14 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
It's a common misconception that veterinarians have the most well-behaved dogs. It's often the opposite! I adopted my basset hound at 2 years of age when I was in vet school. She came to me poorly trained, and I unfortunately did little to correct that. Over the years I put my efforts into helping other people's dogs instead of my own, and her bad habits worsened, to the point where my life often revolved around them. It took 8 years for me to finally get frustrated to the point where I needed to ask for help. I had a few colleagues who had good experiences with Bark Busters so I decided to give it a try. I had little expectations for success, as other methods I had tried did not work, and I had allowed her anxiety issues and bad behavior to go on for far too long. I was blown away by the results we had even in the first training session. Mark was extremely thorough and patient walking us through their methods and the first few exercises with our dog. I was shocked when I was able to let a treat drop to the floor and my dog listened to me and didn't immediately go after it! Mark also outlined a clear plan for the exercises we were to do in between sessions, and I was pleased to see that they were easy to follow and we didn't back-track. By the second session we were able to put her in a crate, which I hadn't been able to do in years without a major meltdown on both our parts. Mark even came with me to work, where my dog has had the majority of her anxiety issues, to work on training. I learned through Bark Busters that I have a very trainable dog, I just wasn't doing it right! All parties involved, including my dog, are much happier now. I truly feel that the Bark Busters training method can be effective, when owners commit to doing the homework outside of appointments as well as the work during the appointments.
17 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
I've spent almost a thousand dollars on other trainers without any tangible results. I was getting more tense as my little shih tzu's separation anxiety was getting worse. After my first training session with Mark, you can see a lot of difference with Chuey. He learned and retained all the "tricks" without threats or treats. After a month, you can see a more confident dog. I wished I've met Mark earlier but always better late than never!
18 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
Mark saved our lives. We had a brand new puppy and no idea what to do or how to train him. Within one session, Mark had us working with the dog to sit and stay. He also established boundaries in our open floor plan home whereby Harry would only go in the kitchen, family room or mud room - a big help given that he was not fully housebroken. I don't know that we would have been able to keep Harry without Mark and he is how the favorite member of our family! I can't thank him enough for everything he did, recommendations on house training, food to feed him, nutritious treats, what we should expect and most importantly how to work with him in a very effective and fun manner.
19 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
We didn't think there was any hope for our alpha dog's behavior. After learning the techniques from Mark and the simple "laws of the pack" we had a completely different dog. We only required 2 visits to gain control! We can never say thank you enough!! Now that we're out of the Northern Virginia area, I'm sorry to see that there's no franchise in Charlottesville.
Anonymous
14 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
It's a common misconception that veterinarians have the most well-behaved dogs. It's often the opposite! I adopted my basset hound at 2 years of age when I was in vet school. She came to me poorly trained, and I unfortunately did little to correct that. Over the years I put my efforts into helping other people's dogs instead of my own, and her bad habits worsened, to the point where my life often revolved around them. It took 8 years for me to finally get frustrated to the point where I needed to ask for help. I had a few colleagues who had good experiences with Bark Busters so I decided to give it a try. I had little expectations for success, as other methods I had tried did not work, and I had allowed her anxiety issues and bad behavior to go on for far too long. I was blown away by the results we had even in the first training session. Mark was extremely thorough and patient walking us through their methods and the first few exercises with our dog. I was shocked when I was able to let a treat drop to the floor and my dog listened to me and didn't immediately go after it! Mark also outlined a clear plan for the exercises we were to do in between sessions, and I was pleased to see that they were easy to follow and we didn't back-track. By the second session we were able to put her in a crate, which I hadn't been able to do in years without a major meltdown on both our parts. Mark even came with me to work, where my dog has had the majority of her anxiety issues, to work on training. I learned through Bark Busters that I have a very trainable dog, I just wasn't doing it right! All parties involved, including my dog, are much happier now. I truly feel that the Bark Busters training method can be effective, when owners commit to doing the homework outside of appointments as well as the work during the appointments.
PermalinkAnonymous
17 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
I've spent almost a thousand dollars on other trainers without any tangible results. I was getting more tense as my little shih tzu's separation anxiety was getting worse. After my first training session with Mark, you can see a lot of difference with Chuey. He learned and retained all the "tricks" without threats or treats. After a month, you can see a more confident dog. I wished I've met Mark earlier but always better late than never!
PermalinkAnonymous
18 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
Mark saved our lives. We had a brand new puppy and no idea what to do or how to train him. Within one session, Mark had us working with the dog to sit and stay. He also established boundaries in our open floor plan home whereby Harry would only go in the kitchen, family room or mud room - a big help given that he was not fully housebroken. I don't know that we would have been able to keep Harry without Mark and he is how the favorite member of our family! I can't thank him enough for everything he did, recommendations on house training, food to feed him, nutritious treats, what we should expect and most importantly how to work with him in a very effective and fun manner.
PermalinkAnonymous
19 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
We didn't think there was any hope for our alpha dog's behavior. After learning the techniques from Mark and the simple "laws of the pack" we had a completely different dog. We only required 2 visits to gain control! We can never say thank you enough!! Now that we're out of the Northern Virginia area, I'm sorry to see that there's no franchise in Charlottesville.
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