Bark Busters Home Dog Training

I have a very aggressive intelligent German shepherd. I went to bark busters hoping they would solve this problem for us. I looked at the amazing reviews on their web and I was convinced they would save us, so I bought the one year package for $ 700. Now I see why they charge so much and give sessions in packages, because their method doesn’t work for smarter dogs. no refunds by the way.
Let me just say their «secret» technique of screaming at your dog when he disobeys does not work. And all the other tools they use to intimidate your dog doesn’t work! My dog just looked away, scoffed at the tools, walked around the problem easily. I maybe used 3 sessions, but on the last one the training was such a joke we stopped contacting them.
Now I have a legit K-​9 trainer who specializes in German shepherds, thank god. Much cheaper and more effective.
I’m not the person that ruins businesses so I will say this:
if you have a lab/​retriever/​terrier/​small pooch, bark busters will probably be enough. Get a couple sessions.
If you have pitbulls/​Doberman/​German shepherd or a dog that is terribly aggressive, DO YOUR RESEARCH for local experts, preferably people who have worked for the police force dog training. That’s your best bet.

I resisted calling a trainer for a long time. I’ve raised dogs before and have never had a reason to pay money for the help. When we adopted our youngest dog, Kylie, however, we found that she came with some issues with which I did not know how to deal. She was afraid of all other dogs (with the exception of ours) and when she encountered them, she would panic, barking, pulling, and eventually crying and even screaming. She was next to impossible to walk calmly because she could almost never focus. Following commands was always hit and miss and keeping her calm when we’d get company was a lost cause. Overall, it was difficult to spend time with her outside of the house
David was brilliant. He helped us identify some of the behaviors that needed addressing and introduced us to some methods that helped not only stop problem behaviors but started developing really good ones. We saw results by the end of our first meeting and have seen major changes in just the first month of using the techniques he taught us.
The session starts out with him getting to know the clients and really talk about the dog and the home the dogs are in. It’s great because he helps you figure out the specifics of how to use the training he give you in the specific situations that come up in your and your dogs lives.
He spent over two hours with us in our first session and we only stopped because our poor Kylie (the dog) was tired from working so hard. He helped us develop not just an approach to helping our dog but also helped us work out a schedule. This has been a really wonderful experience and each time we have another meeting with David I see Kylie really develop and start learning new things.
As far as the price, which was what I had been a little apprehensive of, David did not pressure us at all into any of the higher priced packages. In fact (because I had told him that price was a concern) he very honestly told us that he did not think we needed the most expensive was anything we really needed and even suggested we just schedule a couple of meetings to see how well Kylie developed. I found him to be honest and realistic and very helpful.
A word about the Guarantee that goes with the training, only because I noticed some people did not have glowing things to say about it. The only requirement is that you stick to the training techniques that Bark Busters teaches you, and with the support, as new things come up you can get advice or schedule new meetings. I can only say good things about it and because Bark Busters offers an approach that is new to me, it means I get to think a lot about what I’m trying to get my dog to do and how best to approach it. I cannot recommend David highly enough.

When adding a new rescue to the one-​dog pack, I consulted with David, which has proven to be the best decision I made… well, other than adopting my new dog Ricky. With David’s expert training and advice, not only was the transition as smooth one but he helped me address the separation anxiety my older dog had been experiencing. Working with David has truly been Woof-​while (I couldn’t resist)!

I was skeptical of Bark Busters — our dog has been through several classes and we’ve gone through different training methods suggested by different reading materials. What could Bark Busters possibly offer for the price of 6 classes that I couldn’t find myself? The answer is everything! I wanted to wait 6 weeks before I wrote my review to give the training methods time and see how everything settled, and I can really say David Wiley of Bark Busters is worth every penny.
Tyson was a great puppy who at about 10 months developed pretty severe leash aggression, lunging and snarling at any other dog and even little kids. He was scared of skateboards and bikes, and barked/​growled at anything that came too close to us. I was scared he was going to bite someone. That’s what I called Bark Busters for, but after taking their dog behavioral quiz, it turned out there was a lot of things Tyson wasn’t perfect at: recall, loose leash walking, listening to our commands 100% of the time, jumping. These things were so minor in my mind I didn’t even consider them as things we’d work on, but they covered it all. We made a «wish list» for Tyson and have been hitting every mark.
David spent three hours with us our first session at the apartment and asked a lot of questions so that he could really understand Tyson’s schedule and lifestyle and reactions to things. We worked on the leash aggression, and set up homework sessions for his jumping, recall, leash attentiveness, and up/​off furniture. He let us continue Tyson’s training before following up a month later with another in house appointment, and Tyson’s progress in 4 weeks was nothing short of amazing. His lunging has completely stopped, and he issues warning growls maybe 1 out of 10 dogs now. He ignores them otherwise. He’s better with children, and now instead of snapping at them, if he’s uncomfortable he gives signals (ears back, steps back, low growl) that we can fully read and exit the situation in plenty of time. This alone has reduced my stress level so much.
Tyson now waits for us to go in doors first, will walk loose leash next to us, rarely jumps, and will get on/​off furniture on command. He is so much more calm and seems to be happy because of it. Even people at work and his doggie daycare noticed. At this pace, I can only imagine that in another month, our problems should be next to eradicated.
The best part for me is that the service comes with a lifetime guarantee — for the life of our dog, David will help us through anything. After our second session (during which Tyson did great), David said, «We’ll probably be seeing each other when he gets to be 1 and a half, maybe 2 years old. He’ll start testing boundaries and being an adolescent.» I get to have the same level of training in the future for any new problems Tyson develops, and it’s all covered with the one time payment.
If group classes haven’t worked for you, and the internet isn’t getting you closer to what you are looking for, I strongly recommend Bark Busters and David Wiley to be the answer you were looking for.

David Wiley is fabulous! Hiring David was an outstanding investment.
David is patient and worked equally well with our dog and our family (two parents and two kids). He is an outstanding coach, helping each member of our family to work effectively with our dog. David provided useful tips during each visit.
Our experience with David has been 100% positive.

David is working wonders for our family. He puts up patiently with schedule changes, distracted kids and adults, and frequent failure to execute his personalized and always updated program. We are learning as he continues carefully to suggest and support. The puppy is doing very well. He and we are lucky to have found David.

I think they are more into training clients and how much $$ they can make than treating the humans as customers. I have read some pretty bad reviews about Bark Busters «franchise type program» in overall reviews, but the Seattle reviews were good. I contacted them through their website and got a form email that said they would get in touch but… if I dialed the number in the email I could talk to David right away. Called the number and got a curt lady that said she would «try the local office to get someone to explain the program to me». I mentioned the email said this was the number to talk to David. She said she would try to get «somebody» and left me on hold for twenty minutes (behavior modification: ignore the human animal when he does not follow your wishes because he only wants attention!!). So I hung up and waited for the form response. Nothing. BAD CLIENT… ignore until he is knowing who is the boss of the human pack. I sent a reply back with «no response yet??» and have heard nothing. Ok. I am done with them. GO TO YOUR CRATE! I will find some personable, non-​franchise, customer oriented training company.

I truly cannot say enough positive things about Bark Busters and our trainer David Wiley. Great… helpful…professional…patient…dependable. Bark Busters has exceeded our expectations.
Hubby and I thought we could train our Lola ourselves from either watching DVD’s, YouTube videos or reading books, but nothing worked. We had gotten to the point of succumbing to our Lola’s demanding ways. We really did not feel we could get her under control until David showed us otherwise.
Having someone come to your house to train you and your dog is worth every penny. Home training helps the trainer see your dog’s home life and environment and he can instantly provide advice on behaviors you and poochie are not doing correctly. It is really the only way to go if your pooch has a big personality, who likes to bark, and dominates her entire environment.
David spends an hour with us for each session and every minute is used to the fullest. After each session he provides a worksheet reviewing what we learned and leaves making you feel confident you can continue what was practiced.
Hubby and I are very grateful for all we have learned and highly recommend David. Our loving yet challenging Lola has really turned a calmer corner and we now feel all our training goals can be met.
Thank you, David!

I was at the end of my ropes when I finally contacted David Wiley at Bark Busters in Seattle after seeing endless success YouTube videos. I have 2 dogs, one a 2.5 year old 50lb terrier mix and a 2 year old 9.5lb Miniature Schnauzer Chihuahua mix. They are super adorable but are out of control. They bark incessantly at everything, everyone. It has become increasingly embarrassing to have friends over and walk them because of their unruly behavior. I’ve already tried training classes, bootcamp and none of them really worked.
David showed up within just 3 days of contacting him and within 2 hours, I was incredibly surprised by the good outcome. My BF was especially skeptical that anything positive would happen within that short period of time. But he and I both were both super impressed. David was patient, kind and very knowledgeable about dog behaviors. He taught us how to become real pack leaders via our tone and our postures. I cannot believe that by just tweaking with how us humans carry ourselves around the dogs that it would mean a world of difference. We are committed to doing our homework (20 — 40 min reinforcement training per day) and have 2 more follow up sessions with David within 60 days. I can’t wait to continue the training and have little angels as dogs.
Note, it is good to have some foundation work done with your dogs (i.e., basic training such as come here, sit, down, wait, stay, etc). We needed help getting the dogs to respect and trust us to know what we are doing. When your dog doesn’t listen to you, it is because s/​he thinks s/​he can do a better job as a leader than you because s/​he does not trust that you have the situation handled. I loved that David trained us humans to become leaders of the mixed (dog human cat) pack. This is worth every single penny. I spent $ 1,700 for a 5-​week boot camp (stay and train) for the older dog and it was waaaaay more expensive and did not have the results like the 2 hour session with David did. AND David (Bark Busters) comes to your home to address where issues are at their worst and the dogs are at their most comfortable space. Win, win, WIN!

David at Bark Busters has changed our lives. Not just mine or my husband’s but also our dog’s little lives.
Before David and Bark Busters Lola and Eva were totally out of control. They barked at people other dogs and bit countless children and attacked unsuspecting joggers, bikers, and passers by. And were constantly scared of everything, hence their aggression. Both girls had to wear muzzles and despite this still attempted to attack anyone who came within 20 feet of us.
And forget having people over to the house… when we had visitors before the girls would run around barking and biting all of our guests, Which was not a fun time for anyone.
After David’s first visit both Lola and Eva were able to walk next to me without barking at humans and without pulling n the leash and fighting with each other. They also were able to wait by the door, and keep quiet until released by us when company came over… and things only continued to improve!
By David’s 3^rd visit, the dogs had stopped barking at humans and dogs both, and are able to have people to the house without any trouble, and essentially behave like they have been abducted by aliens and replaced with two well behaved dogs.
We couldn’t love Bark Busters or David any more if we tried!!! And I highly recommend getting the life time warranty because even f your dogs slip up and forget some of their training (your fault as the owner not theirs as the dogs) David will come right out and reteach them and you everything they need to know!
We love Bark Busters!!!

My dogs were driving me crazy. Their behavior was out of control, and something had to be done. I asked a friend who works at a local vet’s office, and she suggested Bark Busters.
My local trainer is David Wiley. David called after I submitted my dog’s behavior quiz on the Bark Buster website, and we briefly discussed the Bark Buster’s philosophy and the specific problems we were seeing at my home. For $ 500, David would come to my house and work with us for 2 – 3 hours the first day. After that, for as long as my dog is alive (regardless of who owns him), I can call and have free follow-​up visits to work on new problems, to fine-​tune my skills, etc. The price seemed steep, but I knew from experience that going to a class didn’t work for my schedule or for my younger dog who is afraid of the big dogs in obedience classes. Plus, the one-​on-​one training model seemed like a good way to go.
David showed up and rang the doorbell. Well, he got to see my dogs in action as they went nuts barking at the intruder at the door. 2 hours later, they didn’t even get out of their beds when the doorbell rang. A miracle? Maybe.
Without giving away the whole Bark Buster model, the basic idea is that dogs behave badly when they have no clear leader. If the people in the house behave like leaders, the dogs will become more submissive and will obey. Makes sense. The key here is learning how to think like a dog, and to use vocals and body language that convey authority to the dog. Well, it feels silly to do, but it works.
David was a VERY patient teacher. He frequently had to explain things over and over in a way that we could all understand (myself, my husband, and my mother were involved). David clearly tailored the training to suit our dogs (one is very nervous and needed a slower, gentler pace), and he also tailored the training to suit each of the humans, too. He also followed up a few weeks later to see how things are going, which I appreciated.
He made it very clear that we should never need to «make» our dogs do anything. If they respect us and consider us to be the pack leaders, then they will do what we ask simply because we are in charge. This has put both dogs at ease. Their spirits aren’t broken, their personalities haven’t changed — they just freak out less and instead look to the humans to handle the situation.
I cannot say enough good things about Bark Busters and David Wiley. I am very pleased with the training we received so far, and I am amazed that I lived with my dogs for 6 years as they were before this training. I’m proud to not have the neighborhood «bad dog» title any longer, and I have David to thank for that.

A few years ago I adopted an English Bulldog, and while he behaves very well, I wanted to take him to a dog trainer to make sure I was approaching things correctly and could learn some tricks for teaching new things and, most importantly, getting rid of problem behavior should it show up. Before contacting David, I had received a Bark Busters book as a gift, so I was familiar with the approach — I found it to be a very common-​sense approach, not unlike the Dog Whisperer but without some of the «harsher» tactics some folks have issues with (I personally have no problems with the Dog Whisperer.)
The thing I liked best about the Bark Busters approach was that the training is conducted in your own home, which I think makes the most logical sense for the dog — it removes the stress of unfamiliar surroundings. I also love that you can call them back for additional training whenever you need it. David is incredibly knowledgeable, thoughtful, professional, kind, and his deep love for dogs shines through in his approach. I know I learned a lot from this training, and I do think I’m a better Mom to Emmitt because of it. I really would wholeheartedly recommend David as a trainer. Bark Busters is a great investment for you and your pet!