Winston

Our Sit Happens story begins before we even had a dog. Mike and I were asked to dog-sit for friends while they were on vacation for a month.When we met their dog, Lyla, we were instantly impressed with how well behaved she was. When we asked them what their secret was, they said, “Sit Happens.” Right away, we knew we wanted our future dog to behave like a Sit Happens dog.

When Mike and I decided that we were ready for a dog, we had a few things in mind:1- We wanted an AmStaff
2- We wanted a puppy
3- We were going to start training with Sit Happens ASAP.

We started looking for puppies through the SPCA and other rescue groups, and found Motley Zoo Animal Rescue in Washington. After missing out on an older puppy, we were contacted about a litter of puppies that had just been born and would be ready for adoption in a few weeks.

We made the trek down to Redmond for an adoption event and met the litter of puppies known as the Autobots. Mom was a stray AmStaff picked up in California and moved to Washington for a better chance at a forever home.

She had 12 puppies in a foster home, one of them named Optimus Prime. When we first met Optimus Prime, we knew that he was the puppy for us!

After bringing him home (and changing his name to Winston), the first thing we did was schedule a consult with Sit Happens. We were so impressed with how quickly Winston learned “come” and “sit.” We were also impressed with how knowledgeable Marilyn, Jeff and Juergen are. Several times, I called Jeff about housebreaking issues or training questions and he always had the answer.

About one month into training, Mike and I started having trouble communicating with Winston. He would get confused about what command he was supposed to be doing, and every command turned into “sit” for him. After lots of home practice and group sessions (and lots of one-on-one time with Jeff, Marilyn and Jurgen), Mike and I figured out how to clearly communicate with Winston and how to help him if he got confused. Just a few months later, we found out that Winston was going to be puppy of the month!

Everywhere Winston goes, he get compliments about how well-trained he is.Friends and family are impressed that he stays on his ‘place’ during dinner, that he heels during walks and he comes when called- all at less than 10 months old!

We will be training all of our future dogs with Sit Happens and recommend them to anyone who asks!