About Sit Happens Dog Training Nashville

Sit Happens Dog Training Nashville is Dave Stellato's in-home practice serving the greater Nashville area. The model is simple and stated repeatedly: the trainer drives to your house and works with you and the dog one-on-one, rather than running classes at a facility.

How it works

Three steps, as the site sets them out: you get in touch, they drive to your home, and they work with you one-to-one. The published entry point is a free in-home consultation or demonstration, booked through a short form. Ask about prices and program lengths.

What it is for

The behaviors named are everyday household problems plus some harder ones: jumping up, excessive barking, running away, destructive behavior, separation anxiety, leash pulling, soiling the house, nipping and chewing, and aggression. Potty training and crate training are named separately.

Method

The philosophy section is more considered than most. The site rejects the idea of dogs as "good or bad" – "dogs only act on instinct and those instincts are never anything more than appropriate or inappropriate" – and says that rather than punishing, the system teaches owners to get the dog's attention at the moment the behavior is inappropriate, and to end each interaction on a positive note. The stated balance is "fun first", building trust through "a balance of physical and mental exercises". The business also criticises what it calls BandAid approaches that mute a behavior instead of training the dog.

The distinguishing claim

Where a facility-based trainer proofs behavior in a training hall, Sit Happens argues the opposite: "Unlike other dog training programs, we use your home and the world at-large as your dog's classroom. We focus on preparing both of you for real life situations amid real life distractions." Clients quoted on the site repeatedly describe being taught to handle the dog themselves rather than having the dog handed back trained. Off-leash work, described as "Live Beyond the Leash", is presented as the end state rather than the starting point.