First of all,I NEVER fill these things out. I NEVER write testimonials. This experience was so amazing that I HAD to write this mini novel! David is a miracle worker. I rescued our dog, Oreo, from the shelter one week before he was supposed to be euthanized. He had been taken out of an abusive home when he was 6 months old and spent almost 1 year in the shelter. I was told by the shelter workers that he was a special-needs dog, and that he was untrainable. He is a black shih tzu with a tongue that is always sticking out! My husband and I are first time dog owners, and in the 4½ years we have had Oreo, we have done great things and not so great things. In the time we have had him, we allowed bad habits to emerge and unknowingly-we enabled him to develop very aggressive tendencies. He would routinely bite (or attempt to bite) any visitors, he would bark for hours at a time when visitors would come over. If we had guests over, we would have to crate him in the bedroom or board him because he would not stop barking and would often have accidents in his crate. He bit my husband 1 month after we rescued Oreo which required an emergency room visit. He nipped at most visitors, one resulting in an emergency room visit. He overcame a 4-month-old puppy and tried to bite her neck. And, most recently, Oreo bit me significantly in an effort to reach my mother-in-law. My hubby and I were beside ourselves because we knew that was the final straw. We did not know what to do. Euthanization was discussed, but we both knew that we could not live with that decision because we loved Oreo so much. Our vet suggested a dog behaviorist...and we eventually found Bark Busters. David came to our house and we had a 30-45 minute consultation, while Oreo was crated upstairs. We discovered that while we were doing some of the same training techniques that David was explaining, we were doing them incorrectly. We had done SO much Internet and book research, but we were just just applying them incorrectly! When we finally let Oreo down, David stood behind a gate for protection...Oreo came running in and tried to jump over the gate to get at David, barking and growling. That is how we began our training. We tried all the techniques David had taught us, we recreated scenarios that resulted in dog bites or nips (including the one that got me bit). IT WORKED! Oreo responded within minutes to the techniques. By the time David left, Oreo was sleeping, playing, running around in the yard, and begging for belly rubs! We had read that it was common for things to go great with the trainer and that it got harder later. So...we were prepared. We understood that WE had to do our homework and reinforce all these techniques. We did our homework everyday and saw SIGNIFICANT changes. He is so much more calm now. On the 3rd day of training, my in-laws came to stay with us for a week (for Christmas). OREO WAS GREAT! He barked twice (and it was single barks). He did not jump on them...bite them...or anything. By the end of their visit, my mother-in-law (same one he tried to bite and got me instead) was sitting on the ground petting and playing with him! So, we continued. We had a New Years Eve party with a half dozen guests, and the little puppy Oreo tried to hurt. IT WAS AMAZING! He did not bark ONCE! He laid around, avoiding the puppy (who is very hyper), took treats and commands from our guests, and was very pleasant! The techniques supported by Bark Busters are wonderful. They do require the owners to do their part...but Oreo is part of our family and we are willing to do a little extra work to make a safe and loving environment with our little guy. Our trainer, David Sundland, has already called to check in on us and has offered to come back out and help us work with Oreo when it is time for a family. For those that say you can do the research on your own and that BB is overpriced-I disagree. We have spent years trying MANY techniques, and we were unsuccessful. I highly recommend this program. And, we are grateful to David for providing us with the tools we needed in order to keep Oreo in our family. THANK YOU, BARK BUSTERS AND DAVID SUNDLAND!
First of all,I NEVER fill these things out. I NEVER write testimonials. This experience was so amazing that I HAD to write this mini novel! David is a miracle worker. I rescued our dog, Oreo, from the shelter one week before he was supposed to be euthanized. He had been taken out of an abusive home when he was 6 months old and spent almost 1 year in the shelter. I was told by the shelter workers that he was a special-needs dog, and that he was untrainable. He is a black shih tzu with a tongue that is always sticking out! My husband and I are first time dog owners, and in the 4½ years we have had Oreo, we have done great things and not so great things. In the time we have had him, we allowed bad habits to emerge and unknowingly-we enabled him to develop very aggressive tendencies. He would routinely bite (or attempt to bite) any visitors, he would bark for hours at a time when visitors would come over. If we had guests over, we would have to crate him in the bedroom or board him because he would not stop barking and would often have accidents in his crate. He bit my husband 1 month after we rescued Oreo which required an emergency room visit. He nipped at most visitors, one resulting in an emergency room visit. He overcame a 4-month-old puppy and tried to bite her neck. And, most recently, Oreo bit me significantly in an effort to reach my mother-in-law. My hubby and I were beside ourselves because we knew that was the final straw. We did not know what to do. Euthanization was discussed, but we both knew that we could not live with that decision because we loved Oreo so much. Our vet suggested a dog behaviorist...and we eventually found Bark Busters. David came to our house and we had a 30-45 minute consultation, while Oreo was crated upstairs. We discovered that while we were doing some of the same training techniques that David was explaining, we were doing them incorrectly. We had done SO much Internet and book research, but we were just just applying them incorrectly! When we finally let Oreo down, David stood behind a gate for protection...Oreo came running in and tried to jump over the gate to get at David, barking and growling. That is how we began our training. We tried all the techniques David had taught us, we recreated scenarios that resulted in dog bites or nips (including the one that got me bit). IT WORKED! Oreo responded within minutes to the techniques. By the time David left, Oreo was sleeping, playing, running around in the yard, and begging for belly rubs! We had read that it was common for things to go great with the trainer and that it got harder later. So...we were prepared. We understood that WE had to do our homework and reinforce all these techniques. We did our homework everyday and saw SIGNIFICANT changes. He is so much more calm now. On the 3rd day of training, my in-laws came to stay with us for a week (for Christmas). OREO WAS GREAT! He barked twice (and it was single barks). He did not jump on them...bite them...or anything. By the end of their visit, my mother-in-law (same one he tried to bite and got me instead) was sitting on the ground petting and playing with him! So, we continued. We had a New Years Eve party with a half dozen guests, and the little puppy Oreo tried to hurt. IT WAS AMAZING! He did not bark ONCE! He laid around, avoiding the puppy (who is very hyper), took treats and commands from our guests, and was very pleasant! The techniques supported by Bark Busters are wonderful. They do require the owners to do their part...but Oreo is part of our family and we are willing to do a little extra work to make a safe and loving environment with our little guy. Our trainer, David Sundland, has already called to check in on us and has offered to come back out and help us work with Oreo when it is time for a family. For those that say you can do the research on your own and that BB is overpriced-I disagree. We have spent years trying MANY techniques, and we were unsuccessful. I highly recommend this program. And, we are grateful to David for providing us with the tools we needed in order to keep Oreo in our family. THANK YOU, BARK BUSTERS AND DAVID SUNDLAND!
Permalink