Bark Busters San Francisco and Marin County Reviews
Reviews
62 Reviews ★★★★★(Average 4.9 out of 5)
Diedre
22 months ago
— Mill Valley, CA
I am so relieved and Happy I found barkBusters. A friend of mine recommended Karen as she had used her services a few years ago. I thought her dog was amazing and I wanted Tucker to be just like that or at least a portion of that.
Karen came into our home, spent a good amount of time asking what our "wish list" was, gave her assessment and then we started the work. The suggestions and the assignments were nothing short of amazing. Tucker responded immediately. He seemed to actually enjoy the learning and ot only was he behaving well for karen, but for us as well as we were the ones who needed to communicate with Tucker. Its us the owners who needed to be taught. Normally when people visit, Tuckers all up in their business and barking and cant calm down and it seemed forever. A few hrs after Karen left, we were able to get Tucker to respond to our instructions and waited to greet our friends with 2 little ones and still was a happy puppy with our guests. I say its amazing and refreshing to be able to invite guests in without complete. The walking has also improved tremendously as Tucker would react to seeing dogs on walks, enthusiastically but scary to others, not any more. Its been so helpful and if you are questioning hiring BarkBusters, dont. Hire Karen
Thanks for the feedback. Its been great pleasure to work with you. lets just keep up the good work and keep me posted.
Steve
22 months ago
— Greenbrae, CA
Karen was great, Jasper is a 3 yr old Aussie Cattledog and came to us thru Milo foundation. In recent years he was getting more and more aggressive towards guests coming to the home post pandemic and thats been extremely scary and frustrating. When he saw dogs walking, all he wanted to do was run over and play but he was too strong and was hurting my wifes shoulder. Karen came and taught us to work with Sam to become less reactive and to trust us that people invited into our home were welcome. Not going to hurt us. As far as walking, its become fun again. Karen is patient and straight to the point. She explains why we need to do things differently and always available for help and the BarkBusters methods are easy to incorporate into our lives. Call BarkBusters- it can change your life.
Thankyou. It was fun and rewarding to work with all of you and looking forward to meeting you out on a hike! Keep up the good work
Valeria C.
3 years ago
— San Rafael, CA
Before finding Bark Busters, I was so traumatized because of a bad training experience we had in the past with someone else. Honestly I was so excited when I found Bark Busters because I learned that they don't use any physically punishing methods with dogs and that's just what I was looking for. Karen was amazing - super respectful, kind, my dog was very happy during our training session, and his behavior was incredible. I recommend Karen 100%. My dog was having some aggression issues and bad recall but I’m so confident now that I will be able to train my dog without making him feel scared or hurt him. If you love your dog as much as I love mine then Karen and Bark Busters training is perfect for you.
My partner & I rescued a German Shepherd mix in August of 2021 who is sweet as can be but struggled with severe separation anxiety. We worked with several trainers before meeting Adam and didn’t have much success, which meant we couldn’t leave our dog alone at all. Adam taught us how to communicate with our dog better and was thoughtful and patient in his training process. He understood our dogs unique needs and provided us with successful solutions— we are now able to leave her at home while we work without her being disruptive or destructive. It’s honestly a miracle! Thank you Adam! Our rescue girl is living her best life knowing that being alone at home while we work is only temporary!
Karen was very patient and compassionate with us, quickly becoming very attuned to my rescue cattle dog mix with separation anxiety issues. I was very impressed by her reading of our relationship, and immediately felt we were in good hands and could finally get the personalized training we needed without relying on bribery (my dog is very stubborn and very not treat-motivated).
She gave me simple and clear instructions on how to make Jolene feel incrementally more confident, but the content of the training mostly focused on modifying my own behavior so as not to inadvertently make my dog worry or feel like she needed to look out for me at all times.
I feel so fortunate for having Karen in our lives, after moving to the city for a new job I was incredibly stressed about leaving Jolene at home alone, knowing she would be howling and pacing. Our relationship is much stronger now and I can finally make plans without constantly worrying.
We are so thankful we called Bark Busters to help our rottie. Rottweilers have a generally bad reputation so we were very relieved to hear they had no issues working with him. We had some protectiveness occurring on walks and with new people coming over and thankfully Karen from bark busters was able to see what a sweet boy we have and teach us some great tips. We're going to implement them and we can't wait to see all the improvement!
Up until a week ago we were chronically stressed by our doggie’s behavior. If we didn’t have a treat available, his counter-surfing, jumping on visitors, and lunging at other dogs was unstoppable. Then Karen helped us.
Karen taught us “how to speak dog” and I am in awe. Buster is a changed dog, just after one day. This first week post-training we feel a weight lifted off of our shoulders. Thank you Karen. We feel so much gratitude for your help.
We highly recommend Karen Gaines, she is observant, patient, a great communicator, not to mention has TONS of experience training dogs with all sorts of behavioral problems. She is an absolutely excellent teacher and dog-trainer.
I read the reviews here and figured we had nothing to lose - I adopted an abused puppy from Africa while working there, and he had severe separation anxiety and fear aggression. I was almost at the point of giving up - he would rip items to shreds when I was not home, and on walks would lunge and sometimes bite people (and occasionally, try to bite me). When Adam first visited us, he spent almost 3 hours observing, asking questions, and giving us tools to use to change our dog's behavior. Setting boundaries, showing the dog who is the boss, correcting bad behaviors quickly - Adam offered lots of solutions. It's not even 4 months later and I'm happy to say my now "teenaged" 1.5 yr old dog is completely changed. He walks closely and confidently with my husband, me, and our other dog, no longer lunging at people and other dogs. His separation anxiety (and with that, chewing and peeing) is gone, because he is now calm and comfortable. Most of all, thanks to Adam, my husband and I gained the confidence *we* needed to be strong dog parents to be able to correct (or, unlearn) our dog's bad behaviors. I cannot even believe it is the same dog. It's nice to know we'll always have Adam to call on should any other problem behaviors appear, he's just a text message away. Thank you Adam!
Bark Busters saved us. We were at the decision to use a ‘boot camp’ style training facility or locate a home trainer, and Bark Busters/Karen Gaines was the right choice. It didn’t feel right to send our little guy away. What were we going to learn from doing that? Our little puppy is intelligent and started to not respond to treat training, and sometimes used the treat training for his benefit. Yum! Training without food is so much better. Also, it’s based on our individual needs, and those needs can change. That’s the benefit of Bark Busters, customized attention and solutions for the unique challenges presented now and thereafter.
I have only glowing, positive comments about Karen! She has helped us with our very rambunctious, energetic 7-month old Pit bull. As he grew from a little, frisky puppy into an enormous 65-lb dog made of solid muscle, he began to get aggressive as a fear response to cars, other dogs and even small children. We knew we had to act fast and ensure that our dog remained just as gentle and lovable outside the home as he was inside the home with our family and older, smaller dogs. Karen's approach was methodical and we mastered it quickly and easily. Our dog took a little longer and over several weeks we graduated to more restrictive - but never painful or punitive - leashes and training methods. Finally, we found the perfect solution! Here is a recent text I sent to Karen in joy and gratitude for her help: "OMG thank you so much for the gentle leader leash and the training your provided us! I just returned from a 45-minute walk around the neighborhood with Smokey, what a difference! At first I stayed close to the house, but as I grew more confident because he remained so calm, I ventured further and further out. We passed cars, children, even other dogs - and he got excited, but he did not lunge or bark and remained close to me the entire time. Occasionally he tried to paw off the gentle leader leash, but I was attentive and distracted him immediately. I talked to him the entire time, I gave him frequent treats but always at random intervals. The contrast was stunning. Thank you for transforming our walks from ordeals into pleasurable excursions!" She has given us our lovable puppy back - inside and out outside our home!
Diedre
22 months ago
— Mill Valley, CA
I am so relieved and Happy I found barkBusters. A friend of mine recommended Karen as she had used her services a few years ago. I thought her dog was amazing and I wanted Tucker to be just like that or at least a portion of that.
PermalinkKaren came into our home, spent a good amount of time asking what our "wish list" was, gave her assessment and then we started the work. The suggestions and the assignments were nothing short of amazing. Tucker responded immediately. He seemed to actually enjoy the learning and ot only was he behaving well for karen, but for us as well as we were the ones who needed to communicate with Tucker. Its us the owners who needed to be taught. Normally when people visit, Tuckers all up in their business and barking and cant calm down and it seemed forever. A few hrs after Karen left, we were able to get Tucker to respond to our instructions and waited to greet our friends with 2 little ones and still was a happy puppy with our guests. I say its amazing and refreshing to be able to invite guests in without complete. The walking has also improved tremendously as Tucker would react to seeing dogs on walks, enthusiastically but scary to others, not any more. Its been so helpful and if you are questioning hiring BarkBusters, dont. Hire Karen
Steve
22 months ago
— Greenbrae, CA
Karen was great, Jasper is a 3 yr old Aussie Cattledog and came to us thru Milo foundation. In recent years he was getting more and more aggressive towards guests coming to the home post pandemic and thats been extremely scary and frustrating. When he saw dogs walking, all he wanted to do was run over and play but he was too strong and was hurting my wifes shoulder. Karen came and taught us to work with Sam to become less reactive and to trust us that people invited into our home were welcome. Not going to hurt us. As far as walking, its become fun again. Karen is patient and straight to the point. She explains why we need to do things differently and always available for help and the BarkBusters methods are easy to incorporate into our lives. Call BarkBusters- it can change your life.
PermalinkValeria C.
3 years ago
— San Rafael, CA
Before finding Bark Busters, I was so traumatized because of a bad training experience we had in the past with someone else. Honestly I was so excited when I found Bark Busters because I learned that they don't use any physically punishing methods with dogs and that's just what I was looking for. Karen was amazing - super respectful, kind, my dog was very happy during our training session, and his behavior was incredible. I recommend Karen 100%. My dog was having some aggression issues and bad recall but I’m so confident now that I will be able to train my dog without making him feel scared or hurt him. If you love your dog as much as I love mine then Karen and Bark Busters training is perfect for you.
PermalinkRiley R.
3 years ago
— San Francisco, CA
My partner & I rescued a German Shepherd mix in August of 2021 who is sweet as can be but struggled with severe separation anxiety. We worked with several trainers before meeting Adam and didn’t have much success, which meant we couldn’t leave our dog alone at all. Adam taught us how to communicate with our dog better and was thoughtful and patient in his training process. He understood our dogs unique needs and provided us with successful solutions— we are now able to leave her at home while we work without her being disruptive or destructive. It’s honestly a miracle! Thank you Adam! Our rescue girl is living her best life knowing that being alone at home while we work is only temporary!
PermalinkKelly S.
3 years ago
— San Francisco, CA
Karen was very patient and compassionate with us, quickly becoming very attuned to my rescue cattle dog mix with separation anxiety issues. I was very impressed by her reading of our relationship, and immediately felt we were in good hands and could finally get the personalized training we needed without relying on bribery (my dog is very stubborn and very not treat-motivated).
PermalinkShe gave me simple and clear instructions on how to make Jolene feel incrementally more confident, but the content of the training mostly focused on modifying my own behavior so as not to inadvertently make my dog worry or feel like she needed to look out for me at all times.
I feel so fortunate for having Karen in our lives, after moving to the city for a new job I was incredibly stressed about leaving Jolene at home alone, knowing she would be howling and pacing. Our relationship is much stronger now and I can finally make plans without constantly worrying.
Cristan P.
4 years ago
— San Rafael, CA
We are so thankful we called Bark Busters to help our rottie. Rottweilers have a generally bad reputation so we were very relieved to hear they had no issues working with him. We had some protectiveness occurring on walks and with new people coming over and thankfully Karen from bark busters was able to see what a sweet boy we have and teach us some great tips. We're going to implement them and we can't wait to see all the improvement!
PermalinkAlexa K.
4 years ago
— San Rafael, CA
Up until a week ago we were chronically stressed by our doggie’s behavior. If we didn’t have a treat available, his counter-surfing, jumping on visitors, and lunging at other dogs was unstoppable. Then Karen helped us.
PermalinkKaren taught us “how to speak dog” and I am in awe. Buster is a changed dog, just after one day. This first week post-training we feel a weight lifted off of our shoulders. Thank you Karen. We feel so much gratitude for your help.
We highly recommend Karen Gaines, she is observant, patient, a great communicator, not to mention has TONS of experience training dogs with all sorts of behavioral problems. She is an absolutely excellent teacher and dog-trainer.
Pamela H.
4 years ago
— San Francisco, CA
I read the reviews here and figured we had nothing to lose - I adopted an abused puppy from Africa while working there, and he had severe separation anxiety and fear aggression. I was almost at the point of giving up - he would rip items to shreds when I was not home, and on walks would lunge and sometimes bite people (and occasionally, try to bite me). When Adam first visited us, he spent almost 3 hours observing, asking questions, and giving us tools to use to change our dog's behavior. Setting boundaries, showing the dog who is the boss, correcting bad behaviors quickly - Adam offered lots of solutions. It's not even 4 months later and I'm happy to say my now "teenaged" 1.5 yr old dog is completely changed. He walks closely and confidently with my husband, me, and our other dog, no longer lunging at people and other dogs. His separation anxiety (and with that, chewing and peeing) is gone, because he is now calm and comfortable. Most of all, thanks to Adam, my husband and I gained the confidence *we* needed to be strong dog parents to be able to correct (or, unlearn) our dog's bad behaviors. I cannot even believe it is the same dog. It's nice to know we'll always have Adam to call on should any other problem behaviors appear, he's just a text message away. Thank you Adam!
PermalinkKaren C.
4 years ago
— San Rafael, CA
Bark Busters saved us. We were at the decision to use a ‘boot camp’ style training facility or locate a home trainer, and Bark Busters/Karen Gaines was the right choice. It didn’t feel right to send our little guy away. What were we going to learn from doing that? Our little puppy is intelligent and started to not respond to treat training, and sometimes used the treat training for his benefit. Yum! Training without food is so much better. Also, it’s based on our individual needs, and those needs can change. That’s the benefit of Bark Busters, customized attention and solutions for the unique challenges presented now and thereafter.
PermalinkDaniel K.
5 years ago
— Corte Madera, CA
I have only glowing, positive comments about Karen! She has helped us with our very rambunctious, energetic 7-month old Pit bull. As he grew from a little, frisky puppy into an enormous 65-lb dog made of solid muscle, he began to get aggressive as a fear response to cars, other dogs and even small children. We knew we had to act fast and ensure that our dog remained just as gentle and lovable outside the home as he was inside the home with our family and older, smaller dogs. Karen's approach was methodical and we mastered it quickly and easily. Our dog took a little longer and over several weeks we graduated to more restrictive - but never painful or punitive - leashes and training methods. Finally, we found the perfect solution! Here is a recent text I sent to Karen in joy and gratitude for her help: "OMG thank you so much for the gentle leader leash and the training your provided us! I just returned from a 45-minute walk around the neighborhood with Smokey, what a difference! At first I stayed close to the house, but as I grew more confident because he remained so calm, I ventured further and further out. We passed cars, children, even other dogs - and he got excited, but he did not lunge or bark and remained close to me the entire time. Occasionally he tried to paw off the gentle leader leash, but I was attentive and distracted him immediately. I talked to him the entire time, I gave him frequent treats but always at random intervals. The contrast was stunning. Thank you for transforming our walks from ordeals into pleasurable excursions!" She has given us our lovable puppy back - inside and out outside our home!
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