Bark Busters Home Dog Training San Francisco & Marin San Rafael, California

Karen did an incredible job with our 2 year old and a 13 week old miniature dachshunds. She had a calming presence on everyone (humans too)! She taught us a couple of very useful and effective tips to combat aggression and barking. After one visit we noticed an enormous difference. Can’t wait to have her back! She’s fantastic.

Last year we worked with Karen when we got our puppy Husky, and had a great experience. She was able to help get our new pup and our older German Shepherd to be best of friends! We had such amazing results that when we just got a new puppy German Shepherd we had her over again, and already are seeing results after one session. Highly recommended, always available, and a great trainer overall. The tips we learn with every session will be used for a lifetime. Thanks Karen!

Our rescued doggie Luna was having issues meeting and interacting with humans. Thankfully through Adam's incredibly insightful and patience training she's made great progress! More and more she's greeting our friends joyfully and is on her way to having a happier life. Adam and his team have been very helpful and supportive throughout the process.

It’s not about bribing with treats, or going nuts with shock collars. Karen gets down to the source of who the actual dog is at the heart. She’s incredible at reading behavior. She came in to help with my puppy Nala and picked up on things I may not have. Incredibly helpful, brutally honest, and very accommodating. Don’t pass up on Karen and BarkBusters!!!

I have only glowing, positive comments about Karen! She has helped us with our very rambunctious, energetic 7-month old Pit bull. As he grew from a little, frisky puppy into an enormous 65-lb dog made of solid muscle, he began to get aggressive as a fear response to cars, other dogs and even small children. We knew we had to act fast and ensure that our dog remained just as gentle and lovable outside the home as he was inside the home with our family and older, smaller dogs. Karen's approach was methodical and we mastered it quickly and easily. Our dog took a little longer and over several weeks we graduated to more restrictive - but never painful or punitive - leashes and training methods. Finally, we found the perfect solution! Here is a recent text I sent to Karen in joy and gratitude for her help: "OMG thank you so much for the gentle leader leash and the training your provided us! I just returned from a 45-minute walk around the neighborhood with Smokey, what a difference! At first I stayed close to the house, but as I grew more confident because he remained so calm, I ventured further and further out. We passed cars, children, even other dogs - and he got excited, but he did not lunge or bark and remained close to me the entire time. Occasionally he tried to paw off the gentle leader leash, but I was attentive and distracted him immediately. I talked to him the entire time, I gave him frequent treats but always at random intervals. The contrast was stunning. Thank you for transforming our walks from ordeals into pleasurable excursions!" She has given us our lovable puppy back - both inside and outside our home!

Karen is incredible with training dogs and training people! She has a very practical and doable approach to working with your family and the dog. Our family is forever grateful for her help with our range of dogs ! Karen goes above and beyond! Thanks karen ! The mattimore family

Karen is an incredible dog whisperer! She just has to enter the room and my daughter's puppy turns into a little angel....and stays that way long after she is gone. Karen offers wonderful advice to overcome any behavioral issue you might be encountering - demand barking, counter surfing, separation anxiety, and more. Her techniques are easy to implement and immediately effective. She is a fabulous resource and has made the whole process of rearing a puppy manageable and enjoyable. It is so helpful to have one person that you can contact for tips as new issues come out. I am confident that Murphy will develop into a well-trained companion for my daughter!

Karen has been so helpful with our dog from when he was a puppy to now a 3 year old. She is great at communicating "the what" and "the why", and is very kind and supportive. I've recommended Karen to others and they have had similar great experiences. Highly recommend!

Karen’s training is very effective by setting boundaries in a firm way without using treats. Our dog loves working with her! She’s incredibly helpful in training both the dog and owner. 5 star ⭐️ review and 5 star ⭐️ recommendation! We chose the life time plan and are so happy with it. Karen’s the best!

Karen is fantastic! In addition to the basics (sit, stay, leave it, etc.), she taught this very nervous first time dog mom how to communicate with my new puppy, how to potty train him, how to manage nipping, and when to worry about aggression. Basically, she taught me how to make him a joyful part of our family.

Karen was really patient and helpful with our young puppy. She was able to show us in the actual scenario how to calm our puppy from barking. We really appreciated her flexibility in meeting us where it was best to train our puppy.

Karen has helped us out with two dogs with completely different issues. She is a godsend. She has taught us so much with amazing results. In addition she is alway responsive and we can contact her with any questions. Taking our dogs for walks now is soooo much better. Also the basics at home. I would call her for any new dog. So if you have a new dog or an old dog with issues CALL HER. You will be so glad you did!

I couldn't be happier with the work Karen did. I rescued an older pit bull who's incredibly sweet with people but very aggressive toward other dogs, enough that walking him was a stressful chore. I was worried a trainer would have all sorts of rules that were a bigger burden on me, so I was hesitant to work with anyone. But Karen was really respectful and aware of the relationship I wanted with my dog, and the training fit into that. I changed the way I do a few things that have all become habits already, and my dog's behavior changed dramatically. We still have some work ahead of us, but it was great to have someone pay attention to me and my dog and give useful advice on what I should do and - also importaint - what I was already doing right.

I met Karen 3+ years ago when I rescued my first dog ever. She did a great job. Within minutes Sydney was a new dog. Obedient, well trained. Fast forward 3+ years she started being like crazy to trucks, motorcycles, skateboarders, cyclist... Like CRAZY. It was like that for a while. I didn't really thought of retraining here, but I eventually contacted Karen. She came over and within minutes not only she stopped being at this things, she doesn't bark like crazy to squirrels and SHE WALKS NEXT TOO ME WITHOUT PULLING. The best thing is that she does all this training without the need to give treats to the dogs. A M A Z I N G I cannot recommend her more. WORTH EVERY PENNY. THANK YOU SO MUCH KAREN!!! Best trainer ever!! B

I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep Chubs due to his aggression and barking towards other people in the apartment complex. He completely did a 360 right after the training with Karen . We were shocked.. My husband still wasn't a …

We’ve been working with Karen @ Bark Busters for about 3 months now. When we reached out to Karen our puppy Remy was about 6 months old. We had success training her on some basics (potty training, sit/stay, etc) but were really struggling …

Karen@dogbuster is a truly amazing expert in her field! We called her for help with behaviour issues of our 4month labradoodle puppy Bailey. Only after her first visit we noticed a huge improvement and got a lot of encouragement how to guide him properly . Besides she was such a huge support and resource for our travel plans, what to do best to bring him on a plane with us. We are delighted to have her as a backup for any further questions to come.

We have a 3 yo puggle (Sam) and 10 mo hound mix (Charlie) who ran and almost ruined our condo. After 2 meetings with Karen, I have fallen in love with these dogs all over again! The puggle would run out of the front door any chance he got...including the first day Karen came over. She got the pleasure of helping us lure him back home. Now he doesn't come close to the door even with it wide open!! The hound pup was destroying carpet, shoes, chairs, pillows, etc but has been on the longest streak of not eating things! Barking, one would start and the other just followed along. Every sound outside or people coming off the elevator. Well now, neighbors don't even think the dogs are at home. We were also having issues walking them, with Charlie pulling one way and Sam the other, but Karen worked with us so that we can actually walk them together and actually enjoy our walks. Karen makes dog training fun. She gave us homework that takes about 10 minutes a day and the dogs actually seems so much happier.

Karen is the sf trainer and she is amazing!! She trained by 5 month old golden doodle to the best little pup ever!! she takes the time out and really loves dogs! She has transformed the way my dog is and she is almost off leash trained!! Can't thank and recommend Karen and Bark Busters enough to people!

Karen changed my life and I highly recommend her training program. A little over a year ago, I adopted a sweet but anxious rescue dog (a five-year-old terrier mix). I took group obedience classes with her, but she was still very reactive …

I can't thank Karen enough for all that she has done in helping me train my energetic, big 6 month old lab. She has given me tools to help him learn and shown me how to train a puppy with the energy and size he has. I highly recommend Karen …

We have a pitbull/lab mix named Roxie that was out of control. Because she weighs 100 pounds, when she jumped on me, she would knock me over! She also showed signs of aggression and would charge the front door every time the doorbell rang. …

Happy day, the day Karen came into our lives! The minute she walked through the door, she had me and my two dogs under her control :-). …

Gave us some great tools and tips. Happy puppy. Happy owners!

Karen Gaines restored peace and order to my home! I highly recommend her since she comes to your home and gives you tools and techniques geared to your individual situation. I couldn’t be happier with the results! …

Even though BarkBusters and Karen was highly recommended by an aunt who used her services 2 years ago for her shy little poodle , I was very skeptical. I wasnt expecting alot from this training but I thought I would give it a try as I was …

I first looked into bark busters after my very energetic dog got into some trouble chewing in the house. I had also had varying degrees of problems controlling my dog on the leash, especially when other dogs were around. Karen came out to …

my dogs were unused to walking on a leash and being around other dogs when I moved here from out of the state. Karen was great with them and me and I would be happy to recommend her and her methods to anyone who cares about dogs and cares about having them behave in public.

Dear Karen, You came to our house about 3 months ago, to assist us in training both Ezra (a …