# experience with barkbusters?



## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

Hi!
I'm writing because last night I spoke with a friend & her adult dog has been experiencing separation anxiety since she and her husband recently moved to another place. The dog isn't crated & he barks for hours while she's gone. She's received a notice on her door and is worried about eviction. She got online and read about a training company called barkbusters & spoke with a trainer. The trainer said that it sounds like the separation anxiety is stemming from my friend not being a good alpha leader. She recommended training sessions at her home with no treats involved for nearly $1000.

I'm a little wary about her spending that kind of money with a new company. While I totally espouse training and think it'd help to have a more polite dog, I'm not sure it'd get rid of the separation anxiety. While it's possible that being a better pack leader might result in a dog that's more calm when you're gone, I don't know that there's evidence for a clear relationship there. Thoughts? I hear "alpha leader" and "no treats" and my brain starts associating that with a bullying type of training, but I could be completely wrong. Her dog is quite sensitive, so I want to make sure that she doesn't do more harm than good. I may be way off. Does anyone have experience with barkbusters or training without using treats/clickers for that matter? Thank you for your help! You guys have always given wonderful advice!


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

I use Barkbusters and started with them when Ruby was 9 wks (now 6 months). I didn't pay $1000 - I was more like $650. This cost is for the lifetime of the dog. I think Barkbusters is good for people like me who have never had a dog before. My husband had a V as a kid but I felt we were both newbies.

I really like my trainer and talk to him regularly. We meet with him time to time to help us with new issues that arise. He also just calls every once in a while to see how Ruby is. As Ruby grows, I have different questions. Now we are working on having her come off leash and counter surfing. In the past, we worked on her nipping, walking on the leash, etc. I think I will get my moneys worth since I did it so early. Not sure what others may think if it is an older dog. I think I am not the norm and most people call barkbusters when their dog is older. I noticed that when the trainer had a meet up with all of the dogs in the area.


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

Thank you, Rubyroo! that makes me feel much better that you use & like them. Would you mind sharing more about their training style?


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

They do something similar to Cesar Millan with a specific noise when doing something wrong. Instead of Cesar's Tsst sound they do a "bah" sound. It is all positive reinforcement. Ruby showing a few signs of separation anxiety and still kind of testing us. When we go up stairs, we make her stay downstairs behind the pet gate since we have cats. She throws a temper tantrum. When she was a few months old she would do this since I work from home and always here. It has seemed to get worse now she is older and so the training they had me do will be different now(which I didn't do alot in the past so that is why it didn't work) -my poor dog has been through a lot in her 6 month life-almost deadly snake bite and other things. They will assess the situation and the dog to figure out the best way to treat them.

At the end of the session, they will write up instructions of what to work on, they call you in a few days on how it went and usually schedule another session.


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

thank you for your feedback!


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## Mercutio (Jan 18, 2010)

I haven't any experience with bark busters (and I'm in a different country) but I did follow a debate on a local blog about them. I think what it might come down to is the actual trainer themselves. The one rubyroo is using sounds quite good, some of the things your friend said ring alarm bells with me but there is no way to know without talking to them more. If I were you I'd encourage your friend to find out a bit more about the trainer and their philosophy before handing over large amounts of money.


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## sarahaf (Aug 17, 2009)

(Not) to start a dominance versus learning theory debate again--but I completely disagree with the notion that separation anxiety has anything to do with dominance (or "alpha"). These dogs are social animals. They have separation anxiety because it is not natural for them to be alone. I would argue that what the owner and trainer ought to want is to treat the underlying anxiety, rather than just getting rid of the barking behavior. If the training gets the dog not to bark, but it still feels anxious, that isn't the most humane kind of training. I agree with Mercutio and the OP about alarm bells with what is described.

BUT--if your friend is getting threatened with eviction it is time to act and get professional help. Your friend should make an appointment and tell her landlord that she needs some time for her dog to get treatment to address the problem. Here are some referral sources that ought to get your friend the best kind of help. http://www.dacvb.org/resources/find/ http://www.animalbehavior.org/ABSAppliedBehavior/caab-directory If none of these professionals are near her location, she could call the closest one to her and ask for information about other professionals closer to her. We paid a well-known veterinary behaviorist in our area 400 for a complete treatment package for our dog's aggression. This is someone with a doctoral degree and advanced training in the science of animal behavior. So 1000 sounds high for a trainer.


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## laurita (Jun 12, 2011)

Merc & Sarahaf, 
thank you so much!


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