Home Dog Training in Ventura County!

Poorly behaved dogs cause stress and often embarrassment. My name is Michael Hagan and I am your Ventura County Bark Busters dog trainer and behavioral therapist. I can help you overcome the behavioral problems you are experiencing with your dog.

In 2011, I got my first dog, Jasper (in picture), he was a runaway rescue. I noticed right away that Jasper was very fearful of people, particularly men, and already a naturally shy dog. Jasper knew how to sit, stay, lay down, and all the rest, but those commands did not change his anxiety, nervousness, or fearfulness towards people or sudden noises. He needed real training.

Every training I looked at had some sort of physical aspect to it: shock collars, prong collars, choke collars, alpha rolling, chains, and even yelling to intimidate. Intuitively, I knew Jasper was too sensitive for this type of training. He's already terrified! Even looking into the TV star Cesar Milan's training I saw a lot of physical behavior modification and that just didn't seem to gain respect from the dog. The dogs would pull away from the corrections with resistance, which is not what I wanted for Jasper.

Then, my older sister, in all of her wisdom, found Bark Busters. Sometimes just trusting your intuition and reaching out for advice is the best thing you can do to help your situation. After that first phone call, I knew this was not only the training Jasper needed, but that I needed.

I was so amazed by the training, and how quickly I saw results, that I had to be a part of it! Since becoming a Bark Busters trainer I have been able to create the same incredible results for so many other dogs. And it doesn't stop there.

In 2019, I moved into the Ventura County area to take over for a former trainer. A local rescue was looking for a trainer to help rehabilitate a troubled dog who had been pulled from a kill shelter. He had injured a previous trainer, and terrified all but three volunteers. His situation was rapidly declining in the shelter setting. I came in to help. Working with the volunteers, and everyone following my plan, we were able to get him rebalanced. About two months after we started working with him, an interested adopter took him home. It was one of the most rewarding feelings! I have even more amazing stories that have followed since then that can be found in my social media posts.

The Bark Busters training method has succeeded where other techniques have failed. Dog training classes usually take a "one size fits all" approach and are targeted toward the "average dog." Other training programs rely on coercive methods like shock collars or prong collars to extort good behavior. If you are like me and know that a non-physical method of training is the best for your dog, then book your first lesson with me - simply click on the email button or give my team a call today!

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