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 Web site, and we briefly discussed the Bark Busters philosophy and the specific problems we were seeing at my home. 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. Two 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.
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 Web site, and we briefly discussed the Bark Busters philosophy and the specific problems we were seeing at my home. 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. Two 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.
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