Back in February, I rescued Maple, my 3 year old pitbull mix from Mexico. She is the sweetest dog and loves humans, but immediately I noticed her anxiety and aggression towards other dogs. She was making accidents in the house daily, growling/pouncing/air- biting at other dogs on our walks and would jump on people when they tried to say hello. After multiple complaints of her behavior from my neighbors, I was at my wits end- frustrated and extremely anxious especially when I would take her out, scared I was going to come into contact with other dogs. I found Bark Busters on Yelp and connected with them immediately. The intake process was extremely thorough and I was set up to work with Justin a few weeks after I reached out.
To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I booked the appointment. The reviews on Yelp seemed promising so I was hopeful, but still very worried that Maple wasn't going to be receptive of help. I. Cannot. Rave. About. Justin. Enough. I don't think there is anything I can say that will explain how grateful I am for him. JUSTIN IS BEYONNNDD INCREDIBLE. Not only is he one of the most personable people ever, but he took time to explain to me the psychology behind Maple's misbehavior. I was able to understand what was going on and why my other attempts in correcting her behavior weren't working/ why what he was about to teach me was going to be successful. Justin exudes confidence and made me feel empowered when modeling how to redirect her. He was patient with the both of us, encouraging and validating all my anxieties though the whole process, the list goes on... He is clearly so knowledgeable about his craft and I honestly do not know how I got so lucky to be paired with him. In just two days, I have noticed major improvement. She no longer lunges at dogs and she walks right next to me on our strolls. I know it may sound absurd that he was able to create this much change in just a 2- hour session, but he is a MIRACLE WORKER!! I am just blown away!
Thank you, Justin for being so passionate and helpful with us. You changed our lives!
We've had our family dog Zeus for 7 years now. When we got him as a puppy, the breeder warned us that he was the "bully" of the litter and had a very dominant personality. Fast forward, and we had a dog that peed all over the house whenever and wherever. He jumped on people and had no boundaries. It was fine for the first few years, but then we did an expensive remodel on the inside of our home a needed to make significant behavior changes in the dog or give him up. Enter Bark Busters.
In One visit, we learned how our dog communicates and how we could begin to speak "dog.". One month later, Zeus is not only housebroken (COMPLETELY!), but he is calmer and more compliant. We also have the reassurance that we have Justin as a support for the life of our dog. Thank you so much! I don't write reviews usually, but Justin went above and beyond to help us with our dog. I highly recommend Bark Busters.
We reached out to Bark Busters for help with one of our dogs - issues included extreme leash pulling, reactivity on leash and in general, resource guarding and aggression/in-home fighting with our other dog. After years of trying to train on our own, we felt defeated, fearful about the future for our dog, and desperate for guidance. While we knew it was a significant investment, it was one that we felt was necessary to provide our dogs with a safe and full quality of life, and to relieve anxiety for us as owners.
When we met Justin, he was calm, confident and transparent. He took the time to walk through our challenges, listen to our concerns, and provide kind but honest feedback as to the root of the issues. He educated us on how to best communicate and set boundaries with our dogs in a way they would understand and respect.
His training methods are not only extremely effective (seriously!), but they are meant to create a lifelong trusting connection between you and your dog. Within the first session, we saw marked improvement and walked away with tangible training tools that we continue to implement daily. Justin remains committed to our dog’s training by checking in consistently via text and holding additional training sessions as we need them.
The relief and joy that we feel to be able to live life with calm, happy and trusting dogs is hard to put into words. It may sound as though we are exaggerating when we say that Justin changed our lives - but it’s simply the truth.
Reaching out to Bark Busters and Justin has been a great decision and I would 100% recommend it to anyone looking to improve they’re relationship with their dog.
We reached out for help with our 4 month old german shepherd's pup a couple months ago. We were constantly being bit at home and dealing with leash reactivity towards other dogs outside. This created a lot of stress and frustration for us. We didn’t want these things to get any worse so we had to take action.
Justin has been so understanding since the first encounter and was very honest with us. An advanced dog requires advanced leadership skills and we needed to build those. He gives us homework and exercises to do at home and constantly checks in with us.
We have a very sensitive pup, but he is also very stubborn which can sometimes serve as a barrier to progress. Justin has been super understanding and humble enough to try different things. His focus is on finding techniques that will help our dog and not forcing a technique to work. I’m most grateful for his eagerness to help and having constant open communication with honest feedback. We don’t need someone to sugar coat everything for us, we need someone to be assertive and tell us what it is we need to fix.
Our boy is a work in progress but we cannot be happier. He walks so much better, reacts significantly less to other dogs, and most importantly has a new found respect for us as leaders.
DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR PUP!
Allow Jenna and Justin to guide, advise, and encourage you to give your pup the best life.
I first met Jenna in February 2022. At this time, I was waving a flag of surrender. Anaya, my Doberman, American Staffordshire terrier, and Rottweiler mix, would bark uncontrollably. There were times when she would pull me with all of her strength. She would come off as an aggressive dog, and truthfully I was scared she would hurt another person or dog. I was a first-time dog owner. I did not know what to do!
I met other dog trainers before falling upon Bark Busters. Something different about them as dog trainers is that they learned my dog's personality and worked around what worked best for her. Another thing I appreciated was that they informed me WHY my dog would behave the way she did.
From my experience, my dog had needs that I did not know how to meet. Ultimately they helped me understand my dog better and helped me build trust with Anaya.
Today Anaya can befriend other dogs, appropriately welcome guests into our home, walk on a leash correctly, and more. Something that gives me confidence is that if by chance we backslide, I know Jenna is a phone call away.
Justin is not a dog trainer. He is a literal dog (and lets be honest, human) behavioral therapist. We reached out to Bark Busters when our now 11 month old Dogo Argentino puppy started showing sings of anxiety driven aggression towards other dogs. Our lives became extremely high stress. It was impossible to walk her, or even have the windows open in our home without her aggressively barking at other dogs. After ONE session with Justin, she is a completely different dog. Walks are calm and easy, and we get to see the sun in our home again. Unlike other trainers, he doesn't train the dog, he gave us the tools to train her. So when he left, we were able to use the tools he gave us to continue training.
He is also extremely friendly and responsive. Within a week of our first training session he reached out to us to check in. We explained a small issue we were having and he came over a few days later to help us out.
He has restored peace to our home and we can happily love on our baby girl again. I cannot stress enough that Bark Busters is worth every penny.
I absolutely recommend hiring Justin as a dog trainer! He is incredibly passionate about what he does, and has transformed our Chili into a calm well behaved dog.
We’ve been working together since she was a very small puppy and we couldn’t get her to stop barking in her crate. He showed us how to fix that in our first session. Along the way Justin has shown us how to keep her in a calm and relaxed state. He’s shown us how to fix her reactivity and barking which was driving us crazy, both in the house and on walks.
He has been so helpful and responsive along the way, and I’m not sure how we would have had a shot figuring out this stuff without him. Couldn’t recommend him more!
Justin in San Diego has been AMAZING. It's been 4 days since we started training with him and the results are already so drastic!
Ranger has a problem with pulling when on leash. Justin was able to get him to stop pulling within 10 ft of stepping outside. I've never seen him that calm and walking slowly on a walk before!
Ranger is also reactive to the doorbell. Within the second doorbell test, Ranger was calm, away from the door, and no barking. Back then, even if I get him to quiet down, as soon as the door opens he goes berserk again. But with Justin we were able to open the door, let the guest in, and Ranger didn't get up to greet whatsoever.
Our biggest concern was that Ranger liked to herd my niece and nephew by nipping at their ankles. The first day, we weren't able to recreate it. After 3 days, we finally went back to my sister's. He has not herded the kids ONCE. He's been sooo nice to them. He's been going up to them and laying next to them on his own. He's been giving them kisses instead of nipping at them. I have NEVER seen Ranger like this before. This is such drastic improvement in just one session!
We can't wait for future sessions with Justin. Can't recommend BarkBusters enough! If you're looking for a behaviorist, I HIGHLY recommend BarkBusters!
Seriously. They're not enough words to describe how amazing Bark Busters was.
We had a 10 yr old 70 lb rescue (pitbull/rhodesian ridgeback mix) who had a checkered past (had been used as a bait dog). We have had her for 9 years and she's been good. Iffy with some dogs so we just kept her out of dog parks. Mid January we rescued another dog (pitbull/staffy/? Mix) He is about 1yr old and was found running in a parking lot, emaciated. Well introductions didn't go well. He was partially house trained and knew how to sit but had NO doggy manners at all. He'd pull horribly on the leash, jump and climb all over us and the other dog. At which point she'd growl and then he'd try to bite her Throat. It was at the point we had baby gates installed and had to keep them separate. We were desperate And worried we might have to send the new dog back to the Humane Society.
ONE SESSION with Justin, at our home and the difference was LITERALLY night and day. I even had the two of them laying in our bed together! He walks nicely on the leash now, and we can even FEED them together!!! I can't say ENOUGH about this trainer. NO shock collar/prong collar/choke chain needed. And no excessive use of treats needed. I know. sounds like voodoo or something but IT WORKS. He's pricier than your standard "obedience" training but it's worth it!!! He works with you AND the dog. He comes to you so your dog is being trained in the home environment.
TLDR: BEST. TRAINER. EVER. Worth every penny! YOU WANT THIS TRAINER. TRUST ME.
Justin's great to work with! He's so patient with my pups which is definitely needed because I have 3 (Nala, Baxter, Chloe) that he's helping me work with. My main concern was their barking but during training I realized that my youngest pup Chloe was starting to get aggressive with other (stranger) dogs on the leash. It was awesome to see immediate results after the first day. Even better is that it wasn't hard to get follow up appointments. In addition, Justin is easy to reach through texts if I have questions in between appointments.
His methods work really well and he takes the time to make sure I'm doing it correctly (half the battle is me implementing the corrections correctly lol) and is patient and good about correcting me when I lapse and do something incorrectly. When one method doesn't seem to work well, he's got another one we can try. My aunt even commented that she noticed a huge difference in Chloe's behavior when she saw her. She hasn't seen the others yet but I'm sure she would say the same for them. I'm super glad I went with Bark Busters and Justin and I'm definitely going to be working with Justin again for any future pups!
Mia Y.
9 months ago
— Escondido, CA
Back in February, I rescued Maple, my 3 year old pitbull mix from Mexico. She is the sweetest dog and loves humans, but immediately I noticed her anxiety and aggression towards other dogs. She was making accidents in the house daily, growling/pouncing/air- biting at other dogs on our walks and would jump on people when they tried to say hello. After multiple complaints of her behavior from my neighbors, I was at my wits end- frustrated and extremely anxious especially when I would take her out, scared I was going to come into contact with other dogs. I found Bark Busters on Yelp and connected with them immediately. The intake process was extremely thorough and I was set up to work with Justin a few weeks after I reached out.
PermalinkTo be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I booked the appointment. The reviews on Yelp seemed promising so I was hopeful, but still very worried that Maple wasn't going to be receptive of help. I. Cannot. Rave. About. Justin. Enough. I don't think there is anything I can say that will explain how grateful I am for him. JUSTIN IS BEYONNNDD INCREDIBLE. Not only is he one of the most personable people ever, but he took time to explain to me the psychology behind Maple's misbehavior. I was able to understand what was going on and why my other attempts in correcting her behavior weren't working/ why what he was about to teach me was going to be successful. Justin exudes confidence and made me feel empowered when modeling how to redirect her. He was patient with the both of us, encouraging and validating all my anxieties though the whole process, the list goes on... He is clearly so knowledgeable about his craft and I honestly do not know how I got so lucky to be paired with him. In just two days, I have noticed major improvement. She no longer lunges at dogs and she walks right next to me on our strolls. I know it may sound absurd that he was able to create this much change in just a 2- hour session, but he is a MIRACLE WORKER!! I am just blown away!
Thank you, Justin for being so passionate and helpful with us. You changed our lives!
Dory G.
10 months ago
— El Cajon, CA
We've had our family dog Zeus for 7 years now. When we got him as a puppy, the breeder warned us that he was the "bully" of the litter and had a very dominant personality. Fast forward, and we had a dog that peed all over the house whenever and wherever. He jumped on people and had no boundaries. It was fine for the first few years, but then we did an expensive remodel on the inside of our home a needed to make significant behavior changes in the dog or give him up. Enter Bark Busters.
PermalinkIn One visit, we learned how our dog communicates and how we could begin to speak "dog.". One month later, Zeus is not only housebroken (COMPLETELY!), but he is calmer and more compliant. We also have the reassurance that we have Justin as a support for the life of our dog. Thank you so much! I don't write reviews usually, but Justin went above and beyond to help us with our dog. I highly recommend Bark Busters.
Desi M.
11 months ago
— Encinitas, CA
We reached out to Bark Busters for help with one of our dogs - issues included extreme leash pulling, reactivity on leash and in general, resource guarding and aggression/in-home fighting with our other dog. After years of trying to train on our own, we felt defeated, fearful about the future for our dog, and desperate for guidance. While we knew it was a significant investment, it was one that we felt was necessary to provide our dogs with a safe and full quality of life, and to relieve anxiety for us as owners.
PermalinkWhen we met Justin, he was calm, confident and transparent. He took the time to walk through our challenges, listen to our concerns, and provide kind but honest feedback as to the root of the issues. He educated us on how to best communicate and set boundaries with our dogs in a way they would understand and respect.
His training methods are not only extremely effective (seriously!), but they are meant to create a lifelong trusting connection between you and your dog. Within the first session, we saw marked improvement and walked away with tangible training tools that we continue to implement daily. Justin remains committed to our dog’s training by checking in consistently via text and holding additional training sessions as we need them.
The relief and joy that we feel to be able to live life with calm, happy and trusting dogs is hard to put into words. It may sound as though we are exaggerating when we say that Justin changed our lives - but it’s simply the truth.
Joel R.
11 months ago
— San Diego, CA
Reaching out to Bark Busters and Justin has been a great decision and I would 100% recommend it to anyone looking to improve they’re relationship with their dog.
PermalinkWe reached out for help with our 4 month old german shepherd's pup a couple months ago. We were constantly being bit at home and dealing with leash reactivity towards other dogs outside. This created a lot of stress and frustration for us. We didn’t want these things to get any worse so we had to take action.
Justin has been so understanding since the first encounter and was very honest with us. An advanced dog requires advanced leadership skills and we needed to build those. He gives us homework and exercises to do at home and constantly checks in with us.
We have a very sensitive pup, but he is also very stubborn which can sometimes serve as a barrier to progress. Justin has been super understanding and humble enough to try different things. His focus is on finding techniques that will help our dog and not forcing a technique to work. I’m most grateful for his eagerness to help and having constant open communication with honest feedback. We don’t need someone to sugar coat everything for us, we need someone to be assertive and tell us what it is we need to fix.
Our boy is a work in progress but we cannot be happier. He walks so much better, reacts significantly less to other dogs, and most importantly has a new found respect for us as leaders.
Arianna R.
11 months ago
— San Diego, CA
DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR PUP!
PermalinkAllow Jenna and Justin to guide, advise, and encourage you to give your pup the best life.
I first met Jenna in February 2022. At this time, I was waving a flag of surrender. Anaya, my Doberman, American Staffordshire terrier, and Rottweiler mix, would bark uncontrollably. There were times when she would pull me with all of her strength. She would come off as an aggressive dog, and truthfully I was scared she would hurt another person or dog. I was a first-time dog owner. I did not know what to do!
I met other dog trainers before falling upon Bark Busters. Something different about them as dog trainers is that they learned my dog's personality and worked around what worked best for her. Another thing I appreciated was that they informed me WHY my dog would behave the way she did.
From my experience, my dog had needs that I did not know how to meet. Ultimately they helped me understand my dog better and helped me build trust with Anaya.
Today Anaya can befriend other dogs, appropriately welcome guests into our home, walk on a leash correctly, and more. Something that gives me confidence is that if by chance we backslide, I know Jenna is a phone call away.
Chantal V.
11 months ago
— Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Justin is not a dog trainer. He is a literal dog (and lets be honest, human) behavioral therapist. We reached out to Bark Busters when our now 11 month old Dogo Argentino puppy started showing sings of anxiety driven aggression towards other dogs. Our lives became extremely high stress. It was impossible to walk her, or even have the windows open in our home without her aggressively barking at other dogs. After ONE session with Justin, she is a completely different dog. Walks are calm and easy, and we get to see the sun in our home again. Unlike other trainers, he doesn't train the dog, he gave us the tools to train her. So when he left, we were able to use the tools he gave us to continue training.
PermalinkHe is also extremely friendly and responsive. Within a week of our first training session he reached out to us to check in. We explained a small issue we were having and he came over a few days later to help us out.
He has restored peace to our home and we can happily love on our baby girl again. I cannot stress enough that Bark Busters is worth every penny.
Kyle F.
11 months ago
— Carlsbad, CA
I absolutely recommend hiring Justin as a dog trainer! He is incredibly passionate about what he does, and has transformed our Chili into a calm well behaved dog.
PermalinkWe’ve been working together since she was a very small puppy and we couldn’t get her to stop barking in her crate. He showed us how to fix that in our first session. Along the way Justin has shown us how to keep her in a calm and relaxed state. He’s shown us how to fix her reactivity and barking which was driving us crazy, both in the house and on walks.
He has been so helpful and responsive along the way, and I’m not sure how we would have had a shot figuring out this stuff without him. Couldn’t recommend him more!
Arah L.
11 months ago
— La Jolla, CA
Justin in San Diego has been AMAZING. It's been 4 days since we started training with him and the results are already so drastic!
PermalinkRanger has a problem with pulling when on leash. Justin was able to get him to stop pulling within 10 ft of stepping outside. I've never seen him that calm and walking slowly on a walk before!
Ranger is also reactive to the doorbell. Within the second doorbell test, Ranger was calm, away from the door, and no barking. Back then, even if I get him to quiet down, as soon as the door opens he goes berserk again. But with Justin we were able to open the door, let the guest in, and Ranger didn't get up to greet whatsoever.
Our biggest concern was that Ranger liked to herd my niece and nephew by nipping at their ankles. The first day, we weren't able to recreate it. After 3 days, we finally went back to my sister's. He has not herded the kids ONCE. He's been sooo nice to them. He's been going up to them and laying next to them on his own. He's been giving them kisses instead of nipping at them. I have NEVER seen Ranger like this before. This is such drastic improvement in just one session!
We can't wait for future sessions with Justin. Can't recommend BarkBusters enough! If you're looking for a behaviorist, I HIGHLY recommend BarkBusters!
Renae T.
12 months ago
— Del Mar, CA
Oh. My. Dog.
PermalinkSeriously. They're not enough words to describe how amazing Bark Busters was.
We had a 10 yr old 70 lb rescue (pitbull/rhodesian ridgeback mix) who had a checkered past (had been used as a bait dog). We have had her for 9 years and she's been good. Iffy with some dogs so we just kept her out of dog parks. Mid January we rescued another dog (pitbull/staffy/? Mix) He is about 1yr old and was found running in a parking lot, emaciated. Well introductions didn't go well. He was partially house trained and knew how to sit but had NO doggy manners at all. He'd pull horribly on the leash, jump and climb all over us and the other dog. At which point she'd growl and then he'd try to bite her Throat. It was at the point we had baby gates installed and had to keep them separate. We were desperate And worried we might have to send the new dog back to the Humane Society.
ONE SESSION with Justin, at our home and the difference was LITERALLY night and day. I even had the two of them laying in our bed together! He walks nicely on the leash now, and we can even FEED them together!!! I can't say ENOUGH about this trainer. NO shock collar/prong collar/choke chain needed. And no excessive use of treats needed. I know. sounds like voodoo or something but IT WORKS. He's pricier than your standard "obedience" training but it's worth it!!! He works with you AND the dog. He comes to you so your dog is being trained in the home environment.
TLDR: BEST. TRAINER. EVER. Worth every penny! YOU WANT THIS TRAINER. TRUST ME.
Aly E.
12 months ago
— Carlsbad, CA
Justin's great to work with! He's so patient with my pups which is definitely needed because I have 3 (Nala, Baxter, Chloe) that he's helping me work with. My main concern was their barking but during training I realized that my youngest pup Chloe was starting to get aggressive with other (stranger) dogs on the leash. It was awesome to see immediate results after the first day. Even better is that it wasn't hard to get follow up appointments. In addition, Justin is easy to reach through texts if I have questions in between appointments.
PermalinkHis methods work really well and he takes the time to make sure I'm doing it correctly (half the battle is me implementing the corrections correctly lol) and is patient and good about correcting me when I lapse and do something incorrectly. When one method doesn't seem to work well, he's got another one we can try. My aunt even commented that she noticed a huge difference in Chloe's behavior when she saw her. She hasn't seen the others yet but I'm sure she would say the same for them. I'm super glad I went with Bark Busters and Justin and I'm definitely going to be working with Justin again for any future pups!
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