Bark Busters Reviews
What Bark Busters clients have to say about our dog training services
- 4.97 Average Rating Average rating 4.97 out of 5 based on 17740 reviews.
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99.7% 4 or 5 stars 99.7% rate their experience with Bark Busters as 4 or 5 out of 5 stars.
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99.6% Would Recommend 99.6% would recommend Bark Busters to their friends and neighbors.
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99.5% Dog Responded 99.5% think their dog responded well to the training.
Looking to leave some feedback on your Bark Busters experience? Find your trainer, to add a review.
Kathleen M.
16 months ago
— Ventura, CA
Michael has been helping our rescue group, All for Love Animal Rescue with several of our behaviorally challenged dogs. One young dog had issues of too much excitement and leash reactivity with other dogs. Michael has worked tirelessly with the dog and his behavior has improved so much that he currently has an interested adopter.
PermalinkMichael has also helped our rescue by giving classes to our volunteers in how to handle dogs, teach them good leash manners and how to work with them to help them be good canine citizens. We are very grateful to Michael for his help. We have recommended his training services to several of our adopters and think very highly of him. He is great with the dogs and great with the people he is training too.
Susan S.
16 months ago
— Agoura Hills, CA
I have a Husky/American Staffordshire Terrier/German Shepherd Dog Mix, and she is a handful.
PermalinkWe rescued her from a shelter in Irvine and when she came home she was extremely dog aggressive, overly protective (to the point where she would growl at our roommates if they came to the doorway), a big leash puller, INSANE separation anxiety, and a super stressed out dog in general. She was very smart and learned new tricks fast but would only do them when she decided to. She is our first dog and our friends and family were not impressed *at first*.
We realized early on she would need training and began the search. Dog training is expensive and we were on a limited budget, especially since she had injured me early on requiring surgery (to pin my bones back in place) when she pulled the leash to get to another dog. We did a ton of research and took her to one of the highest rated dog behavioralists in the area (NOT Bark Busters). It was a disaster! The “trainer”’s dogs listened but because they were terrified of him and he gave harsh punishments out easily for any hint of misbehavior. Our dog actually got WORSE! She had never bit me before, but bit me during the training and following when I did the exercises with her! My boyfriend and I after less than a month decided to stop that training and do all we could on our own while we saved up for better training. We moved to Ventura county about 8 months later.
Enter Michael Hagan, Bark Buster’s trainer for Ventura County. No corrections from Bark Busters are aggressive — most of the corrections we do with our dog are actually just vocal.
First thing, we learned how to read our dog’s body language and with that, basically what she is thinking. We learned to see that things will be issues before our dog acts. We learned how to keep her more calm, and what was causing her to be more stressed out. Michael also listened to what we had been doing on our own, and recognized our hard work and let us know where we went wrong, and what we were on the right track for. Michael taught us the training exercises and we worked on them 10-15 minutes each day, and during walking our dog, we had to constantly correct her for leash pulling and praise her when she was doing what we wanted. Michael explained we would see a drastic difference in about 3 months as long as we stuck with it. We did, and 2 months in we were feeling doubtful - our dog seemed to realize we were trying to be the boss and was not a fan. At 3 months (almost on the dot), our dog miraculously had an attitude/behavior adjustment. Leash pulling just halted and she just did every command we gave her on command. We couldn’t believe it! We still needed to work on the dog aggression and separation anxiety (which were extremely severe, and we didn’t think there would be a quick fix for), but we just had this lovely calm, friendly obedient dog. It’s absolutely unbelievable the difference!
When I first got this dog, my dad described her as “more of a cat than a dog.” He now brags to other people about how we turned this dog into one of the best dogs. Every time someone meets my dog we get at least one compliment on her behavior. A lot of people are shocked to hear we got her from a rescue, and think we must be exaggerating when we describe how she was when we got her.
We still do training exercises with her daily, but it’s not much and it is so worth it.
We’ve been using the Bark Busters method for about half a year now and we are working towards getting a second dog (something we didn’t think would be a possibility for over a year at least since starting training with Bark Busters!), with Michael’s help. We may be getting a second dog as soon as a month from now! Michael is very involved, and works closely with a rescue so are looking at dogs that will be the best matches for our dog.
Leah H.
16 months ago
— Stamford, CT
We when first brought Hugo home from the rescue we knew we needed guidance. Our second French Bulldog but our first adopted young adult dog, we had little idea what his previous life looked like. One call to our vet for help, led us to Michael. Within 15 minutes of his first visit Michael was already making headway and the results were kind of unbelievable. Hugo went from jumping three feet in the air and barking his lungs out to a completely docile, calm pup. What kind of Voo-Doo was this? None actually. Michael’s simple suggestions, observations to behavior and tips that we could follow ourselves were what made the difference. Michael took the time to not only explain and show us what needed to be done but also included our children in the discussion. The paperwork the rescue provided us upon adoption told the tale of a young Frenchie, who was passed around to boarding facilities and doggie daycares and whose aggressive behavior reflected that. Michael’s gentle and humane methods helped us bring out the good boy who had been in there all along. I’ve been recommending him to everyone I know but especially those who think their adult dogs are too old to be helped. The truth is you can teach old dogs new tricks.
PermalinkDustin W.
16 months ago
— Stuart, FL
My training session was very good. I learned a lot about Grimm and good techniques to help him.
PermalinkRyan S.
16 months ago
— Newton Center, MA
Bonnie is the very best, it has been a pleasure working with her.
PermalinkElizabeth L.
16 months ago
— Stamford & Greater Fairfield County
Cassidy has done an amazing job with our two dogs Luna and Snooker. They have very different personalities and challenges, and we really appreciate Cassidy's expertise and ability to flexibly adjust the style for each dog individually. Snooker is still a puppy and Cassidy has checked in many times to see how we're doing and if we have any questions. I like the business model that her and Mike have, because I don't feel pressured to get everything in by an 'end date' of training. Instead I just feel that we have this support for as long as we need it. Cassidy is extremely knowledgable about her business, but also takes a pragmatic, realistic approach, which we have super appreciated. Very happy with our experience so far!
PermalinkSteven H.
16 months ago
— New York City, New York
We have only wonderful things to say about our trainer Jason Molfotto. Aside from his knowledge and understanding of Bella's nature and behavior, he is kind, professional and empathetic as well as being patient. We have recommended Bark Busters to our family in Sarasota Florida and they were successful as well! We recommend Jason and Bark Busters with the highest five star rating!
PermalinkJosh M.
16 months ago
— Bradenton, FL
I was extremely desperate for help with my two Papillons. I have two males from the same litter, and they were fighting daily. My husband and I were convinced that we were going to have to rehome one of them. I called Bark Busters for help, and they sent Susan to us. My husband was very skeptical that she would be able to help us, but after the very first lesson, we saw immediate results. It took 3 visits, and our boys are back to being best friends again! It took a major commitment to work every single day with the training lessons she gave us. 8 weeks have passed and we are still working on separation anxiety, but the aggression is gone, and my boys walk perfectly on a leash. I'm truly very thankful for all of Susan's help, and I look forward to continue working to help my boys with their anxiety issues.
PermalinkMorgan G.
17 months ago
— Estero, FL
Awesome first training session with Patrick at Bark Busters for my new, adult rescue pup who is a mixed breed, possibly shepherd, pit, and black mouth cur X. She has extreme separation anxiety. To the point of escaping basic enclosures, trying to break windows, tearing things up, and barking/ drooling constantly. She had to follow me around everywhere around the house when I was home, too. Today, we covered the basics and established that she is to get attention on my terms. I was leery at first thinking she would be afraid of me, but she actually is MORE excited when I call her now and the time together feels more rewarding for both of us. And she already respects my space indoors within 3 hours. I can walk outside a bit, but I haven’t gotten to the major steps yet of leaving her alone at home / addressing behavior at work or on car trips. I really believe I will resolve these issues after meeting my Bark Busters trainer again. She also appeared to be afraid of the crate at first but turns out it’s just anticipation of being alone and scared in it. Today, she actually went into her crate on her own to eat. She seems much more in tune with me and looks to me for direction now- which is the ultimate goal for everything. I’ve been given much valuable homework and will be getting as many visits as I need. But seems I may not need as many as originally thought, and she will be a well trained dog in no time! No need for treats, physical touch, a bunch of different words, or coercion. Just simple dog language. Bark Busters truly teaches this concept in an easy to understand manner and results are worth it! I’m so excited to start this new way of life with my new dog. This will be my first professionally trained dog, and I couldn’t feel more confident and proud to own a dog!
PermalinkPaige
17 months ago
— West Des Moines, IA
Deb is fabulous and we learned so much from her just first time meeting with her. We are excited to see the progress we see from our babies
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