Buck & Ruth Skinner dog training reviews

I have had dogs my whole life and when my black lab Buddy died a week before Christmas this past year I was heartbroken to say the least. We rescued him when he was 8 weeks old from an abusive family member and had him for 17 years. I went to a shelter feeling Buddy would have wanted me to rescue another dog and that is where I fell in love with the cutest little puppy ever. They told me at the shelter that he was found in an abandoned garage in the freezing winter. He was 7 weeks old (an estimate). We brought him home and named him Bailey. He was skin and bones and had feces and urine covering his coat. So the first thing he got was a bath and then I feed him he ate like it was his first meal. We took him to the vet the very next day where he confirmed that he was extremely malnourished and full of worms (I have never seen worms that big come out of a 4 lb. puppy before). The problems started right away. He was not a normal puppy you could not go near him or touch him. He would snarl, growl and bite. He would chomp down hard and not let go drawing blood. He ripped up and tried to eat everything including his feces. I tried every training technique I knew and more and could not get him to stop. As I stated earlier I had not just trained well behaved other dogs but trained extremely obedient excellent dogs. I had friends and family members calling me to help me train their dogs. I had 3 people who were afraid of dogs get a dog after being around Buddy and seeing how good and loving a dog can be. So not getting anywhere with Bailey I called to get help. The first animal behaviorist I had over my house worked with Bailey for over 2 hours and told me to either put him down (not an option for me) or keep him caged his whole life that he would always be mean and aggressive (also not an option). I had 2 trainers over with the same outcome he bit them. They both said they did't know what to do with him. I called in another behaviorist and she was the worst yet she walked in the door screaming and kicking at him saying that I needed to show him I was the alpha dog. Well he didn't give up to her alpha cr*p and she concluded to put him down that there was no saving him. This went on for over 3 months I was a bloody mess from my fingers to my shoulders, from my toes to my butt. He was in his playpen most of the time because whenever he was out (to potty or eat) we were bit. Every pair of pants I had and every shirt I owned was ripped. After over 3 months of this craziness and thousands spent on the so called best behaviorists and trainers around I was at my wits end. I was truly ready to give up and it would have really killed me to put him down I would have died too. My son asked me to try one more person so I went back to the computer for another search and found Bark Busters. I did the rate your dogs behavior and he was of course at the bottom. I read the testimonials and sent Ruth an email. She called that day and we arranged for her to come out to my house in 2 days. When she came I had no expectations and felt it would be the same scenario nothing she could do. She walked in the door and he attacked her. She had him under control within minutes using safe humane techniques. She stayed over 2 hours working with him and me. She has come back a couple more times and taught us more. I have a changed dog no more biting, snarling and growling. He doesn't rip everything up and try to eat it. He can actually be out of his playpen without me watching him 24/7. He doesn't touch the garbage or anything that is not his anymore. He plays with his toys and leaves all of my things alone. Ruth is a miracle she saved Bailey when everyone else said put him down. He listens to me now and we can touch him, feed him out of our hands and pet him. He was always very smart and knew every command instantly sit, down, off, stay, watch me and leave it. Now he does them all and waits to for me to tell him ok. He still gets very excited and wants to play and go crazy a lot but he is not biting and all puppies want to play. I hope if you are reading this you don't call all the other people like I did. If you have a dog that is aggressive to you, other people, kids, other animals, tearing apart everything (he went through 5 leashes, 3 beds, anything he could get his paws on was ripped up and he would try to eat it) please call Ruth first! I can't express in words enough good things about her! She saved Bailey when no one else could. Thank you so much Ruth from the bottom of my heart! Permalink

I have a 25-pound sheltie named Gizmo. I have had him since he was 9 weeks old. He is full of energy and was constantly running, jumping and barking day and night. Every time the doorbell rang, he would go nuts barking and running around. Every time someone came in my home he would jump all over them and not leave them alone. I live in an apartment complex with a lot of neighbors and every time the entrance door opened or closed he would bark for 10 minutes straight in a high-pitched sound. It drove me crazy to the point where I was seriously thinking about giving him away. But then my vet's receptionist recommended "Bark Busters" and what a wonderful rescue. After the first visit by Ruth, there was a major change in Gizmo. She showed me how Gizmo was training me and not the other way around. Since then, Ruth has come over again, and I have learned a great deal from her. Gizmo is a different dog and only after 2 visits. Ruth taught me how to train Gizmo instead of him training me. He does not bark all night, run around like a crazy dog, bark and jump on people who come over to visit, and when I or my son do not want to play, he settles right down and waits for us. Another thing he did was he went through 4 leashes by chewing them up, but he doesn't do that anymore. Permalink

I'm a 95-pound girl who had a 150-pound dog that she couldn't control. He had made it his personal mission in life to kill all delivery men (especially pizza guys). When someone would knock at the door, he'd go into full "attack mode" - barking, growling, foaming at the mouth, and slamming his body into the door. Sometimes, he'd bark as long as 20 minutes after the person left. If I was the only person home, I'd have to tie my dog to a (VERY) solid couch with his leash, just so he couldn't get to the front door.---After one session with Ruth, I no longer feel the need to tip the pizza guy $20 just for being brave enough to do his job. =) ---Shunka barks maybe once or twice and he doesn't charge the door anymore. He also leaves a respectful distance between himself and the door. His progress (in one day) was absolutely amazing. It's worth every penny.---I can't wait until our next session! I wonder what my dog and I will learn next week. =) Permalink

I have owned dogs my entire life however I had never heard of Bark Busters. My husband & I have in the last 10 years decided that Rhodesian ridgebacks were the dog for us. My current dog, Max, was a rescue of a kind (the 3-yr-old in his family developed allergies) and we had the luck to adopt him. He was 6 years old at the time. He came with a pre-paid therapist - Bark Busters. My initial thought was something along the lines of "Yeah, right." Permalink

Before Ruth arrived, I was very skeptical...I have a Great Pyrenees and a chocolate Lab. My Pyrenees always barks outside and the neighbors weren't happy. Within the first hour, my dogs were changed. They listened to my husband and I and my Pyrenees did not bark (even with loud neighbors behind us playing). I am simply amazed and cannot thank Bark Busters enough!! Permalink

Before we contacted Buck and Ruth Skinner, I thought our doggie was a hopeless case. Uncontrollable barking, jumping up, not listening. We love our 4-year-old Corgi, but with a baby on the way, we didn't know how we could control him. Within 2 hours of training with Bark Busters, we began to have hope for dog! Permalink