Bark Busters Reviews

I had never fostered or owned a dog of my own and when I saw this poor boy's picture on Instagram I wrote "I will foster him.". It didn't take long for me to fall in love with Woody, who is named after one of my father's favorite jazz musicians, Woody Herman. My problem was that I already had 3 cats and Woody wasn't about to play nice to say the least. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep him. I started to do research on dog trainers and found that some used harsh techniques like shock collars. Woody was already coming out of what appeared to be a violent background. People in animal rescue believed that he had possibly been used as a bait dog. The first two photos are from when he came to me. The white marks were wounds that were healing. Anyway, I asked Google for a dog trainer that could get my dog and cats to exist calmly together. Bark Busters came up in the search. I read the reviews and was impressed with the glowing reports of quick success. And I needed things to happen quickly! I called and spoke with Marc who is one of the nicest people on the planet! We met at my home and what I witnessed over the next several hours totally blew my mind. Woody was quite responsive and did very well with the various training exercises that Marc led him through. But the challenge was the situation with my cats. Little by little I exposed them to him and on a second visit with Marc and his wife Karen they encouraged me to go a little further and so I did. I would walk him in the house on leash and use my "dog talk" when needed. I saw progress. Woody was kept in his crate a lot and whenever I would go out I made sure it was not only locked but would tie a leash around it in a double knot. One night when I came home he greeted me in my laundry room! I was shocked and scared. Worried about what I might be seeing as I entered the rest of my home my fears were extinguished when I found 2 of my cats on the arms of the sofa and my oldest, most feeble cat lying comfortably on the sofa! It was a miracle! This occurred one more time as "Divine Confirmation" to me that all was well and Woody now shares the house with my cats in a relatively peaceful manner. I say it that way because my cats have been more combative than him! He has had his face swiped pretty good when he's gotten too close! They actually intimidate him now and that is the last thing I thought I'd see!
I'm positive this would not have occurred if I hadn't had Bark Busters training. Marc and Karen are excellent at what they do. Actually, there
aren't enough words to describe their professionalism and deep understanding of animal behavior. They are responsive to phone calls and texts and most of all they care about pets and owners coexisting in a happy environment. Who wants to always bee yelling at an animal? How can an animal love and trust you if that's how they're treated? The Bark Busters way is, in my opinion and experience, the best way to train your dog! Look how happy my Woody is now! And I'm happy too! Thank you Marc and Karen!

• #Aggression
• #Barking
• #Jumping up
• #Pulling
• #Recall

We recently had our first baby and were very anxious how our lovable but stubborn bulldog, Bruce, would interact and handle all the new sights and sounds. We definitely needed some help on how to best keep our dog happy and calm while dealing with a new baby. After one visit things drastically improved. We used to say our bulldog was very neurotic and stubborn but it turns out it was just his way of showing anxiety over new and frightening things. Bruce was very anxious by anything new and after one visit with Keith he was like a different more calm and happier dog. When I read all the reviews I admit I was a bit skeptic, but boy let me tell you- they are NOT wrong. Keith has been an incredible resource through this whole process. Having a new baby is a lot to get used to itself and we were very worried we would not be able to have our dog and baby in the same room alone, now we like to say that Bruce babysits our daughter. He truly loves her as much as he loves me or my husband. He is incredible with her and is definitely a much happier dog. Noises her toys would make or bright flashing lights used to set him off in the past, now he doesn’t even bother looking up. The peace of mind and change we have seen in him makes us wish we called Keith earlier!

• #Barking
• #Hyperactivity
• #Other

Josh has a very deep understanding of dog behavior and is excellent at communicating how to work with your dog, and what stapes to take to have a calm, happy well - trained pet. I highly recommend Josh and would definitely continue to use him for all my pets!

• #Barking
• #Jumping up
• #Pulling
• #Puppy management
• #Recall
• #Other

James from Bark Busters has been our trainer and has taught us how by learning to lead our 95lb. Boxer mixed dog - Charley, we can modify his behavior tremendously in a positive way. We had been dealing with behavioral territorial, protective, and fear based issues that lead him to bite in 3 different situations. We tried other training methods in the past and nothing seemed to work.
Charley is a sweet good behaved dog when around the people he has always known, but we would always refrained from bringing other people home because of fear of his reaction. James taught us how establishing leadership and following through with consistency can change Charley’s behavior from a fearful reactive dog, to a more calm and secure dog.
Side note: While his fears of thunderstorms were not addressed in the training, by establishing leadership, his fear and anxiety of thunderstorms changed dramatically. Last night we had terrible and really loud storms in Summerville and in the past he would have jumped on the bed between my husband and I and would have been alert and shivering, but last night, I dragged his bed close to ours and instructed him to stay in his bed. Although he was alert to the noises, there were no signs of anxiety, panting, or whining and he eventually fell asleep through the storm. I truly believe that learning to lead Charley through the methods taught by Bark Busters added life quality for my family and our dog. We truly recommend them!

• #Aggression
• #Barking
• #Pulling
• #Recall
• #Other