Puppy Training

Don't walk, run to work with Bark Busters. Please read my review if you relate to any crate-anxiety issues.

Here's my story: I have a puppy GSD who's shockingly lazy, but his shepherdation (separation) anxiety was really out of control to the point where he could break out of his crate AND open my front door.

I would describe myself as highly dog knowledgable so I am VERY particular about the methods used by trainers. To each their own, but e-collars, prongs, etc are band-aids (or worseners) for most problems since most dog-owners don't really understand the timing/utility of these tools enough to ween off of them at any point. If your dog is a 100/10 lunatic, then I guess I get it :|

Anywho, I was honestly shocked to learn they don't even rely on clickers or treats, just straight up dog behavior and psychology, yet have the reviews they have.

Here's my summary. I am only 2 days post training, have received a comprehensive training plan with new crate recs, have gotten 5-7 minutes of a CALM dog in his crate once I've left (a miracle), and did nothing but learn to amend MY body languages and sounds.

Bonus that Anthony was an absolute delight to work with.

Hire them - you're welcome in advance ;)

A life-changing experience. John provided the most thorough, extensive lesson and training which had immediate effects on our puppy. John's patience, expertise and professionalism made the session productive and positive while training our dog. We are very grateful for John's help and understanding in helping us properly train Milton.

When we met Amber we were very impressed with her knowledge and with her enthusiasm we had just acquired a 10-month-old German Shepherd puppy and we needed to be able to not only integrate her into our family but she had a very bad habit of jumping on us and as a very large puppy, It was something we needed to address quickly .She gave us the tools and the steps we would need to not only accomplish this , but to also address some of the issues with our other dogs. We see this training as ongoing as the need arises. The total support that we get from this organization is ongoing for the life of our dogs and that was very impressive to us. We see this as a investment into our future and the future of our dogs and we know Amber will be there with us all the way.

It was a pleasure meeting Jeri for our first training. I learned so much on how to relate to Reiff. I was so happy to see a improvement only with the first lesson and it made me very hopeful and excited to know that Reiff will be able to be the best obedient and happy puppy that he deserves to be. Jeri was down to earth but very professional and you could see she loves and cares deeply of all pets.
Thank you so much and I’m looking forward to the future with Reiff.

After just two weeks, what a difference! Between Lesson 1 and 2, we had followup emails, and Deb responded to the notes we sent.
Amelia is much calmer. Random barking still an issue, but reduced frequency. Now we can get her on a leash and out the door without a major tangle. She responds to being re-focused.
It's been a process for the humans to remember how to respond consistently, but we're getting better, and encouraged that we can keep this up. Even the neighbors have noticed about how much better Amelia acts on a leash and during walks. For the first time in 2 years I feel that I could let someone else walk her without fear that they'd get knocked down or tangled up with another dog.
We've used Deb's suggestions for keeping Amelia busy with Lick-Mat and Kong; that also helps her people and dogs walking by our house.
Working with Deb, and getting her support is definitely worth the investment. Deb has brought about major change in everyone's behaviors, and things are much calmer. We appreciate the reinforcement we get with the emails, and knowing that Deb responds promptly to questions.
As you can see in the photo, Amelia now enjoys the fact that she is no longer Head of Security, which allows for more nap time.

Deb Boswell is a good teacher of both the humans and the dog. She explained the process, what was expected of us, before we introduced her to the dog. She wanted us to understand the plan before we were distracted with trying to control the dog.
Amelia is a 4y/o lab mix who was rescued 2 years ago after being abandoned while pregnant. Through a series of shelters and transport teams, we adopted her. As you can see in the photo, she worries. About many things. But the last 6 months she's increased her barking, so that it's now all the time at everything and everyone outside. We live on a bike path, and in a neighborhood with lots of kids and dogs. Out of nowhere Amelia would jump up, start barking madly, and run from door to windows and back, getting more wound up. Sometimes we see what she barks at; other times there doesn't seem to be anything. When packages were delivered, she'll run to the door, causing a major pile-up as we try to get the package. On a walk sometimes she'll react to some dogs, not consistently, and it's hard to tell if she wants to play or fight; she's managed to knock both of us down by a sudden lunge -- and that was on flat ground, without any ice or snow. Walking in winter is like a circus act. As she now weighs 70lbs, getting her under control on a leash is an important issue. Trying to take her where there were other dogs, or noises, or on travel, was a challenge.
We all were very frustrated.
Then Deb came, and in the initial session helped diagnose what was triggering Amelia, showed us ways to address the anxiety, barking, to establish our control, and gave suggestions for keeping her busy. Most she laid out a straightforward plan, that we could use consistently, and that Amelia responded to.
I really appreciated Deb's method of working with us before Amelia was invited to join the group, and her advice that we needed to fire Amelia from her job as Head of Security. That helped us think about what we were just letting Amelia do, because she was the boss of us.
I was skeptical in the promise that after one lesson, we could see meaningful change.
After Session One, I have hope that we can all adapt, and create a calmer environment.
We have a follow-up session set for about 3 weeks; Deb has also encouraged us to call or email her with any progress notes, or for help getting unstuck.
Definitely glad that we chose Deb of BarkBusters Des Moines.

Great info during the lessons.
Great knowledge and great advice.
Good time to start training - so pleased.

Jared at Bark Busters did an amazing job working with my dog and keeping her prey drive under control. Watching him in action was amazing, he broke her attention away from a squirrel multiple times and was very quick on rewarding her. He explained everything as he did it, so I could work with her whenever the opportunity arrived in the future. This is the most important part with training from my experience, the knowledge to replicate the training so we as pet parents can reinforce it throughout our dogs lives.

Flynn, my Wheaten Terrier, barked, jumped and acted aggressive any time someone came to the door or approached the car. It was frightening, frustrating and at time scary.The change in behavior after one visit was amazing. I'm looking forward to following the recipe to a calm well behaved dog. If today is any indication of what that is like I'm going to have the dog I've always wanted.

Thelma is a 6 year old black lab/pit bull mix that we adopted 2 years ago. Thelma is very well trained except for leash walking. We have tried many methods to train Thelma, but we were unable to control her sudden aggressive lunges when passing other dogs while walking. Thelma is a very powerful 75-pound dog who is extremely difficult to hold back. Her sudden lunges have resulted in a couple falls and one dislocated shoulder
Our vet recommended Jeri Wagner of Bark Busters. During Jeri’s initial visit, she taught us a number of leadership and communication exercises that immediately corrected the undesirable behaviors. Jeri also identified a few other undesirable behaviors that we were able to correct. For example, Thelma would run past me on the steps and push through the door as soon it opened. Now, Thelma always follows at least two steps behind me on the stairs, never passing me; and she waits away from the door until I tell her to enter or exit. When walking, Thelma stay precisely at my side with her collar never passing my leg. She stays on my right side when walking, never crossing in front or behind. She doesn’t try to charge ahead or lag behind to smell the flowers. After one week of me implementing changes recommended by Bark Buster, Thelma doesn’t charge at dogs, but she is definitely alert when passing. I expect, as long as I consistently follow the training schedule Jeri Wagner developed for us, that Thelma will soon be passing strange dogs as calmly as she currently passes walkers, joggers and bike riders.
I am very excited about the progress Thelma has made after only one week. Calling Bark Busters was the best decision I made regarding Thelma.

Bonnie was very helpful in teaching my family and I how to train our two new English Terrier Dogs. She showed us what we needed to do, products to buy and how to apply the products for potty training, so we could start enjoying our new dogs. I highly recommend Bonnie.

Keith was so good with our two pups. Our dog moose had shown previous signs of aggression and barking with strangers and in just one session we saw so much improvement. Would absolutely recommend to friends. Thank you!

Harley was night and day after one session! I have a clear plan to follow and I'm excited to see how we progress.

I was surprised how fast Eearl and Ford responded to my newly taught command skills!

Josh was a joy to learn from!

Taught several behavioral tips + immediately saw improvement in our puppy. Extremely satisfied with the experience.

My husband and I were looking for some help with our reactive pitbull. We had already had some experience with training her at different places but needed a new trainer after moving. Jared was a perfect fit! He came to our place and helped us learn how to read our dog's behavior in her natural environment. Our dog is making awesome progress! She is less reactive and responds more to our corrections now that we know how to communicate with her! Our dog has a long journey but knowing that Jared is by our side the whole way brings us so much peace. I cannot recommend Jared enough!

The training has been a virtual miracle for my dog Rosie. I know I am the one being trained, but she is so much better behaved it is amazing. I highly recommend this method and Jerry, this trainer, is wonderful. Five stars

The "girls" are a lot calmer and better behaved than ever!! A little more work needed with Kai and the Amazon delivery, but we now know what we are doing and doing it right, for once!!!! We all loved Patrick!

Heather is the best! My girl Trixie is a good girl but definitely needed some help with aggression towards other dogs and leash pulling so I could take her to breweries and parks without her acting like a fool : )
Heather taught techniques that trained both Trixie and me! She was kind and gentle with my girl but at the same time showed her who was boss. We now practice what we were taught daily. It was a great experience! Look out breweries Trixie and I are coming for ya!

My Jojo is a happier dog now that Heather worked with him to calm him and his issues. She did a fabulous job, and we are very pleased. Thank you, Bark Busters.

We were at our wits end with our Husky Jimmy. He would not stop barking and lunging at other dogs on walks. He also had terrible jumping habits when guests would come over. Heather helped so much within the first visit. She showed us how to train him with simple language and no treats. We tried training before, without the results we wanted. We are working with him daily and have seen such an improvement! Bark Buster's methods work and we could not be more grateful. Thank you Heather!!

Great service! Heather and crew are super friendly & professional.

Last Monday Michael came to my home to help me with my beautiful two year old Sherinian.When we go for a walk Mia would bark at everything and especially everyone we passed she wouldn’t let anybody into my house without barking constantly the entire time they were here. Michael worked with her for approximately 10 minutes he diagnosed exactly what the problem was Gave me some tools and instructions as to how to help her understand. We then went outside where he walked with me and showed me exactly what needed to be done in a very firm but loving way. I am happy to say Mia had an appointment at the veterinarian on Thursday she walked in that office never barked at anybody sat down while we waited our turn and was an entirely different puppy.In my opinion Michael is truly the dog whisperer he has more knowledge about dogs and they’re behaviors and how to correct them than anybody I have ever met. More importantly to me he did this with absolutely no cruel or harsh techniques and zero negativity he did this all with kindness, gentleness and understanding I would highly recommend Michael to anybody that has any issues with their dog training

First time I've seen improvement in Luca's behavior. He is learning the proper behavior, and it has given us hope!

Very Very informative, Tad Brown changed his behavior in one day!

Josh sat with us to really understand our needs and our dogs before starting and really focused on the tough areas. He really understood our dogs personalities and customized the lesson to best suit our dogs.

Joshua listened to all our concerns we had with our dogs. He explained thoroughly the steps we'd take. He provided us with various resources to ensure our success. He provided with demos and then walked us through while working with our dogs. Overall, this was a great and very helpful experience5.