Client Reviews and Testimonials

I have an older bassett hound who is a handful. We had just had a baby and my dog Sam's behavior was getting worse. He had no respect for us and was getting more and more aggressive. I researched a bunch of dog trainers and chose Gerard with Bark Busters. It is the best decision I could of made. Gerard listened to our problems and worked with us on how to help Sam. Sam will be never be the perfectly behaved dog because that's just not who he is, but with the training techniques we were taught we can all live together happily. My favorite thing about Gerard was how accessible he was. When I emailed him about a serious problem regarding aggression he called me in less then 10 min. He truly cares about animals and helping people. Permalink

Gerard was such a help! My rescue shepherd mix, Penny, is extremely fearful, particularly of men. She also was aggressive towards other dogs. Gerard worked with my dog and gave me tips and tricks to help Penny get over her fear of men. He gave me training exercises to do with Penny and then followed up on each. Each time Gerard came he provided more training exercises. WOW - what a difference! After three lessons, Penny is a much better behaved dog and the aggressiveness to other dogs is almost completely gone. Penny walks better on a leash, obeys commands more readily and is more fun to be around. She is much, much better around men and no longer ducks behind me to hide from them. She may not be enthusiastic about men but at least she isn't so scared and she gets better every day. Thanks Gerard! :) Permalink

We started working with Ryan last October with a couple of sessions for our new lab rescue puppy, Sophie. She did very good learning the basic skills. Ryan was awesome in explaining everything to us and then left detailed notes and homework assignments. It was all written down so we could easily follow his instructions. We just had him visit last week for a refresher session to teach new commands. And once again, Ryan did an amazing job. Within minutes he had me trained (which was probably the hard part of the lesson) and Sophie. I highly recommend that potential clients consider the one year plan. Having the ability to have Ryan visit for retraining of me and refreshers for Sophie is the best. Let face it, we all get into routines and sometimes we just need a fresh view on how to improve. Thanks Ryan for helping make Sophie a wonderful companion and a great - well behaved - member of the family!! Permalink

We are working with Bark Busters now with Ryan. We have been very pleased. We are learning how to be the alpha dog in our family versus letting our dog run the house. Our dog seems happier and much better behaved and I am much, much happier with our Milo. We still have work to do but feel confident with Ryan giving us tips onsite we will continue to improve. I cannot stress enough how important the onsite part is. When someone comes to your home and observes the behavior they are much better able to help you. I highly recommend this service. Permalink

This was the BEST THING we could have done for our family! I wish we had done it sooner. Lisa was wonderful [and] spent over three hours with us! THANK YOU! Permalink

After the complicated and non-effective training classes we tried, THIS EXPERIENCE WAS WONDERFUL. No one will believe how easy and how much sense this technique is. It seems like this should be common sense training but most of us have no idea. It is ALMOST TOO EASY to understand. I kept thinking that it all made total sense. I WAS AMAZED by the immediate response by my dogs. It was easy and it felt natural. Permalink

We have our little girl back. Nikki our 8yr old JRT has always been a bit more fight then flight and lived off her anxiety. When we got another pup to add to the mix she became distant, the fights started and were constant, and even ended up with my fiancé in an early morning ER visit. In reality of the 2 options we had, we went with the ladder. After the first session with Michael she was different. Even only after a month of working on her and her first public outing at a pet store, I got compliments on how well behaved she was. It has not been a full year yet and we can have toys back in our house and it is playful and peaceful. Michael literally saved her life. Now a days our dogs live around us, and not the other way around. Permalink

My boys and I now know how to get Sydney under control. He listens better and is a better pet. Sydney wants to learn. He loves the praise. He is doing a good job. We will keep up the training forever...It works!! Permalink

Richard first explained the techniques. Than showed me how to do it. Than observe me and Parker practicing, which helped tremendously. The one-on-one training is a great way to train both owner and dog. The training helped me gain confidence that I was training Parker correctly and I know it will make for a more pleasurable relationship with my dog. Permalink

We are learning a great deal. Each family member is working at an appropriate level - grownups, kids, dog. We see a difference with each session. Permalink