Bark Busters Reviews and Customer Testimonials

I had training on my Puppy panic! from Jo and Graham. Their service is exceptional. When they say "We will offer follow up sessions and advice whenever needed" they actually mean it! As a first time dog owner I found it reduced my anxiety a lot to know that I could keep asking questions and get help throughout Piglet's first year and that there would be continuity so I could just listen to one person (or in this case two) who knew what they were talking about. It seems anyone and everyone I came across had an opinion on what I should do with Piglet and they all contradicted each other so I was feeling overwhelmed and guilty before I signed up with Jo and Graham. I'm trained with a science background so I really appreciated having clear explanations from Jo in particular, of why and how the training tips work as this helped me have faith that things would improve - which they did! Piglet has got so much better with toilet training, crate and pen training, sleeping through the night, walking on the lead and recall. I've gone back to Jo and Graham recently only because now he's entering adolescence Piglet has started the typical things (e.g. territorial barking) and they are again being fantastic! The combination of Zoom sessions with Jo and in-person with Graham works really well. We are soon likely to do completely online sessions too with me providing live video of Piglet, which I think will work just as well. They are really flexible with appointment times and always send emails with notes and helpful documents at the end of the session. That means you don't have to scribble down your own notes you can focus entirely on what they're teaching you and you have a good resource to go back to afterwards. I have nothing but praise for this service and have already recommended it to several other new puppy owners in my local park. It is extremely good value for money. If like me you're keen to the 'right' thing by giving your dog the best experience of you as an owner, and you don't want your dog to be a pain to anyone else and you don't know which books/people/free YouTube advice to trust....just call Jo and Graham!

We came to Jo and Graham feeling like we were at the end of our tether with our 8 month old Chow Chow Indiana. She had started out as a very normal happy and playful puppy who loved interacting with new people and was very loving towards us. Then at about 5 months old she started to become very different, wary and aggressive towards new people, which led to her biting on multiple occasions. We were quick to realise that we needed to work on her behaviour immediately, so we sent her away to residential training in Kent, hoping for him to help with her people aggression. However the Trainers uncommunicative style and lack of openness about training methods wasn't suitable for us. Thankfully soon after this we found Jo and Graham at Barkbusters, who were helpful and reassuring with tips and advice even on our first phone call which was just to enquire about their training methods. They have continued to provide advice and information that has helped us in the journey towards sorting Indy's aggression problem. She still has a long way to go, as hers is not a problem that you can fix quickly and overnight, but we are making progress and we are thankful for the support that Jo and Graham have provided. We highly recommend.

Excellent trainer. Very happy with how Kevin demonstrated and explained what he was doing and then supported us in doing the activity ourselves.

We booked a session with Gina because our 18 week old Sprocker pup was becoming wilful and disobedient, having initially responded well to socialisation learning simple commands. Our session at home was conducted in a Covid secure manner- Gina was respectful of the situation we were in at the time. Gina quickly ascertained that our dog was overstimulated, and was beginning to control us rather than vice versa. She advised simple but effective manoeuvres to show the dog who was in control, and to make her feel less anxious as a result. This included a change in diet and planned rest time during the day. The results were apparent to us even after Gina left on that day, and our puppy has largely been very much more settled as a result of the changes in the daily routines we have instituted. The interventions have resulted in us being more confident in our handling of the dog and as a direct consequence of that has enhanced our enjoyment of our time with her. We are pleased that we intervened early as the changes we made avoided unhealthy behaviours becoming firmly established.

Really helpful session. Time flew by. Estelle was really lovely and really got to grips with the problems we were having. We feel so much more confident with our puppy now. Estelle's knowledge was amazing. We also really enjoyed the session. Thank you

Sharon was extremely knowledgeable, patient and thorough. She listened to our concerns and helped greatly in showing us how to implement training techniques with our two 4 month old (lively!) puppies. Each aspect of the initial training was demonstrated before attempting the exercises with both pups ourselves. All questions we asked were answered and Sharon put us completely at ease. She was totally honest and made us fully aware of the hard work involved ahead. We felt progress was made in the few hours Sharon was with us and helped us to realise that had done the best thing in inviting her to help us move forward.

Excellent really patient with Lexi and us. Lexi responded really well. Gavin was very clear with his instructions. Well worth the money immediate results

Very relaxed and informative. Gave us hope and confidence that we can help our dog adjust and reduce barking/ pulling when out walking. We adopted our labrador cross two months ago, she is 10 years old, has had a turbulent past and has various physical issues and we know her reaction to some people, and dogs especially, is one of fear. We were not sure we could teach an old dog new tricks, but with Jaquie's help we can already see some changes after one lesson, so hopefully this will continue.

The training was very good and tailored advice to our specific issues with workable solutions provided as advice

Excellent communication and helpful advice.

Jo and Graham have not only been very helpful but also great fun. They both obviously have a great depth of knowledge and experience and they pass it on in a very clear and easy to understand way. I felt like an experienced dog owner but wanted advice on introducing a puppy to my older dog. Jo not only helped with the transition phase but also taught me a LOT about both the new and the old dogs. My wife and I actually felt empowered after speaking to her. Graham is the one who visits and he also has a lovely manner and a calm, sure way of explaining things. He got INSTANT results with the puppy and in seconds he solved the problem of our old dog pulling on the lead. This has been bothering us for 9 years!!! I can't recommend Jo and Graham enough and we will be continuing to work with them over the coming months/years as I now see how expert advice has improved our relationship with our dogs.

I am really happy with the training and all the tips. I am able to take a better control of my dog. Alex was able to explain everything to me and show me some techniques to teach my dog which were really helpful.