Bark Busters

Michelle was great. She spent more than the allotted time talking with us about everything puppy. We have a very active 11 week old toy aussie who is going through all the usual puppy issues. Michelle helped us to understand his point of view and create an appropriate environment where he can look to us as his leader at all times. In less than a week we have solid progress on play biting (my punctured hands, yeow) and have a plan for basic obedience. Potty training, even with a doggie door, is still an ongoing challenge, but Michelle responded within a day to our inquires for further direction and support. With all of this said, this review is for Michelle Willey only as Bark Busters is a franchise and your milage may vary. As a side note, there is a very inexpensive book on Amazon called Dog Logic that shows the Bark Busters methods and is worth the read.

In early September our family adopted a 5 month old chocolate lab puppy. She has the sweetest disposition but had little training. It had been well over 7 years since our last dog and to jump into a puppy, I knew we needed extra help with training. I had received many referrals for other trainers prior to selecting Michelle. I read a lot of great reviews about Michelle and did a lot of «googling» about her before making my selection. I couldn’t find anything bad said about Michelle and they have all proven to be more than accurate. She has an incredibly long history of training dogs (30+ years).
She is passionate about what she does and a great educator. She explains early on that she is training the human, not the dog. As she teaches you why that is, you begin to learn why her training works so well.
We have seen a great improvement in our puppy. We’ve also learned (through Michelle’s help) that our puppy has bad coping skills. We couldn’t figure out why she was so scared of everything. Michelle has given us several training practices to apply to our pups needs and in time I know that our puppy will be able to go to a park, long walks, etc. Out of respect for Michelle, I do not want to give away her training methods, all I can say is, hire her. Her methods make sense and they are effective!
Michelle has been more than just a trainer to our family. She has been available at the drop of a hat when I had a question for her regarding our puppy. She has offered a whole slew of information outside of training that has helped us with our puppy. Coping methods such as a Thunder shirt, Bach Flower drops, changing our puppy’s food to a more organic one, offering advice on things that you would normally ask your vet about. I welcome her advice and have used a lot of it. I trust her whole hardheartedly and have a great respect for her knowledge.

Greatest Investment we made since getting our dog!
We have an 18 mos Chocolate Lab who is a giant puppy stuck in a 100lb body. We are fine with that, accepted the fact he can and may knock you down, drag you while you take him on a «walk», bark and pin guests that walk in our house, and can easily rearrange our furniture. However, we are now new parents and have a 5mos daughter, which greatly changes the situation in our household. The once «uncontrollable» we screwed up as dog parents — DOG now needs to desperately chill bc I feared he could hurt our daughter on accident.
I was also very skeptical that she claimed to be able to train our dog in one session. The same dog that shredded the book Marley & Me (which is why we got a lab). I wanted to cry — move over Caesar — Michelle actually speaks to dogs. Walking Thor is enjoyable now. Controlling him has made it that much more easily to love him. We don’t even kennel him anymore. He is still very much a puppy and will start to get hyper, but he responds well. I feel a lot more relieved to have my daughter on the floor. He understands boundaries and will not lay on her blanket (her space).
Never give up on your pets as you never give up on your kids. Its constant work, but worth it! Even the most submissive pets could use her training. The training was more derived to teach the owners, and I have learned so much. So much of what we were doing wrong, and didn’t realize it.
I’m a Bark Buster believer!

Michelle is an excellent trainer. We have two dogs and barking is a problem. We had that under control before she left! The peeing in the house is well on its way to being under control. Like many others said: I wish we had done this years ago! I am so encouraged and grateful.

Michelle was extremely professional, and her techniques for training were exactly what I was looking for. My dog suffers from severe separation anxiety, so that I cannot leave the house without her constant barking for hours and hours… Immediately during our initial session, Michelle showed me various ways how I was not the pack leader, and we started implementing ways for me to become just that. She was also available for questions afterwards on email, and was very thorough with her explanations. Mia is still a work in progress but I see huge improvements in a small time. :)

Michelle transformed my German shepherd into an amazing dog! By far the BEST trainer I have ever met! Like she says «it’s not just training for the dog, it’s training for the owner» highly highly recommend!

She is amazing! she is awesome at what she does, walks in with confidence and knows how to direct and diagnose your dog. She will give you tools to use while she is gone, and help your home be one that you want to live in and others enjoy living in. She has been so helpful. Our rottie mix was in and out of five homes and had some aggression issues. Michelle was able to come in, help diagnose the issues and give my husband and I tools so that we can get him under control as well as be a dog that is healthy and happy. Thank you for your time and expertise! this is defiantly a trainer worth your time and money!

Dear Michelle,
We want to thank you for your wonderful help in training our Siberian Husky pup. Over a short few months, the transformation in our Dog has been remarkable to watch, with owing full credit to your incredible know-​how, consistency, and professionalism. We consider ourselves truly blessed to have found you and are very confident you are simply the best at dog training. Having busy schedules, your flexibility in meeting at our home during all hours of the day, was a higher level of customer service than we ever imagined. Today, we get several compliments on how well behaved Yale is, from walking, to greeting, to behavior, especially for this breed of dog. We want to thank you for helping every step of the way, in making Yale the perfect new addition to our family.
If your looking for the best dog trainer in the valley, look no further! Contact Michelle at Bark Busters today.
Best Regards,
Jim and Denise Titus