Sit Stay Succeed Dog Training

Sit Stay Succeed Dog Training Relationship based in-home solutions from basic obedience to troubleshooting behavioral concerns. Certified dog trainer, CCDT, utilizing force free methods.

We serve Southside VA and northern NC

We hit 600 followers!!Thank you all so much for helping us reach 600 followers!Every like, comment, and share means the ...
10/17/2025

We hit 600 followers!!

Thank you all so much for helping us reach 600 followers!

Every like, comment, and share means the world to us. Whether you are a client, supporter, or just someone who loves to follow along for science-backed training tips, you are the reason we are here!

Your support helps spread the message that training with kindness and understanding builds trust, confidence, and stronger bonds between people and their dogs.

Here's to learning, wagging tails, and celebrating every small success, together.

Thank you for being an amazing part of this journey.

- Sit Stay Succeed Dog Training

Most dogs are selective when it comes to social preferences. In fact, some researchers estimate that only 10% of dogs ar...
10/16/2025

Most dogs are selective when it comes to social preferences. In fact, some researchers estimate that only 10% of dogs are truly dog-social. The rest are either dog-selective (the highest percentage) or dog-aggressive.

Dog-social dogs are those dogs you see everywhere in public. They are outgoing, confident, relaxed, and enjoy the company of other dogs. You may also see them as therapy dogs or used as demonstration dogs in training classes.

Dog-selective dogs may have a few doggy friends and/or have preferences that include a particular s*x, breed, temperament, or intact vs altered. You may see these dogs out and about in social settings as well, but owners may not allow greetings with other unknown dogs or they may simply keep their dog farther away from crowds and other dogs, especially if the dog is fearful.

Dog-aggressive dogs are generally not seen in public unless the owner can keep a significant distance from other dogs. You will also not see these dogs at dog parks or day care. However, remember that aggressive dogs still require enrichment and deserve to be outdoors as much as any other dog. Owners just have to be careful and make smart choices when it comes to the environment they put their dogs in.

What kind of dog do you have?

Everyone, Mozart! Mozart, everyone! This stunning boy is a smidge over a year old. We will be working on increasing moti...
10/14/2025

Everyone, Mozart! Mozart, everyone! This stunning boy is a smidge over a year old. We will be working on increasing motivation, building foundational skills, and teaching mat work. He is sweet as pie and I'm excited to be working with him and his family.

Mya (black GSD), Dakota (red/black GSD x collie), and Kaiser (sable GSD) want to know what your training goals are for t...
10/13/2025

Mya (black GSD), Dakota (red/black GSD x collie), and Kaiser (sable GSD) want to know what your training goals are for the week!

Are you building new good habits?
Teaching a new cue?
Practicing and improving on a current skill?

Let us know in the comments below!

A little friday funny for you.
10/10/2025

A little friday funny for you.

Dogs never bite out of the blue. There is *always* a reason. Here are a few reasons your dog may bite:- fear- anxiety- p...
10/09/2025

Dogs never bite out of the blue. There is *always* a reason. Here are a few reasons your dog may bite:

- fear
- anxiety
- pain
- stress
- frustration
- abuse
- resource guarding

So, how do we prevent bites?

**LEARN HOW TO READ YOUR DOG'S BODY LANGUAGE**

The infographic contains some very common signs of stress and appeasement/calming signals:

- yawning
- stiff body
- high tail
- tucked tail
- ears pulled back
- tongue flick/lip licking
- turning head away
- whale eye
- tight lips
- freezing
- staring

This list is not exhaustive.

You may only see one or two of these signs, or you may see many.

If your dog feels that his body language is being ignored, you will likely see escalation. This is where pet parents say the bite "came out of the blue/nowhere". The signs *were* there, they were either missed or ignored. Saying that, if the dog was in an abusive home prior to yours, a bite may very well appear to come out of the blue due to that dog's prior history of not being respected. But, that is still a reason. There is always a reason for why our dogs do what they do.

As a note: YOU know your dog best, so seeing one of these signs on its own may or may not be indicative of stress. Look at the whole picture, the entire context of what happened prior to seeing the sign, including other body language and behavior, as well as what was happening when you saw the sign.

We recommend that our clients spend some time on YouTube googling "dog body language", "calming signals" and similar. This way, you can see in real time what to look for. Then you can practice identifying those signals on your own dog.

What is the hardest behavior for you to identify?

Friendly PSA: keep your water bowls clean! Our smaller bowl upstairs gets cleaned and refilled each day while the much l...
10/07/2025

Friendly PSA: keep your water bowls clean! Our smaller bowl upstairs gets cleaned and refilled each day while the much larger tub downstairs gets cleaned once a week. Here is a little information on Biofilm.

Dogs aren't stubborn. They don't think or behave like humans and do not have the mental capacity to think in the ways th...
10/06/2025

Dogs aren't stubborn. They don't think or behave like humans and do not have the mental capacity to think in the ways that we define as being stubborn. So, when your dog ignores you, it isn't out of spite or defiance. It is, however, important information for you to take note of.

Why are dogs, then, "stubborn"?

Dogs are generally called stubborn when you ask them to do something and they ignore the cue. But we need to dig a little deeper to understand the reasons why they aren't responding in a manner we prefer.

Here are 4 common reasons why our dogs may appear "stubborn":

- the cue hasn't been practiced or rewarded enough. Practicing helps your dog make the association between the behavior and a reward. Rewarded behaviors will be repeated. Behaviors that are not rewarded will extinguish.

- the dog doesn't understand the cue in that particular context. This can be due to lack of generalization - practicing the cue in increasingly difficult (and new) circumstances.

- something in the environment is more interesting than you. Dogs excell at doing one thing at a time. For example, if they are deeply involved in sniffing, they do not have the capacity to also focus on what you are saying. Also, if you haven't worked on your relationship to show your dog that you, yourself, are highly rewarding, then your dog will likely always choose the environment over you.

- the dog is overstimulated or anxious and over threshold. Anxiety can cause a dog to shut down, which includes the ability to respond to cues.

Take all of this information and knowledge about the scenario on question and use it to guide future training sessions.

Name an occasion when you tried to get your dog's attention but felt that he was being "stubborn". What was your response?

Look at these girls focusing intently on their mommas! The ability to disengage from a trigger (another dog, or person) ...
10/04/2025

Look at these girls focusing intently on their mommas! The ability to disengage from a trigger (another dog, or person) and behave in a calm and responsive manner is a major goal of our socialization walks. It works, even with only two dogs present. In fact, one might argue that this is the most effective starting point, as neither dog is overwhelmed or over threshold from many additional triggers. But, even with our larger group walks we can change certain conditions, such as how close one dog is to another, to lead to improved behavior. Join us next month on November 8th to start your journey to a calmer dog.

Shared from "KnowYourDog" : FUN FACT #11 – TURNING A DEAF EARDo you recognize that moment when you turn down your car r...
10/02/2025

Shared from "KnowYourDog" : FUN FACT #11 – TURNING A DEAF EAR

Do you recognize that moment when you turn down your car radio so you can see better? Especially when we think we might have gotten lost, and we want to focus on reading street names, a radio can be very distracting. Thinking about this rationally it might not make sense, after all you wouldn’t think that a radio affects your vision, or does it...?

Another common example is where you completely ignored someone who started speaking to you while you were just enjoying your favorite movie. Research refers to this phenomenon as “inattentional deafness”. Studies on humans revealed that concentration on visual tasks will render you temporarily deaf to normal-volume sounds. Brain scans showed that people were not ignoring or filtering out the sounds, but that they were not hearing them in the first place! The findings support a shared audio-visual centre, which, when depleted under load, leads to failures of sensory perception and awareness.

Now let’s look at dogs. There is an area in the brain called the thalamus. The thalamus is responsible for relaying sensory information such as hearing, sight, touch and pain. It also enables the dog to concentrate on one (!) thing at a time.

Hence, when your dog is sniffing intently (*reading his favorite book*), he will very likely not hear you! Be patient, wait for your dog to finish his “book” and then call him over. Never assume your dog is ignoring you on purpose.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CmuWHMiDT/

Let's see your black dogs! Today is National Black Dog Day, which raises awareness for Black Dog Syndrome. This is a phe...
10/01/2025

Let's see your black dogs! Today is National Black Dog Day, which raises awareness for Black Dog Syndrome. This is a phenomenon where black dogs are less likely to be adopted out than dogs of other colors, due to varying reasons, including negative cultural associations and difficulty photographing and discerning their facial expressions. Today, we appreciate the fact that black dogs are just as loveable, personable, and loyal as any other dog. This is my black german shepherd dog, Mya, at a year or two old.

Please be aware that our monthly socialization walk will be THIS Saturday, October 4th, instead of next week. Walks will...
09/29/2025

Please be aware that our monthly socialization walk will be THIS Saturday, October 4th, instead of next week. Walks will resume on the 2nd Saturday in November.

This month (October) we will be meeting in Boydton at 830 am. Please let us know if you will be attending.

If you are curious about why we hold socialization walks, they are a wonderful way to help a shy or anxious dog with their confidence and to teach neutrality for an overly social dog. For best results we recommend attending these group walks as frequently as possible in addition to working on skills at home. We can help you get set up with the "how-to" during your first walk.

Please be ready to provide proof of vaccinations prior to the date of the walk. Puppies must have finished ALL core vaccinations + rabies and adults must have at least rabies.

One dog per handler and please use a 6ft leash. No flexi-leads allowed.

$15/dog

Shoot us an email if you would like to know if your dog would be a good fit or if you would like to attend. This is not an appropriate event for aggressive dogs.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

[email protected]

Address

Clarksville, VA
23927

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 11am - 4pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

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