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.
Adam T.
16 months ago
— Northridge, CA
Michael came to my home and helped me get control of my dog in our own environment. We sat and talked about my expectations and his solutions. He explained his services and his expectations for our visit. Once we got up and started the training it was instant results. My husky is so high energy and curious about everything. But within minutes I was able to control her with my close and a few gestures. Now after implementing his teachings, my husky doesn’t run to the door every time she hears a noise. She trusts me as the leader and is very calm and at ease. No more stress fro my pup who is just trying to protect her home. Michael is very sweet with the dogs and became a great friend thru this process.
PermalinkKathleen 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.
Ashley D.
16 months ago
— Northridge, CA
Simply put, Michael’s training is awesome. I am absolutely amazed by the progress we saw during our first virtual session and after just one week of practice. Our 1-year old golden, Yeti, definitely has a mind of his own and Michael really went in depth explaining the psychology and underlying causes of the behavior and the psychology of creating new behaviors. This was so interesting and very helpful. And his techniques worked so well and so fast! We are well on our way to a perfectly well-behaved dog. And I’m loving working with Yeti at home and growing our bond <3 Thank you!!!
PermalinkJanika S.
16 months ago
— Porter Ranch, CA
We were looking for a training system for our new Malinois and French mastiff rescue puppy. We looked into and did a few intros with a few trainers. They were all asking their systems with treats/ bribes or physical training that were not for us. Mike our trainer from Bark busters spent a incredible amount of time teaching us the psychology behind the training and walked us through the techniques. It was a game changer for us. Mike was amazing and so patient while we learned. If you are looking for a training system that truly allows a happy existence for your dog and your family please call Bark Busters. We have so much understanding about speaking K9 now. We have been long time dog rescuers and have trained all our dogs our selves. Mike gave us amazing insight and understating about behaviors that we feel we are training our puppy with purpose and for a lifetime. Thank you Mike!!!
PermalinkCaitlin D.
16 months ago
— Westlake Village, CA
I am so thrilled with Michael from Bark Busters! We sought out a dog trainer to help with our pup Murphy since she was experiencing some anxiety with other dogs and showing signs of dominance towards our other dog. I highly recommend Michael with Bark Busters, he emphasizes behavioral modification and teaches you how to better understand your dog, and really a whole new way of life with your furry best friend!
PermalinkWe saw results IMMEDIATELY and we were so amazed! Murphy is now so much more comfortable and showing less dominance just after one visit! We couldn't be happier!
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.
Angela
16 months ago
— Ontario, CA
Bark Busters has changed our lives and given our two girls the best chance at life! We lost our family dogs at the ages of 12.5 and 15.5 within a year. We never thought about owning dogs again after losing both so closely together. One day our brother brought home a lab mix puppy from a bad situation and was going to be put down. We found out she had a sister and brought her home too. Soon we found that due to poor breeding and lack of training we had some out of control puppies. We went to a local store for training, it helped but we still had some behavioral issues to sort out. We went to our vet and were told to contact BarkBusters. We got in touch with BarkBusters and Justine and set up our first session. Since Justine has been in the picture we have noticed such a positive change in our girls and they have picked up the training very quickly. Justine is very knowledgeable and patient with their training. She’s given us the tools and resources to foster a good relationship and instill good habits in our girls. We have a ways to go, but I would highly recommend BarkBusters. Definitely worth the investment.
PermalinkHeidi L.
16 months ago
— Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
It was thorough, covered all my concerns. I saw immediate improvement.
PermalinkLeah 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.
PermalinkHeidi L.
16 months ago
— Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
IT was thorough, covered all my concerns. Saw immediate improvement.
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