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bark busters

Sat, 09/22/2007 - 04:56 — dogwalkerartist

Hi
Anybody know anything about Bark Busters.
The owner of Filou and I finally have a trainer coming to the house to help with his housetraining. This trainer is positive based(uses food) and I hope it will work out with the owner. The owner would prefer not to use food in training.
So she was interested in bark busters since they say they use voice and body language only.
Obviously the price is steep-but if she doesnt like tomorrow's experience-she may want to try BB.
Thanks for any input.
Jen

Comments

Mon, 09/24/2007 - 12:30 — Aidan
Aidan's picture

Each franchisee will have

Each franchisee will have their own interpretation of the Bark Busters method, but at this point they are a long way from being positive.

Sheila Wilson's (founder of Bark Busters) book was the first book I read on dog training. It had some good ideas, but I cannot endorse any method that involves throwing a length of chain towards a dog and yelling "bah!" to correct behavior problems.

The science of dog training has come a long way since the ideas that formed the Bark Busters methods. As a matter of fact, it had come a long way well before Bark Busters was formed.

Good marketing though. A "lifetime guarantee" on dog training sure sounds like a good thing - it answers a concern, and removes the immediate risk. What people never think at the time is "would I be happy to have them back?"

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com

Wed, 09/26/2007 - 03:10 — liverpoolgirl

bark Busters

The collar that they use is just great! I'm not endorsing BB though... Why dont you check the collar out yourself first. A lot of great training clubs in Australia use it and it gets great results. It may save you a bit on getting BB out to you.

www.vasquezcollars.com.au

Wed, 09/26/2007 - 14:49 — bluefilly

bark busters

Their diet sheet is great, if you want to steer away from commercial dog food with its additives. They like to use check (choke) chains, and throw chains as a deterrent to doing the wrong thing. I didn't really like those aspects, but learning to say Uh Uh, or something similar, to stop your dog doing the wrong thing, is useful. But you don't need bark busters there to teach you that. Just find your own sound that works, and reward your dog when he stops doing the wrong thing and looks at you.

An example would be reaching down on a walk to eat something on the footpath. Or rushing ahead of you to get out the door. More useful when you have already trained your dog to behave, and are reinforcing the No when they forget, or test you.

With all dog training, or any animal training, take what you can use, what you agree with, and what works for you, and discard the rest. You will finish up with your own system of training that works for you and your dog, and comes from many sources, not just one. Read widely on dog training, try to attend an obedience class (if only to watch before deciding to take your dog), and talk to people. Learning about dog behaviour is useful too.

Sun, 05/11/2008 - 04:35 — Lulu

barkbusters

Hi:
I used Barkbusters for my rescue dog. It was really expensive and actually I felt the problems resolved themselves over time as the dog adjusted. The dog was really scared of everything but consistent routines seemed to dispel the uncontrollable shaking, salivating, etc. The trainer came and spent three hours and returned three weeks later for three hours.The trainer instructed me to extinguish bad behaviors with a water pistol. The dog went ballistic so that was really bad advice since the dog had been abused. The only thing that I found helpful was to keep the dog on a leash in the house which made him much more secure. I got better information from watching Cesar Milan on The Dog Whisperer. I really understand that most humans actually reward bad behaviors unconsciously. I have made great strides on that w/o a trainer.
But that's just my case. Good luck.

Wed, 05/14/2008 - 15:01 — mearthone
mearthone's picture

Bark Busters

I have never employed Bark Busters with any of my many dogs and puppies over the years. However, I just returned from a week long TTouch Practitioners training and BB's were brought up by another attendee. The consensus of the group was not supportive of BB's and their lack of positive training methods, not to mention the high price. Just another piece of info.

Connie & the IslandZooCrew

Mon, 06/23/2008 - 07:07 — Tailspin
Tailspin's picture

Bark Busters

Hi. I realize this is an old thread...but this one is an important one. A couple of my dogwalking clients have tried BB. Neither one had great results. Guarantee Schmarantee.
One of the dogs was a fear aggressive/territorial cocker spaniel..the client had me in to hear what the trainer had to say so we could all be on the same page. He told me to loom over the dog, spray him in the face when he growled and to speak loudly and deeply. I told the client this was only going to worsen the behaviour..and it did...the clients call BB back and were told to continue doing the same things. I told them that a fearful dog needs confidence building and positive reinforcements, not domination and punishment!They disagreed, I fired the client. Now they have TWO of their dogs being aggressive.
BB may not use leash corrections, but it is still corrections that stress the dog. Dominance theory is a catchall for training and doesn't remotely cover the myriad of behaviours that dogs exhibit! Dominance theory is old school and is ineffective, pack hierarchy is fluid not linear. Each dog needs to be individually assessed and the training or behaviour management tailored to that individual and to the owners of said dog. Period.
It's too bad your client doesn't understand the concept of motivators, as food rewards are NOT bribing nor do they need to be used forever for each behaviour. Oh well. There will always be people who think that giving a reward is bad but harsh corrections are good. Poor dogs.

Maggi
Tailspin Petworx