Bark Busters Reviews

Bark Busters
( 38 reviews )

Bark Busters Customer Reviews

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Essentially a scam
December 5, 2022

I paid $1,600 to get help with my pom's constant barking. All I got was a Zoom call and a sale's pitch for a questionable collar (looked like it would choke my dog).

The trainer, Rob Scheel. essentially spent the entire 3 hours explaining how I should scare my dog into submission by slamming doors in her face and throwing objects near her every time she barks. The entire session was a waste of time. I learned more from watching free dog training videos on YouTube than I did using this service.

BarkBusters Office April 12, 2023

We are sorry to hear about this and would be happy to get you connected with someone who can help get this resolved if you can kindly email us at [email protected], thank you

BobS. April 20, 2023

Thank you, appreciate the warning. They only appear to be good at sales based on the volume of reviews in the negative.

Don't waste your money
November 2, 2022
I should have flushed my 1600.00 down the toilet. One 3 hour visit and you do the rest. I thought we would get phone calls at least but NO! It is just a rip off.

BarkBusters Office April 12, 2023

Hi Bonnie, I'm sorry we are seeing this post just now, but if you still haven't been able to resolve your concerns please email us directly at [email protected], thank you

Rude Trainers
October 17, 2022

Not happy, 2 years ago I paid for a life time of training for my dog - first trainer came out and was kind going on about what we fed her and why we didn't have her under control already etc but pushed through with him.

I booked in with a new trainer as I didn't want the guy from above to come back out,

The lady who I was booked in called me to rearrange the training session which is fine but then she was asking me why do we need her to come out if we were there for the last training, I advised we just want a refresher for our dogs recall which is covered until the lifetime training and she asked why didn't my partner remember from the last time and why do I want him there this time (?!) (keep in mind this is ONE training session from 2 years ago so I'm sorry I couldn't remember everything done in that ONE session)

I told her I want him there because I won't be sure that I will be re explaining the session to him and she repeated why didn't he remember the first time so I asked her why isn't she asking me that as well then as I was there - she was pretty aggressive on the phone and I told her this and she said that I don't know what aggression is - so I told her I no longer feel comfortable with her coming to my place and I will find another trainer and she said its her or no one which I replied to her "no I mean a whole new company" which she changed her tone and said she has a spot free where she can come out and that we paid for it already so I said "I know I paid for it but I am going to look for a new training company"

This company will be good for people who already know how to train dogs - not for people who are trying to find patient understanding trainers

NicoleGowans October 17, 2022

This was in Australia

BarkBusters Office April 12, 2023

Hi Nicole, we are seeing this post just now in the US, and if you would like us to help with international support please contact us at [email protected], thank you

Your dog will respond
October 14, 2022

We are so pleased how well fur baby responded to the training.

Have followed up on homework and could not be more pleased with Holly.

Hire a different company. Don't pay a fortune especially up front!
September 24, 2022

My sister hired this so called company, and it's a counseling session.!!. Paid Over a thousand dollars up front because this is the company way of doing business..

Well,.DO NOT HIRE THESE PEOPLE. My family is totally dissatisfied .. You follow their orders. Hands on by them?? They do not work the dog. You do it all. Far as we are concerned, this is bad business.

BarkBusters Office October 11, 2022

Hi Carol,

We are sorry to hear about your experience, and if you would like to further discuss your situation we'd be happy to speak with you if you can let us know by emailing [email protected]

Kind regards,

Bark Busters

No guarantee training will work and no set amount of appointments when you pay for a year.
March 20, 2022

Recommend paying for one session at a time! I'll try to make this short, but a lot of disappointment transpired. My family rescued a puppy who was very smart and she did not like me. She was very naughty to me, the female in the house. Since this was during Covid, there were no training classes available. Someone suggested BB because they come out to your home.

Well dummy me, I was desperate and paid for the one year of support. The BAHHH (main training word, BB suggests) did not work for me. When Paul came to my home for the one hour training---it felt more like counseling and maybe 10 minutes of hands on training. Our pup needed hands on training!

When I went over problems with the trainer ,he just kept repeating phrases from their brochure, That did nothing for us. I explained we needed videos, more hands on help, talking about this was not solving my issues. Our hour sessions would also steer to personal conversation instead of training. I would try to reel him back in and make the best of our time.

Here's the problem, I did this for 6 months. I told him I needed to learn to walk the puppy safely, before my husband was deployed, Well that didn't happen. Paul was overwhelmed with clients that trying to get ahold of him to schedule was horrible and he couldn't remember my dogs name either.

A few months later I requested a REFUND since this was not working and I only had training for 6 months. Lol, here's my warning! Well rereading the contract, after being denied any money back, I didn't pay for 1 year of training (that's what I thought), I paid for 1 year of support!

Lol, ok word play. Shame on me. Also, in the contract his time was worth $100/hr, so in the 6 months they considered I used up what I paid. Oh, and he never called or emailed after that 6 month appointment to check on us either. Why would he! He knew he didn't have to do anything after 6 months due to the wording in the contract. I hate that I spent almost $700 for nothing.

Nobody at the company cares and will only quote the contract to you. No compassion at all. It may have taking me a few months to call and complain, but Paul knew my situation, he knew my husband was being deployed so things would be hectic. BEWARE they do not refund money, they will remind you this training is not guaranteed it will work (but they don't care, they have your money), and not care to try and make you happy.

BarkBusters Office September 12, 2022

Hi there, We are sorry to read about your experience, and if you do have any outstanding issues you can contact our office at [email protected] directly.Kind regards,Bark Busters

Political dog trainer
August 1, 2021
The trainer did not like that I was watching FOX news and asked if I was a Trump supporter. My response was that I was/am and he was disgusted.

BarkBusters Office September 12, 2022

Hi Deci,

We are sorry about any comments made unrelated to your training as we agree the discussions should stick to your training.

Bark Busters

Don't go here if you have a smart dog!
June 12, 2021

I have a purebred border collie that gets distracted by shadows and goes crazy and will lose your attention. He also sprints up the stairs when coming inside, bites and scratches at the doors/door frames, barks constantly if you don't give attention, digs etc. I understand that you need to keep border collies busy but I had the trainer, Paul Jasmin in minnesota and I didn't understand how the "bahh" will teach the dog to know "down", "heel", "stop" if you only use "bahh" it will confuse the dog on what your commanding them!

He tried the walking with him and lost his attention right away when my dog saw a shadow, he didn't teach the sit, stay, heel, come or any of the basic training and I thought that was a joke for paying $1200! He also charged me for a stupid collar without telling me that I'd get charged or the price of the collar. They told me the first session would be 3 hours and he took 4 hours and I was late for work! So second session was just a check up, no training with it, so I asked for a partial refund and I'm glad I got some back but none of that training worked!!

If you have a smart dog, don't go to this company!

BonnieDalzell July 02, 2021

The hyper reactive behavior to shadows in Border Collies may be a form of epilepsy. This dog needs to be examined by a veterinary trained neurologist. The behavior is not one that’s susceptible to training.

Love Bark Busters, saved my life!!!!
August 22, 2019

I am in Richmond TX and Pat Conner from Bark Buster's came to my house. My golden doodle is a very hyper girl 2 yrs of age. I loved learning about how dogs instinctual behavior is, how in our home she became the "leader" of the pack, the "alfa" of the house.

The first hour and a half was me learning how Mama dogs teach their pups, and the training involves teaching the owner how to be the pack leader, without treats, without being mean or hurting my girl. In the next hour I worked with Bella using the techniques I learned. Nothing short of amazing!! She completely stopped going nuts at the doorbell ringing, stopped barking completely. Next was jumping all over people.. again in less than 10 minutes she stopped it. Counter-surfing?

No more!! Pepperoni slices hanging off the edge of the counter, she hasn't touched them! I felt so much relief, wish I'd done this a year ago! Its been 3 days, she's been the perfect pup I wanted. Maybe my trainer is better than some of the others I've read about in reviews, he has been doing this for 14 years. But he didn't train Bella at all, he trained me!! For us, it's nothing short of a lifesaver!!

Ginny August 16, 2022

I think you are right. I had a wonderful trainer and you could see the difference in my dog immediately. I did everything he told me to do and I had a wonderfully trained dog. After a few years I wanted help with leash aggression with other dogs. My trainer had died in a car crash and I got another one. He did not know what he was doing.

Ghosted
May 21, 2019

Ghosted

Over a year ago, I called Bark Buster for help on the integration of a new puppy into our family. I called the company, read the reviews and set appointment and pre paid some of the payment. The trainer showed up, gave me leashes and told me to say "Ahh" at the dogs when they were misbehaving. I was headed out of town, the trainer said to call her when I returned. She charged the amount for trainer (expensive for a short session where I learned to say "Ahh") and I never heard from her again.

Understandable, she wanted me to call her but wouldn't you think you would contact the client after charging hundreds upon hundreds of dollars? Absolutely no follow up. My schedule is busy and the times I thought about calling it was late at night and I would think surely she is going to reach out since I am the customer and I have paid.

So my bad for not having the time to stalk this trainer and company but save the time and money, just don't use them. I could have reached out to my credit card company but I kept thinking this is a company that would reach out to their customers, boy was I wrong.

JeromeTaffet June 02, 2019

I have had the opposite experience. The woman with whom we worked was extremely different. The door has been open. It may be a silly question. I get an answer an explanation of why. Several suggestions to address the problem on your own. To get the results, takes at most an hour a day in half hour sessions.

I’m more then pleased with how I’ve been taught to properly manage my dog.

Trey was a constant 10 and then 0 crazy then sleep. The words BAH and other tools we’re taught used properly and consistently work. The person who trains you need contact and initiate a conversation. Only you know what you want in a dog, and takes time for you to learn.

Good trainer... but good luck getting them to come out
April 20, 2019

You pay a pretty petty for lifetime support. They assure you personal service in home and although they won't commit to a specific schedule because "each dog is different" when I actually tried to pin them down to frequency before I purchased, I was assured of at least once a month over the phone. Well it took more than 2 months to get the 1st visit.

But when he came out we saw some improvement. After that you have to demand they come out. One more visit again good training. Not ecstatic but mollified. When we moved puppy is now 7 months. They want a $200 transfer fee and when I expressed disappointment about how often.. he stated he visits puppies once at 6 months then again at a year and would NOT budge.

WOW! I want my money back! THIS IS NOT THE SERVICE I PAID $995 FOR.$500 a visit!!

Scam
July 30, 2018
Bark Busters do not stick with a client to help them. They blame you on why things don't work out. They like to say your puppy should be trained after the first session, which is obviously not the case. The doesn't care he just cares about $630 he received to do nothing but judge you. Head office is a joke they don't help with anything. Don't waste your money.. when you talk refunds they try to tell you been with them too long um I don't think so 2months isn't to long.

System Works - But Expensive
June 13, 2017

Like the others here, we contracted with Bark Busters to help us train our rescue puppy who was frightened of virtually everything. Our trainer spent three hours during the first visit going over the philosophy behind Bark Busters.

We then spent about an hour learning techniques to control the dog and help him with some of his anxieties. We continued the methods for about three weeks until our second training class. By the second class, our dog was already 100% better than he had been. He walks on the leash without pulling. He sits and waits going through doors and never runs ahead going up stairs.

The total bill came to $930, which also included a training collar. Rather expensive, but compared to other training programs, not out of line.

DO NOT USE THIS PROGRAM.
September 8, 2016

The training this instructor used with my dog Finley had no effect on her behavior what so ever. Kristyn would get noticeably upset when I had too many toys out or accidently left Finley's food out after her feeding time. Keep in mind, she was scolding me and getting upset on our very first session. How could I know these things were wrong?

She would not explain the training techniques to me and shot down every question I had and just responded by saying "that is just the way it is". I tried to overlook her attitude and unprofessional demeanor but after months of using the training she instructed me to do I saw no improvement. I requested a new trainer which she responded by saying she was the only one in my area.

I politely said that I would like to terminate the contract because I did not feel that Kristyn or this program was a good fit for my dog and me. I said I would be happy to pay for the sessions we had already done but did not think it was fair for her to keep the rest of my $850 for a service that did not work and I would be terminating.

She responded aggressively and said, "There are absolutely no refunds. The program works IF you do it". I was very disappointed with this trainer and this service. I had followed the program 100% and the trainer chose to take no responsibility and refused any refunds. Now I have lost $850 and still have an out of control dog. I would not recommend this trainer or this company to anyone.

Did a great job.
October 26, 2015
We have two rescues, the newest one was territorial aggressive and I was concerned he would bite someone. Dick Messenger came over and showed us some simple things to do and now both dogs are much easier to live with. And neither were the least bit traumatized by the training as I've read in some reviews. It was pretty spendy and I didn't expect it to cost as much, but in the long run it was worth it.

Bark Busters (Ryan Mcpherson) - bad trainer and Liar -
May 13, 2013

Payed for life time training only for us to be told we can't have touch up training due to having another dog in the house. Unless we pay for the other dog. Only to find out he was lying when we called customer service.

We tried to call him, email, leave a message etc. two months later and he ignored us, he even followed my wife on twitter during this period but still ignored us. No calls emails back or anything. Then he decided to Lie to the company about numerous things. We were told by customer service that it would be taken care of. We received a phone call from him shortly after.

He had the audacity to tell us try doing the things in the packet and if that didn't work he would come out. (lazy or an I don't know). Being told to do the touch up training our self Made me so Mad i could scream . This man is garbage in my book and a disgrace to every Veteran out there (Being a disabled Vet myself I can say this.). After I complain this time he won't be allowed to my house.

Don't recommend
December 6, 2012

I am having problems with my dog (fearful, territorial aggression) and after going to a couple trainers who failed, I decided to try these guys. The man that talked to me over the phone assured me that BB could help with my dog and that there were several things we could do right away to improve her behavior. I told him that she is fearful due to the situation she was removed from as a newborn (drug dealer who thought he was a puppy mill), and is aggressive towards strangers. I was assured that he could handle it.

This guy shows up at my house two days later with a tennis racket in hand, no idea what for as he never used it. He met my puppy outside, who was aggressive at first but warmed up to him quickly and even let him in the house. I was amazed that someone who wasn't me or my wife could get into my house. He was petting her and everything, she was even leaning on him and licking his hands. Right here I thought it was gonna work.

Then he teaches us about body language and several other things, and they all seemed to have an effect. All the while telling us that he is scared of our dog, but he can't let her know that. How are you going to be scared of a dog and teach anything?

Now he tried to work on her with people coming to the house. He went outside and rang the doorbell. She wasn't having any of that and ended up nipping him. He got scared, told us to put the dog up, refunded some of our money, and more or less ran out the door to his car. Then he calls back and says he wants vaccination records from our vet. OK so we gave him those, and never heard back. He asked if we were considering getting rid of the dog.....(if we were we wouldn't have tried BB!)

If this guy can't handle a nip from a puppy (granted a 70 pound puppy who left a small bruise), he really shouldn't say he can train aggressive dogs. I gave two stars because he refunded most of the money, tried to recommend a different trainer, and was at least honest with us that he couldn't handle it. BB might be fine for a neurotic toy poodle, but for dominate powerful breeds stay away...

Gwyneth S January 02, 2013

I was just going to try BB for some special needs pets :-) both from the pet clinic and my own. What is the name of the guy that "trained" your baby and what areas of what city does he train? I just don't want the chance of him ever coming over to me to train my babies :-) He should have been trained in dog handling first and coming to someone's house with a tennis racket not left in the car... He probably was going to use that to keep the pet he was supposed to train at bay, not a good thing. He was right that the baby you train cannot see that he was in fear but dogs sense stuff like that from a mile away! At least he was responsible to refund most of your money and I hope he will not report your dog as the one that bit him.

Bark Busters Rocks!
September 18, 2012

AMAZING! There is no other way to explain how Ryan was able to teach me to train my dogs. I I have two large dogs and both are rescues. My German Sheppard (Ram) scored an "F" on his doggy behavior test and my German Sheppard/Husky/Rottweiler mix (Dexter) scored a "D".

I love my dogs very much but I found myself so frustrated having my husband deployed and dealing with their destructive behavior issues on my own. My Veterinarian recommended Bark Busters so I reached out to Ryan.

After the first training session with Ryan, my dogs were completely different dogs. This isn't the first training program they have gone through but it will be their final training program! I am loving my dogs more and more each day as we work together. Stop spending your money with other dog training programs! Use Bark Busters! Understand why dogs act the way they do so you can train them faster with results that last a lifetime! I am so thankful for Ryan and Bark Busters!

Natalie Y September 20, 2012

We used Bark Busters in Edmonton, and couldn't agree more. We have had dogs for years, but our latest rescue proved to be more difficult than anything we had ever experienced. We actually thought we know a lot about dogs, but it wasn't until going through the training with Carol & Greg, that we realized we had much more to learn. I cannot believe the difference this program has made in the our lives. Thank-you.....