13 years ago
— Northern Virginia: Fairfax and Loudoun Counties
It's a common misconception that veterinarians have the most well-behaved dogs. It's often the opposite! I adopted my basset hound at 2 years of age when I was in vet school. She came to me poorly trained, and I unfortunately did little to correct that. Over the years I put my efforts into helping other people's dogs instead of my own, and her bad habits worsened, to the point where my life often revolved around them. It took 8 years for me to finally get frustrated to the point where I needed to ask for help. I had a few colleagues who had good experiences with Bark Busters so I decided to give it a try. I had little expectations for success, as other methods I had tried did not work, and I had allowed her anxiety issues and bad behavior to go on for far too long. I was blown away by the results we had even in the first training session. Mark was extremely thorough and patient walking us through their methods and the first few exercises with our dog. I was shocked when I was able to let a treat drop to the floor and my dog listened to me and didn't immediately go after it! Mark also outlined a clear plan for the exercises we were to do in between sessions, and I was pleased to see that they were easy to follow and we didn't back-track. By the second session we were able to put her in a crate, which I hadn't been able to do in years without a major meltdown on both our parts. Mark even came with me to work, where my dog has had the majority of her anxiety issues, to work on training. I learned through Bark Busters that I have a very trainable dog, I just wasn't doing it right! All parties involved, including my dog, are much happier now. I truly feel that the Bark Busters training method can be effective, when owners commit to doing the homework outside of appointments as well as the work during the appointments.
It's a common misconception that veterinarians have the most well-behaved dogs. It's often the opposite! I adopted my basset hound at 2 years of age when I was in vet school. She came to me poorly trained, and I unfortunately did little to correct that. Over the years I put my efforts into helping other people's dogs instead of my own, and her bad habits worsened, to the point where my life often revolved around them. It took 8 years for me to finally get frustrated to the point where I needed to ask for help. I had a few colleagues who had good experiences with Bark Busters so I decided to give it a try. I had little expectations for success, as other methods I had tried did not work, and I had allowed her anxiety issues and bad behavior to go on for far too long. I was blown away by the results we had even in the first training session. Mark was extremely thorough and patient walking us through their methods and the first few exercises with our dog. I was shocked when I was able to let a treat drop to the floor and my dog listened to me and didn't immediately go after it! Mark also outlined a clear plan for the exercises we were to do in between sessions, and I was pleased to see that they were easy to follow and we didn't back-track. By the second session we were able to put her in a crate, which I hadn't been able to do in years without a major meltdown on both our parts. Mark even came with me to work, where my dog has had the majority of her anxiety issues, to work on training. I learned through Bark Busters that I have a very trainable dog, I just wasn't doing it right! All parties involved, including my dog, are much happier now. I truly feel that the Bark Busters training method can be effective, when owners commit to doing the homework outside of appointments as well as the work during the appointments.
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