James & Michelle Rodriguez dog training reviews

We love our seventy-five pound dog, a mix of short-haired pointer and Great Dane; however, we had problems with him excitedly jumping on our guests to "greet" them and lunging at other dogs--not to hurt them, but to play. Since we have been given a different "head halter" leash and a few strategies to curtail his jumping on friends and family, he is listening to our commands much more readily and walking more obediently at our side. Our guests are more comfortable coming into our home now, and our neighbors are more comfortable with our walking by each other during our outings. We have the trainers of Bark Busters to thank. Permalink

Professionalism, Quality, Reliability, Responsiveness, Value We have nothing but positive things to say about Bark Busters! James did a phenomenal job during our first visit and it’s given us the confidence to train our 8 month old puppy in an effective way. He was starting to drive us nuts with his puppy behaviors - Barking, jumping, pulling on a leash, not coming when called, etc. Despite having already tried a group obedience class with little success, we were desperate for a different solution. I came across Bark Busters on yelp and read all the positive reviews and was very pleased with their mission/philosophy. They don't train with treats, they come to your house/tailor the training to your environment and dog, and genuinely want the dogs to be just dogs (I.e. not perfect, not show dogs, just great companions). When James arrived at the house, we explained that we had gone through a class but didn't feel we could keep up, and that it just wasn't working for our needs. He explained the difference between classes and his 1:1 training - the classes try to make dogs of varying ages / life stages keep up with the same goals each week, which is unrealistic and can result in feeling like you're failing. In his approach, they teach you what your dog (and you as the trainer) can realistically handle at his/her age, and then build on it gradually at the dogs pace, not the pace of a set # of weeks-long course. As simple of an explanation as that was, it was all we needed to know we had made the right choice with Bark Busters. James is super laid back, realistic, and helpful. He went through all our goals and explained how a majority of them could be solved by just one method in how we approach our dog and assert ourselves as the leader. Simple for us, simple for the dog. We saw progress during our first session and are excited to continue on! While it can seem expensive, we immediately saw the value in what they offer, and in their lifetime guarantee. If you are feeling overwhelmed by you dog, we 1000% recommend Bark Busters!! They are wonderful! Thank you, James & Michelle! Permalink

My dogs were absolute heathens. Untrained and very reactive to humans - barking, baying (they're hounds), jumping, crying. My female was especially frightened of men. After one session - ONE SESSION!!!! - there was a HUGE change. I was floored. My daughter just introduced her boyfriend to them and it could not have gone better. I'm so very pleased! I wish I could give 100 stars! Michelle and the Bark Busters model has literally changed our lives. I could not be more thankful! Permalink

Professionalism, Quality, Reliability, Responsiveness, Value I cannot speak highly enough of James and Michelle / Bark Busters! About 2 months ago, I adopted a timid adult dog that I had no idea how to handle. Michelle provided me with information about the structure of Bark Busters Home Dog Training and gave me so much confidence about the journey I was planning to begin. She had lots of knowledge about specific breeds (borzoi, for me) and even provided suggestions of other trainers that she would recommend in the area if I didn't choose to work with them. It was evident to me that the goal at Bark Busters is 100% whatever is best for the dog and his/her owner. In just one visit with James, I was able to learn SO much about how my dog thinks and what is important in training. James has checked in periodically and is always open to answering questions via text or email. He has worked with me at my home and in public places with distractions in order to train in real life situations. Two months ago, I had a dog who was scared to walk through a door frame and was very fearful on leash. Today, I have a dog who is relaxed on a walk, doesn't pull, and comes on command. I am so excited to continue to work with James and Michelle and would recommend them to anyone looking for guidance with dog training! Permalink

Professionalism, Quality, Reliability, Responsiveness, Value Bark Busters is a personalized dog training program that teaches you how to communicate with your dog. They help you understand how to speak dog language, use body language and commands that dogs will understand (almost immediately). We went from a place of “oh my goodness I don’t know why we got a puppy” to an attitude of “yes we can do this!” They are very responsive to questions, coming out to help and making sure you’re satisfied with the training received. This is not a one size fits all, vanilla training; they will customize the training to what your needs are and help address immediate concerns and identify next steps in the training regimen. Training is for the life of the dog so you have a training partner for life! Not many other programs have this benefit. You can’t go wrong with Bark Busters! Permalink

Our 5 lb. puppy, Milo, had taken over our home and we had no idea how to fix it, but we assumed it would be a long, painful and expensive process. Incredibly, in just a few minutes James taught us how to speak Milo’s language and he immediately began responding. The importance of understanding how to “speak dog” cannot be overstated in changing a dog’s behavior - and it’s not something you learn in obedience class (we know, spent 6 weeks doing these). We are massively relieved to know that we can regain control of our lives and our home. James is a skilled communicator and teacher and he made our first session a lot of fun. Didn’t realize we were putting so much pressure on our dog and ourselves until James explained it and showed us how to change our approach. We are so grateful to have found James and Michelle and we highly recommend them! Permalink

James is a really knowledgeable and helpful trainer. I appreciated how he took the time to listen and fully understand all of our concerns. We were having some serious behavior problems with resource guarding with our < 1 year old puppy. His methods did help to address this but also help to address a lot of smaller behavior problems overall that we didn’t even realize how much we wanted to correct. I would say we are 100% happier with our lives with our dog now. James is really easy to talk to and also makes himself very available by phone or text to answer and questions you have in real time about training. I highly recommend these bark busters trainers to anyone who has some sort of behavior problem they want fixed and don’t know the best strategy to handle it! Permalink

I adopted Murphy on July 27, 2019. He is a 4 1/2 year old Mini Australian Shepherd. He suffers from anxiety. Whenever we would have someone come to our house he would get very anxious. We had to put him in a room with the door closed. If we let him out while the person was still in the house he would attack them by biting at their lower legs or feet. If the person had left he would run around looking for them until he was sure that they were no longer in the house. We were having our family visiting for the holidays and were worried at how we were going to handle Murphy with our family visiting for a long period of time. Were we going to have to have him locked in a room for a week? After talking with James and him telling us how to make Murphy feel safe and know that we were in charge and that he did not have to be in charge. He showed us how to introduce our guest to Murphy with us in control. After working with Murphy for about 15-20 minutes a day following James instructions we were able to have Murphy be with our family and enjoy the holidays. Murphy is a very sweet and loving dog that loves his family and just wants to please us. We feel more confident about having people over to our house after working with James. We adopted Murphy knowing that he had some issues that we had to work through and with the help of Bark Busters and James we are getting a dog that we can love and who loves us back. Thank you so very much. Permalink

Positive: Punctuality, Quality, Responsiveness, Value - My husband and I could not be happier that we chose Bark Busters to help us with our German Shepherd puppy! She was out of control, quite the biter and furniture chewer, nervous, nearly impossible to bring outside, and unwilling to listen to us without treats. With only one session, James taught us how to take over as the leaders of our pack and our puppy's behavior improved dramatically! It honestly felt like a miracle because we had been so overwhelmed and discouraged. We're also glad we have their lifetime puppy package because we have so much help to guide us through new challenges that pop up as she goes through all her new puppy phases. With the amount of support you get, the value is unbeatable! With James's help and consistent daily work (that's honestly very manageable!), we are confident she will grow up to be a great dog! Permalink

Our puppy Izzy is a 16 week old Spinone Italiano. She was using my wife as a chew toy. After 2 days of following Michelle’s instructions on how to “speak dog”, Izzy is remarkably better. We highly recommend Michelle Rodriguez and BarkBusters. Permalink