Paula has been an amazing asset to our household. We have 2 young Australian Cattle dogs (1 is deaf and the other was practically uncontrollable) and she has done an amazing job training us how to gain the role of leaders in our pack. Her extensive background in studying animal behavior gives her a true understanding of how we should be interacting with our dogs to gain their trust and respect. It’s not a program of treat rewards, but rather teaching us how animals react and perceive our behavior and giving us the tools to gain command of the household. In gaining the role of leaders, our dogs learned to trust us and respond to our commands. It’s no longer a constant battle with them, but now they look to us for leadership and guidance. We were beyond frustrated and having conversations about whether we would be able to live with these dogs. We had studied and read and searched for answers on how to train our dogs and get things under control. We had also worked with another trainer who was clearly not equipped to deal with the challenge of our dogs. Walter, our male is very dog aggressive and can also be this way with humans, as well. We could not even take him for walks as he would lunge and bark uncontrollably at every passing person and dog. He was even getting aggressive with us from time to time and it was coming to the point where we had no idea how he would react at any given time. We started working with Paula after the COVID shutdown and she suggested we get started right away using Zoom and Facetime. We had meetings to discuss our concerns and struggles and that would be followed by her doing virtual training sessions with us in our home and yard and eventually that lead to her going on walks with us with the dogs while she observed and guided us through facetime. I was skeptical of the thought of doing virtual training, but she has been amazing. With the ability to observe us with our dogs, she could immediately identify the problems because of her expert background in animal behavior. Paula give us the tools of how to adjust how we were interacting with them. We have now had the chance to work with her in person while social distancing at a local park where she continues guide us down path of understanding what our dogs need. Walter is now responding to our input and looking to us for guidance. He is a work in progress, but we are now taking him to the beach and on walks around our neighborhood and understand now how to get him in control when he has a moment. Our household is now peaceful, and our dogs are trusting us more and more every day! She is amazingly patient with all of our questions and concerns. Our sessions always start with a summary of how things are going since our last visit, and she uses that information to shape the session based on our input. What I am trying to say is, she does not have a program that based on a schedule and structure of a rigid path. She is always adjusting and tweaking to our needs and pace of our training. I would not hesitate to recommend Paula to family, friends and complete strangers. She is one of a kind and WILL help you to live a more peaceful life with your pets. Do not hesitate to reach out and meet with her. You will not regret the decision.
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Bark Busters dealt with Aggression, Barking, Other, Pulling, Puppy management, Separation anxiety
Trainer note from Steven and Paula :
Thank you Eric. It is a pleasure to work with such great people and amazing dogs.