witnessed biting into her dogs hind quarters and was the culprit of any real damageThe owner of the Dogo, immediately leashed up his dog and leftTed asked Ms [redacted] if she and her dog was okay and she said he seemed to be after checking him outMeanwhile he had the Pit leashed up and continuing to sit, getting him in a calm and relaxed state before leaving the parkIt is also important to note that in a similar complaint to the Virginia Attorney General she claims the Pit bit herThough giving no indication of this when Ted asked how she was, nor in this complaintI did speak with her and I was sorry that she had an incident and that I would discuss what happened with TedTed described the situation as I described aboveThe trainer we were evaluating did not work out and went back to WisconsinThe Pit he was working with belonged to a government or military family and is currently residing in Clarke County, NV After our discussion she went forward with the first training session (which she also neglects to indicate)Afterward she requested a refundI sent her a copy of the contract that she signed indicating no refunds and that she should continue with the training so she could avoid future incidents with her dogShe refused, demanding a refundWhile contractually not obligated to do so, we did provide a full refund on March 22"of this year and even offered to continue the training for free as our interest is in well behaved, confident and happy dogsOur Therapy Dog Team (trained by us) can attest to this, as can several Assisted Living, Schools, Public Library Kids Reading to Dogs Programs, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue, Prince William County Fire and Rescue, many area Veterinary Hospitals, Pet Stores and more While some of her complaint is her opinion of our training, ethics and abilitiesit is coming from someone who is angry, has no dog training experience, could not control her own dog and has either a misperception of what happened or is wantonly lyingHowever, some of the things she states as facts are in fact and fall under libel/defamation definitions as they are not true, was published to a third party and caused documented harm to our reputationIf it continues we are seriously considering a defamation/libel caseMs [redacted] 's complaint is a new area for us as we generally receive rave reviewsWe have trained hundreds of dogsfrom those that have been deemed dangerous by the state to highly fearful/anxious/medicated dogs to basic obedience for puppies, blind dogs, hearing impaired dogs, Therapy and Medical Alert dogsHer complaints are misguided and malicious in nature, a lashing out as it were to tarnish our growing and stellar reputation in Northern VirginiaVitriolic, misguided and untruthful attacks will not be tolerated and it is disheartening that with all the work we have done with dogs, people and our community one person's vendetta can compromise all of itRespectfully, Sonny M***Certified Master Trainer Sit Means Sit Dog Training of Northern Virginia The Go Team of Virginia