Review:
We have a very young, excitable, playful 1 year old Boxer named Romo. He has a great personality and has quickly become a part of our family. We enrolled Romo in obedience classes hoping to learn some skills that would help us break some bad habits like jumping on company, stealing random items from throughout the house and listening only when it was his idea to do so. Unfortunately the first two classes we tried did not provide the desired results, Romo learned to sit, stay (sort of) and lie down but we were no further ahead with the jumping, stealing or dominating behaviours.
I came across the Bark Busters website and liked what I read in terms of the in-home training and the guarantee. I called the toll free number and was immediately put in contact with the trainer for my area, Kim Cole. I spoke with Kim for about 30 minutes and explained the type of training and assistance I was looking for. Kim was confident she could work with Romo and get us on the right track.
Kim came out to our house about a week after our initial phone conversation and worked with us for about 3 hours. Within 30 minutes of working with Romo would could see an immediate change in his behaviour. Kim worked us through several scenarios that we were having difficulty with including jumping, counter surfing and stealing my son's toys.
Kim explained the concept of pack leadership to us and while it was a concept I had read about in plenty of dog training books it was not something I really saw as an issue until Kim pointed out some of Romo's basic behaviours like entering the house first and racing up and down the stairs and how he was showing us that he was the pack leader with these behaviours.
I am happy to say that Romo responded virtually immediately to the training and 2 months later is still doing great!! We can invite company to our home and not race around to catch Romo and put him on a leash before we let them in the door. The counter surfing has not resurfaced since Kim's first visit and the stealing of items that are not his has disappeared.
My family and I are amazed with how easy and effective the techniques are to use and with the results we have seen with Romo.
I have recommended Kim and Bark Busters to several of my friends who have had Kim come into their homes with the same results.
I cannot thank Kim enough for the outstanding work she has done with Romo, and for the difference she has made for our family.