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Bark Busters Home Dog Training is an online company. Based on 30 reviews on TrustPlane, it has an average rating of 2.3 out of 5 stars. Last reviewed February 15, 2026.
Run and don’t stop I paid a stupid amount of money just to get help with toilet training I actually didn’t need much more but it would have been nice - one visit to the home no one on one training- She just sat down took notes - I rang multiple times as no improvement and received a phone conversation that did not help - dishonest cons is all I can say
If you ever needed to burn money but don't know how, bark Busters is the easiest. My initial problem was if they don't have a trainer nearby you would only get video calls with a trainer. But even if you have a trainer in the area, you will be ignored as if you didn't exist anyways. The trainer's despite how well trained or good degree they may have or not, they don't love animals. You will have to bombard and harass a trainer to get the bare minimum and I will explain why. These trainers are doing this as a side job. This is a supplementary income as if you want to have them visit or do a call, it's during random spare hours they have free because they have a main job to attend. So you're really just a bother to them, as they rarely have interest to check in or make sure the training is going well. You have to chase them, then they have to try to care to remember anything about you. Unfortunately since this is a one time up front payment, they have everything they will ever get from you and have no reason to care about helping you or your pet. So in conclusion if you love your pet, find a trainer that also loves pets, and never pay up front or anything to bark busters.
I wish I had read these reviews before moving forward. With all due respect, our trainer did dedicate a lot of time coming to the home, sitting with us, advising on what to do. The instruction sounded reasonable and we tried implementing. They just haven't worked with our dog. Other trainers are more hands on, will demonstrate live what to do, give you the opportunity to mimic what they do and then correct you. That's not the case. I was desperate to find someone and got hooked with the "lifetime" support. That is not useful if you need a whole lifetime to address the issues and the methodology doesn't work with your dog. I would much rather get a prorated refund. I would say if you have a new puppy, their methods would work great. Older dogs, not so much. I'm very sad we might have to rehome our dog, as we don't have the funds to work with another trainer. I have nothing negative to say about the trainer we worked with, it's just the whole business structure and methodology.
We went with Bark Busters last year for our 2 year old Bernedoodle who has some aggression towards children. After paying 1,500 dollars and having a zoom call with our trainer, we had nothing but high hopes. After meeting our trainer, he continuously asked us what our main "issue" was with our dog on every call, almost like he kept forgetting who we were. He only showed up to our home 2 times for less than an hour each, once was to actually meet our dog and the other was to go over walking techniques, which he wanted to do inside rather than outside. He explained to us that it's going to be extremely difficult to try and train our dog because we couldn't actually set up a scenario to put him in. He wanted us to take videos of ourselves walking the dog and doing other things rather than seeing the dog in person. After our last call on the phone he hasn't followed up with a single call or text and it has been about ten months. We feel like he knew going into this that he wasn't going to be able to help with our issue, so he kept having us do unrelated training practices. I believe our dissatisfaction is partly an issue with bark busters not being truthful from the beginning about the difficulty of our training, and partly the trainer seemingly not wanting to put in any effort with us and the dog. Overall we feel like they were eager to take our money and not put in the actual work.
I am writing this review on behalf of my mother, who is in her late 70s, and in my opinion, her experience with Tara and Scott (the heads of BarkBusters) and Juliet (the trainer) has been extremely disappointing.My mother hired them for help with her new puppy — basic leash training, house-training, and ongoing support. She paid $1,500 for what was described as two intensive sessions plus continued guidance. Juliet did provide both sessions, and while there has been some improvement in a few areas, the two main issues she hired them for — leash training and house-training — have shown no real change at all, despite following all instructions exactly as directed.The most upsetting part is the lack of follow-through and support. Emails asking for help have gone unanswered, and when my mom tried to pause the final payment due to the lack of improvement in the core issues and lack of communication, the remaining $350 was charged to her credit card anyway.We understand that training takes time — no one expects miracles. But for $1,500, we expected basic responsiveness, follow-up, guidance, or at the very least, acknowledgment of messages. That did not happen for us.As her daughter, I feel like my mother — a woman in her late 70s who trusted this service — was completely taken advantage of. It is incredibly upsetting to see, and in my opinion, it’s disgusting that someone her age is left feeling helpless with no proper support after paying so much money.I always leave 5-star reviews; this is the first negative review I have ever written. I felt compelled to share this so others can make an informed decision. Based on our experience, I would not recommend this service.
We signed up for Bark Busters training for $1395.00. This was the worst dog training experience I’ve ever had. I have had 6 dogs in my lifetime and they were all trained very well by a private professional trainer. But not Bark Busters 3 hours of inside your house training making noise with nylon bag pillows and water spray bottle and simple commands. This is a franchise company who gets a person in your area to come to your home. My person was was very rude and pushy. I would never recommend this person or company if you’re looking for a trainer that goes above and beyond. I wanted a professionaltrainer to help me with outdoor training to stay on the my property and to intermingle with other dogs and people. Bottom line don’t sign a contract with this company unless you want basic inside your home training for a large amount of money ! 👎
I am so happy to have had Kelly Pollard as trainer for my dog. Ellie was messed up with separation anxiety as a 3 year old rescue but by working from home Kelly showed me more than Ellie the tips and tricks I needed to do which has immensely helped. It has been 5 years since I did the one on one training that has been worth it all! It takes effort, work & consistency, however, everyone comments how Ellie now is so good. She meets other dogs and is not frantic like in the beginning where she freaked out at all dogs & people for that matter due to fear! She actually enjoys the neighbourhood dogs when she gets to know them as well as the people too she loves and wants to more than please me. Ellie is such a joy and I am grateful for Kelly!!! Believe me, it is well worth the investment.
Not the compassionate dog training I was expecting.I was expecting basic dog training and a correction of learned behaviours (barking specifically).What I was taught:You are the Alpha, not your dog. 3 steps to training:1. Say “bah” to hush/stop your dog.If that does not work:2. Throw an item towards to your dog (an item given to you by the trainer).If that does not work:3. Spray your dog in the face with water (a stream, not a mist).My dog then hid upstairs.It was $900 plus tax.I did sign the contract.The trainer told me to contact her if I need anything else.I paid $1124.35 in total for 1.5 hours with a trainer who told me to call her if I need anything else.I requested a refund and I did receive a refund of $565.00 dollars (50%).I DO NOT recommend this training program.
Our trainer is Kirsty and by the end of the first 3 hour session my feisty 9 month puppy was much better behaved. I was sceptical that it would last, but a few days later it has!The improvement when I walk her on the lead is amazing. She is much calmer when visitors come. We have work to do on jumping up, although this is radically reduced and as a puppy her attention span is obviously limited! As she grows, with Bark Buster's, help I’m sure she will be better disciplined and still have her fun loving personality. A work in progress and I am very optimistic.
I have used dog trainers before and when they leave my usual thoughts are I’ve heard it all before this won’t work! This is the first time I’ve used bark busters and I can only say what a massive difference it’s made within the first 24 hours. I have 46 years experience with dogs and my area of expertise is not in dog training and behaviour therefore I got an expert in. Immediately I’ve noticed the difference for the first time my dogs are listening to me treating me as their pack leader and now an absolute pleasure to live with. We will be practising our homework and looking forward to our next session. This was the complete opposite experience - it’s already working and all makes perfect sense.
We turned to Bark Busters for help when our dog developed reactivity around other dogs. The techniques they teach, saying "BAAH" and jerking the lead do work and initially, I was impressed by how quickly our dog stopped barking and lunging, and like many others, I left a positive review right away (which they strongly encourage you to do).However, over time I realised that though this technique worked and stopped him from barking and lunging at other dogs it didn’t actually fix the problem and he was still not able to socialise with other dogs like he was previously and the behaviours they teach you to look out for, i.e. lip licking, ears back, head down are not signs of obedience, but signs of anxiety and stress. A big red flag is that there was no effort to understand the root cause of why he was behaving that way. He tried to claim our dog has bursts of energy simply because he barked when someone entered the property - which is normal dog behavior. He then attributed this to our dog’s diet. While it’s true that kibble contains preservatives, we own a very lazy Bullmastiff who goes to sleep straight after eating. Interestingly, despite being told not to mention diet in reviews, a significant portion of the training session focused on exactly that. He strongly recommended feeding dogs only chicken carcasses — which isn’t even a nutritionally balanced BARF meal!!!! He also claimed that feeding our dog kangaroo meat would make him smell like one (lol what!?) and cause high blood pressure (despite kangaroo being one of the leanest meats). To push a diet on dogs when you are by no means qualified is extremely detrimental hence why they specifically tell you to not write about it in your review.Don’t be fooled by the amount of positive reviews like I was! While fear-based training works it can damage the bond you have with your dog, particularly if they are rescues and have been abused by the previous owners! It is a very outdated way of training and there’s a lot of research coming out showing that positive reinforcement is not only more humane, but also more effective in the long term. Unfortunately there are a lot of dodgy dog trainers out there, I would look out for accreditation on their websites (which is not existent on bark busters’ website)
I agree with the many reviews. Barkbusters is a terrible dog training company. After paying $1300 up front and NO REFUNDS! Saw our trading first day 3 hrs. We trued doing what she said for 2 weeks and in the end our pup was do afraid of her crate and everything. I contacted our trainer to come back she just sent an email and said we were not doing y no nfs correctly to fix what we were doing and saying our pup was not getting enough sleep. She was do afraid to go into her crate because that is where she was yo sleep, eat, stay when we ate never with family! How do you bond with your pup!!Barkbusters is the worse testing company they just take your money and run. Poor business! Especially making you write a review before they would answer you back. Lifetime training my A….!!!!
I am absolutely amazed with the way my dog responded to the method used by her trainer it is extremely effective. Thank you Bark Busters
I paid close to $1500 , for a very short 2 times "training" i didn't know how the process was going to be like. The first time the trainer told me to contact her in a month time for another training, I thought hmm maybe in a month time for me to practice with the dog what she showed me.... in about a month she came again for 25 minutes and she said again... contact me in a month time, that time I thought I don't like the way that she comes only once a month for less than an hour, and I am dealing with the dog mis behaviours. I contacted bark busters and still after almost 2 months they haven't reply to my concerns and my requests to provide us a proper efective training, they only send an automatic reply saying how did they address my complaint.... I am very disappointed with the terrible unprofessional service, they have cero customer's service, they only pushed and pushed me to pay the full amount before the second/last training they gave us. VERY HIGHLY NOT RECOMMENDED. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY.I was only looking for a reliable service that could personally train my dog effectively. When I first read about bark busters website, they said that they are specialists.... NOT TRUE, THEY ONLY SELL YOU A WHOLE BUNCH OF TOY AND DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO CONTACT YOU AS A CLIENT
Abusive! Trauma! Cruelty!Michelle was identified as their trainer. I paid over $800 and much like other reviews there was a one-time visit, a zoom meeting, texts and video texts. My puppy was 6 mths old. He didnt want to be left alone. Michelle's solution was to coax him in the crate. Should he bark we were to throw the bean bag filled with chains onto the floor & quickly shut the bedroom door. That of course added more anxiety. Michelle's next suggestion was to throw the bean bag (filled with chains) AT his crate. Imagine being confined in a cage and have chains thrown at you. How ready would you be to settle down? Michelle never did check in to see how we were progressing.I'm ashamed that I practiced their methods. (The training I bought was in 2021, the system wont let go back any further than 2024), fast forward to tonight. After closing the door to his crate I was reminded of the nightmare of bark busters and decided I'd check their reviews. So many of us have had similar experiences. They shouldn't be in business. They're inhumane.
The trainer was at my home for about 1 hour. Would NOT begin the training until I left a 5 star review. This was AFTER I had paid the fee. Bad idea! I was so dissatisfied I notified the parent company and asked for a new trainer. NO, they don't do that. They did send him back 1 more time, with no results, again. He was dismissive, and downright rude to me. My dogs aren't ANY better and I paid over $1000, for 2 hours of ineffective and rude work. Run from this company!
Don’t waste your money with Bark Busters they are hopeless. And they will charge you everything in front and never return back neither with training your dog nor refund
We had kirsty from bark busters come visit us today for our first training session. We honestly thought there was no hope but Kirsty was amazing. She spent 4 hours at our home and we went through everything we needed to start putting the necessary actions in place. Kisty was absolutely incredible. We have a long road ahead but my god she is good. My pup really showed what she can do and made an amazing change. Thank you Kirsty.
If we could give a 1/2 star we would. Our end result was a dog who would not come out of her crate for almost 24 hour and when she did she stayed in another room, would not go outside to do her business for 48 hours. Which is the plan as the trainer said, "I want a dog that only comes around when I want them around." It was a month until she felt safe enough to come play ball, her pure joy in life. Water balloons and chains are a huge thing. Throw them on the floor (thanks fir the dents in the floor). The ill fitting harness has chains too. Like stated above...one visit 5 hour lecture on things that were not our issue and advice on food that had already cost us $1,000.00 in vet bills. We never went on a walk to adress our issues there and our other issues he said "I have no idea what to do with that." A year later she still has a few issues that were created from the one training. Might be good for a dangerous dog or a dog you prefer not hang with you. So agree with all of the above reviews oh and not sure how watching the same video 3 times a day of a Mom dog correcting her puppies makes me a better owner. The 1/2 star is fir the advice on the bovine chews. She no longer chews on the wood.
We contacted Bark Busters to get help dealing with our two dogs - a one year old Shepherd mix and four year old Lhasa Apso cross. We were having problems with excessive barking, jumping on the counter, pulling on the leash and going after other dogs. Carol came to the rescue. She spent several hours at our home showing us what NOT to do. She gave us tips on how to show our dogs we were the pack leaders, and told us to use her "magic word" every time they misbehaved. It totally worked! We could see a difference in their behaviour that same day. It was amazing. We do our homework every day and if we are having trouble Carol will come back to our house to help. If you need a dog trainer I highly recommend Bark Busters.
According to TrustPlane, Bark Busters Home Dog Training has a 2.3/5 rating based on 30 verified reviews as of April 2026. Source: trustplane.app/company/barkbusters-com
