dog trainer

kennel technician

administrative assistant

office assistant

office administrator

Sit Means Sit Dog Training

Working with Sit Means Sit Denver was a blast. I worked with awesome people from the other trainers, kennel techs, manager, boss, accountant and scheduling team everyone was very supportive and respectful of one another. The facility is huge, an awesome place to train dogs and clients. The breakroom was spacious too for down time. This was one of the best jobs I ever had with the best people. Everyone there works hard. No one ever slacks off, except for the occasional kennel techs who didn’t work out. The team is very passionate about the job, taking the job serious but not themselves. As in sometimes we’d sing along to Disney tunes or dress for the holidays and share too many viral videos. We laugh a lot! Everyone worked hard which is hard to come by, most teams have slackers but if anything we sometimes just disagreed/butt heads on what was more important at the time. 

The training method is excellent! It’s ecollar based but not what most people think, a negative shock collar. It’s a stimulation that can be adjusted per the dog’s sensitivity and is used more to direct the dog then punish the dog like other trainers do. Client dogs actually enjoyed wearing the ecollar because it means adventure! Like the excitement of when you grab a leash. My personal dog wears the ecollar and follow the training method and man he is so much better! It’s improved all our commands and my dog trusts me as a more clear leader when triggers are near by. It was amazing to work with puppies, adults, pure breeds, to dogs with psychological issues and help all of them. Owners who planned on giving their dogs up, court ordered due to incidents, or fragile owners attached to big dogs could all have success and more control over their dog. The door says “we don’t train husbands, wives or kids” but you do! It’s a family friendly dog training facility that will get everyone involved. Obviously some kids are a too young to fully grasp how to hold a leash or guide a dog but we often get them involved and coach them and parents. Working with families was hard but the head trainers were always nearby to offer support and even tag team with you. 

I was a pretty new trainer and they took me under their wings and helped coach me to be a better dog and people trainer. There is a great support team. If you were confused, overwhelmed or scared of an aggressive dog, others would not hesitate to help you.  

Overall, it was a great place to work. I was really sad to move on and loved working here. 

Everyday we were expected to learn and implement new protocols and procedures for our job. We also were expected to do way too much as a kennel technician for 10 dollars an hour. If any mistakes were made, fellow employees were encouraged to call out these mistakes and tattle on you rather than bringing it up face to face so it may be corrected, very passive aggressive. In staff meetings it was brought up frequently that employees would check each other out before the end of the shift to make sure the job and tasks had been done correctly and if things were missed then it was more the fault of the person who checked them out for missing it but, depending on who the person was, they would instead blame the original person and then make an example of them in front of the whole company on the company group chat. This type of work culture is not conducive to a team environment and rather leads to people talking behind others' back, back stabbing, gossiping, calling out/tattling on each other. The mistakes being called out on could be something as simple as missing an initial on a chart, or anything more serious (which the more serious things are warranted and nobody would disagree that those things need corrected). Either way, these things were never addressed face to face, one on one with the individual, management and the person who called them out would rather passive aggressively discuss it in the company group chat and put them on blast leading to people feeling embarrassed and isolated, not part of a team. 

There is a lot of hypocritical things that go on here unfortunately. Management will continually make mistakes on SalesForce but it is never made an example of in front of everyone, however anytime a kennel tech on staff made the simplest mistake it was always shown to the team.

These are not grievances from a disgruntled employee, these are the feelings of every single kennel tech that I worked with as well. They will be dishonest in your hiring interviews and tell you they will make you a trainer when they won't. An employee was hired there as a kennel tech with the understanding they were going to become a trainer as well but then they hired four more employees and started their trainer training before her with no explanation. There are people there who are nice and who are helpful, but the culture just is not the best.

PROS
You get to meet some amazing people and dogs.

You can bring your dog to work depending on management and how long you've worked there. 

My location really pushed us to take breaks warm we needed to. 

You get to see progress and growth in the dogs that come in. 

My location did Group luches and a fun weekly question everyone had to awnser

Can be a really chill work environment at times


CONS

If one coworker doesn't like you, the rest will join along in hating you. 

Not a great work-life balance in fact my manager had suggested I bring extra clothes and a blanket to sleep on the couch overnight. 

Very loud all the time there's usually dogs always barking 

Very Manual labor heavy job, requires a lot of bending over, standing on concrete floors all day, and the daily scratches and damages that comes with dealing with dogs.

management doesn't respond well to calling off for family emergencies

Daily cleaning list is 3 pages long (times new roman - font size 12) and was expected to be completed everyday along with taking care of the dogs (and taking them out every 2 hours) oh and any other chore the trainers dont want to do

They had me do odd jobs that weren't in my job description like pulling thorny weeds in 90 degree heat with no gloves 

I had to use a lot of harsh cleaning chemicals without protection and it was very damaging to my skin 


Only let one person work at a time in the kennels(kennel tech) and you’re supposed to take sometimes 30+ dogs out by yourself, clean each kennel which is covered in feeces bc the kennel tech the night before took the dogs out for their last time around 6pm. Then put each dog back in, feed them, and put their e collars on and administer medications all before the trainers get there. and then  they make you feel like you’re also the custodian there because once all your hard work and hours put in being the only one cleaning and taking cre of dogs, you have to sweep, dust, mop the entire training area. While most of the trainers just work with one dog for 30 mins then put them back in their cage just so they can play with their own( yes they bring their own dogs in every day!). The management makes you feel un welcomed and completely out of place. Never asked if I was ok, never let someone else help me. Barely even trained me as to where everything was.  AlwAys bought lunch for themselves and trainers and ate it right in front of me never asking if I wanted any.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Seeing the improvement of relationships between dogs and their families

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The owner. Only spends time with her favorites and constantly talks about the cost of everything when it has nothing to do with the staff. You can bend over backwards for her and not hear a word of praise or thanks, but if you call out sick you’re on her s*** list forever. Very emotional and takes offense to things not even directed at her at all

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
For the most part pretty fun and relaxed. But when the owner is there it’s like the warden is in.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Pretty simple. Take out dogs, let them potty and eat before starting training for the day. The team does a great job supporting each other on lesson days to make sure things go smoothly

Most of my time at SMS was great. I had great interactions with clients who were immensely satisfied with our quality of service, and built great relationships with other crew members. 
     Unfortunately, Upper management was very irresponsible. We had the fire department called on us due to carbon monoxide buildup in our kennel room due to careless mixing of chemicals. One of the owners would twice weekly dispose of these chemicals by pouring them into the sewer system despite warnings from the fire department. One of the other owners told us that we wouldn't get raises anymore because "I can't figure out how to apply raises on the new payroll system" (this is an actual quote).
      I thoroughly enjoyed my time working there, and I can only hope that they have taken actions to fix these problems since my time there.

Turn rate they admitted is quick and it's easy to see why. All the bosses are pretty negative people who rare if ever have anything good to say. Small mistakes like forgetting to wash a dog bowl will lower your pay and get you a sit down in the office. Weekly you have meetings with your manager on how you need to improve and this is with everyone. You are forced to rate your fellow coworkers every shift and the coworkers get copies of all this. Dont think about being nice and not marking them for forgetting one small thing, because then you get a write up. It creates a very angry and intense atmosphere between everyone. It's really a shame, because the job itself is amazing and fun.

Working at Sit Means Sit was a fantastic experience! If you’re passionate about dogs and want to work in a supportive, energetic environment, this is the place to be.

The team is amazing—everyone genuinely cares about each other and works together to solve challenges. It’s a great mix of professionalism and camaraderie.

The training methods are effective, and it’s so rewarding to see the progress dogs (and their owners) make. Even if you’re new to dog training, the company provides solid support to help you grow.

The job can be physically demanding, but the flexibility makes up for it. Management is understanding and really values work-life balance, which isn’t something every job offers.

Dogs are my passion, so I really enjoyed working here. I got a lot of hands-on experience that's invaluable to me. I thought the work environment was good, the people were nice and easy to connect with, and the stability was really nice. 

I LOVED getting to meet and work with so many dogs, but, as any dog trainer will tell you, there's always one that's not so fun... However, SMS always did a good job navigating (and helping me navigate) the trickier dogs, which was important. No dog deserves to be treated badly, and SMS really exemplified that idea during my time there.

I have been with SMS San Antonio for two years now, and I am very happy in my position and with the company. The work environment is positive, and our team has the shared vision and mission in helping dog owners and dogs reach their full potential in training. Although it is a small business, there is opportunity to grow professionally -- and always something new to learn, for both trainers and office staff. Our owner invests into the growth of individual team members and the team as a whole. I feel that I am valued, appreciated, and fairly compensated for the work that I do, and I am happy to be part of the SMS team!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Dog trainer 16 salaries reported	$15.94 per hour
Kennel technician 5 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Administrative assistant 1 salary reported	$46,000 per year
Office assistant 2 salaries reported	$16.00 per hour
Office administrator 3 salaries reported	$16.50 per hour

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