Bark Busters Walnut Creek, Concord, Pleasanton Reviews

Reviews

31 Reviews ★★★★★(Average 5 out of 5)

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  • Jenny F.
    2 years ago — Danville, CA

    Photo of Zoe Dan is a lifesaver! Zoe is a 5 year old strong willed Corgi who constantly was barking, pulling, jumping and overall not listening. After the first lesson with Dan, my boyfriend and I saw a major improvement with how she was walking and she was starting to understand that she was no longer in charge. After our second lesson with Dan, my boyfriend and I saw a new well - behaved Corgi. She understands how to walk with us, she grasps that certain areas of the house are not her space but my boyfriend's and mine, and she is understanding the commands when we tell her not to bark. I did not think it was possible to see her improve and the fact that she did and turned the corner so quickly was very impressive! This is all thanks to Dan!

    • #Aggression
    • #Barking
    • #Hyperactivity
    • #Jumping up
    • #Pulling
  • Carol D.
    3 years ago — Pleasanton, CA

    Dan showed up a few minutes early to the house And told me all about the program and what to expect. He was very thorough reviewing and showing me how bark busters works through non-aggressive training. I have a Jack Russell named Olive who is four months old and if anybody knows anything about Jack Russells, they are crazy active. She calmed down and watched and listen to his commands and actually obeyed. Of course the trick will be to see if I can get the same results. lol

    • #Barking
    • #Hyperactivity
    • #Jumping up
    • #Puppy management
  • Victoria M.
    3 years ago — Berkeley, CA

    Dan Lan Franco has changed our home forever in the best way possible! My husband and I were hesitant to do training since our dog is a 3 year old chocolate lab. We tried training her ourselves as a puppy, but it did not work out so we just gave up. After our son turned one years old, we knew she needed some extra training since us training her as a puppy was not as successful as we wanted. Not even 3 sessions in and our sweet girl is doing amazing!! She is listening 10x better, respects our space when we get ready to walk out of the door and is barking way less at visitors. We have more sessions to go but even our neighbors have seen a huge difference in her. We just got a puppy and plan to add him on to training because we couldn’t imagine live without Bark Busters now!!

    • #Barking
    • #Chewing
    • #Jumping up
    • #Pulling
    • #Puppy management
    • #Recall
  • Sara F.
    3 years ago — Walnut Creek, CA

    Photo of Jasper I can not express my gratitude enough towards Dan!!! We got a new puppy and he was all over the place! Dan helped us so far with potty training, claiming my kitchen, front door and sooooo much more!! I constantly get compliments that he is such well behaved puppy!!! I cannot agree with everyone more and all that credit goes to Dan guidance and coaching. He always returns call/emails quickly when questions comes up between sessions. I highly recommend him. He is truly amazing!!!!

    • #Puppy management
    • #Separation anxiety
  • Darcy B.
    3 years ago — Walnut Creek, CA

    We rescued Luna 2 months ago and knew immediately that we needed help. Separation anxiety was our main issue to tackle and we had no idea where to start. We found Dan with Bark Busters and were able to meet with him right away. We love the convenience of having the training done in our home and in a one on one setting.

    After only 3-4 sessions, Luna is a different dog. Her separation anxiety has seriously improved. With Dan's help, her leash manners, potty training, comfort level around new people, etc have all gotten better too. Dan is very responsive and has been great about creating a training plan tailored to our needs. We focus on just a few things at a time so that it doesn't feel overwhelming. He has a simple yet effective idea for every issue that I bring up. I highly recommend working with Dan!

    • #Pulling
    • #Separation anxiety
    • #Toileting
  • Jesse T.
    3 years ago — Walnut Creek, CA

    My family is thrilled with our experience with Dan and the Bark Busters program over the past two months. We recently rescued one year old Maddi - a very independent and spirited black lab mix who we were told spent the majority of her first year as a stray. Maddi likely never lived in a home before, and had no experience being on leash. Maddi is sweetheart at her core, but as she got more comfortable in our home in the first few weeks we started to have some challenges with potty training, bolting, jumping, nipping, chewing, lunging at the cat etc. We do not have experience training a dog with Maddi's background, and knew she would benefit from some professional support to transition to her new life as a family dog. After a lot of research, we decided to try Bark Busters. We could not be happier we did! Dan is a treasure. He is knowledgeable, responsive, easy to communicate with and set appointments, confident as a trainer, patient as a teacher, and very pleasant to work with. Dan came to our first session ready to listen to our experiences with Maddi - he took notes, observed us all together, interacted with Maddi, and quickly identified her as a "front of the pack" dog. He explained some of the tendencies and behaviors that are characteristic to this kind of dog, and it was like a little light bulb went off. We were already on our way to better understanding our pup. We have met with Dan 4 times so far. Dan has provided valuable insights and has demonstrated really helpful exercises during each session that we can practice with Maddi to improve her behaviors and help her understand her new role in our family. We have learned how to become leaders of our pack - to "Bah" effectively, to claim our space, and to utilize praise and simple corrections to help teach Maddi what are acceptable and unacceptable behaviors while preserving her wonderful personality and spirit. We have learned how to support Maddi's leash training, and how to start socializing her with our cat so they can be more tolerant house mates. Maddi showed progress immediately, with significant improvements in her behavior after just the first session. Her progress has steadily continued over the last two months. After each session Dan provides more training exercises that are tailored to our goals, and seeks feedback in between our sessions to see how the exercises are going. Dan has gone above and beyond to make our training run smoothly. He has been flexible when our schedules have changed, and he even made a special trip to our home to bring Maddi a better fitting harness when we were starting our leash training. We are incredibly satisfied with our experiences so far, and are eager to continue our work together. Thank you Dan and Bark Busters!

    • #Barking
    • #Digging
    • #Jumping up
    • #Pulling
  • Tyler O.
    3 years ago — Pleasanton, CA

    If you want the perfect way to raise a perfect pooch call Bark Busters. I waited because I was embarrassed about my dog's behaviors and I shouldn't have. The dog training is easy to follow and it really works. Jules is 8 months old (we think, she is pound puppy) and we have People think she has been in training for years...

    • #Barking
    • #Jumping up
    • #Pulling
    • #Puppy management
    • #Recall
  • Linda T.
    3 years ago — Walnut Creek, CA

    Dan is a GREAT trainer to get your dogs to learn to obey their owners. He has helped us with a variety of issues for both of our dogs. Because they were both pandemic dogs, they had severe separation anxiety when we went back to work. We also had a hard time walking both of them on leash. Dogs are amazing animals that are great companions, but they need training to learn how to behave. And we humans need training to understand how to properly communicate with our furry friends. If they aren't properly trained they can exhibit problematic behaviors and they wind up being blamed for these behaviors. Dan really teaches you how to communicate with your dog. He spends more time training the owner than the dog, because that's really where the training begins -- consistency, respect and love.

    As first time dog owners of two German Shepherd, we've had quite a bit of a learning curve. Without Bark Busters we would have continued to struggle and not known how to get our pups to behave. The BB method works. In addition to a solid training method, Dan is always available to help out if your dog is struggling with issues. I highly recommend Dan to train your dogs

    • #Barking
    • #Pulling
    • #Recall
    • #Sibling rivalry
    • #Separation anxiety
  • Tyler A.
    3 years ago — Alamo, CA

    I was about ready to give up on my dog until Dan walked into the picture. I tried other trainers. I tried treat training. It seemed that Maude and I were on separate pages. Thank goodness for Dan and his easy-to-follow but fun training! If you follow his methods and do your homework your dog will start listening to you. No more jumping at the front door and barking at other dogs while we walk. Yeah!!!!

    • #Aggression
    • #Barking
    • #Jumping up
    • #Recall
    • #Toileting
  • Chelsea W.
    3 years ago — Berkeley, CA

    Dan has been working with my stubborn English bulldog for three sessions now and I'm so impressed with the progress! Before training with Dan she was incessantly barking for attention, not listening to commands, and all general being difficult. After the first session I saw a decrease in the attention barking! My dog immediately responded well to Dan and his techniques. While we are still making baby steps, the training has really improved my relationship with my dog. I'm able to regain her attention now when my anxious dog gets fixated on something, walk out the front door without her tripping me, and she's getting all around less bossy.

    Dan focuses on how to communicate with your dog, establish leadership, and in turn trust. He teaches you how to correct your dog in a humane, but effective way.

    It's not a magic fix, it takes time and effort, but if you're willing to keep up with the exercises he shows you, you will see important improvements for you and your dog. Dan is committed to helping your pet.

    I was so worried about hiring a trainer and not having it work. I thought I would end up discouraged if I couldn't find a trainer that knew how to handle my dogs needs, but I can say it was the best investment in my bully's and mine relationship I could have made. If I get a second dog ever, Dan will be my first call to rehire.

    • #Barking
    • #Pulling