Barker Behavior

I wanted to write this review the day after our training session with Melissa Arteaga at Barker Behavior because I couldn’t believe how well she maintained my pup’s focus during the session. But I decided that the real test of whether the session was a success was to wait and see if we were able to use those techniques ourselves without the trainer coaching us. I’m happy to say, nearly a week later, I’m amazed at the progress my puppy, Butters, has made in such a short time.
Just to back up a bit, we adopted Butters from PAWS and took him to a puppy class where he was doing pretty well learning the basic commands. He was great in class and even at home, but when going out on walks — especially on busy streets — he was often fearful of loud noises (trucks, busses, general traffic, etc.) Since we live on a relatively busy street, this made leash-​walking a frustrating experience for us, and an often scary experience for Butters. When we brought this up in our classes, our trainer recommended motivating Butters with treats. But, frankly, when our pup got scared, he refused to even look at the treats, let alone take them from us. He was too freaked out to care.
We decided having a trainer come over to help us deal with this in person would be more effective than having the trainer from our class try to offer suggestions without actually seeing what was happening. So we emailed Barker Behavior.
I liked the fact that Barker Behavior puts their pricing right on their website and that they were able to schedule an appointment within a reasonable time frame that worked with my schedule. When Melissa arrived at our apartment, she listened carefully to our concerns and what we hoped to accomplish with our session, and then we went outside and got to it! After observing each of us walk Butters, she explained what we needed to do to help him overcome his fears and focus on us while walking. She demonstrated how to do this (and I could NOT BELIEVE how happy and focused he became when she was working with him!) Then she had each of us practice so she could coach us as we mastered the techniques ourselves.
Butters and I just got back from our morning walk, and I continue to be impressed with the progress he’s made. We walked down a busy street and he maintained focus in spite of loud busses and trucks that were driving by. He even politely walked by my side instead of bolting to chase a squirrel this morning!
So yes — I highly recommend Barker Behavior. Melissa helped us learn how to help Butters overcome his nerves, and be a more confident, polite pooch. Thanks, Melissa! We had a great time working with you!

I can’t say enough about how awesome Megan with Barker Behavior is! We wanted to pad train our small dog/​puppy and it is hard to find someone to help with this. Megan was amazing. She came to our home, asked lots of great questions, got to know Lenny and our family, then gave us a very specific plan. When we didn’t see progress as quickly as we wanted, she answered our emails right away and gave us detailed answeres and options. Now, 3 weeks later we have a puppy who is having NO accidents! Thank you Megan!

We’ve got a 1 year old Jack Russell Terrier, and she’s not impossible, but can be hugely stressful. Barking at the door, pulling on her leash, listening only when she feels like it… you get the idea.
Brandi is just plain awesome. She’s super-​enthusiastic, while at the same time being confident and patient with both the dogs and (more importantly) us owners. She’s incredibly knowledgeable about dog psychology, and understands quickly not only why the dog is doing what it’s doing, but what the humans are doing that brings about that behavior.
Her training sessions are focused on fun for both the dog and the owners. She’s 100% positive training, as well. No shock collars, nothing more negative than a verbal «leave it.» She answers every question, and takes them all seriously, no matter how frivolous or silly they may be. The sessions are also jam-​packed with information, almost to the point that you couldn’t possibly remember it all… which is undoubtedly why she sends out a «homework» e-​mail, recapping all the points you hit in the last session, and how to keep on task between sessions.
Brandi has done a lot to help us on our way. We’ve had three sessions so far, and we’re seeing improvement in our little pup already. Whatever her training is lacking, I’m sure its consistency on our part, because everything Brandi has suggested has worked so far, and we’ve no reason to think it won’t get anything but better.
We’re going to give it a couple of months to work on all the things we’ve learned, but when we’re ready for a refresher, we’re definitely calling Brandi and Barker Behavior again!

Megan has been so great with helping us train our rescue puppy. We’ve tried different trainers in the past but none were as inspired and thoughtful. Megan is beyond helpful and serves as a great resource for any questions we have whether she is on call or answering via email.

FANTASTIC. I cannot say enough amazing things about Brandi and what she was able to do with my dogs. I think really she trained me. :) I adopted a Chihuahua mix puppy (Charlie) and brought her into our home where we already had a 10 year old Daschund (Cooper). Brandi first spent time getting to know both dogs (they immediately fell in love with her — I was a little jealous) and then approached the training based on what challenges we were having with Charlie and what our goals were with training.
We opted for the 3-​session puppy training; each session Brandi checked our progress and asked what we wanted to work on. I really appreciated how she let us drive the training but was ready to step in with a new technique and idea when she saw something we missed.
We have a better understanding of how our dogs communicate with us.
We know how to effectively communicate with our dogs.
We know how to keep their attention.
We know how to effectively praise.
Charlie is better equipped to deal with scary things (vacuum, kids on bikes, etc…)
Walks are fun, calm, and managed.
Among many other things we worked on. When we adopted Charlie, I said to my friends «I will NOT have a crazy Chihuahua» because there are so many unmanaged out there — and thanks to Brandi — I don’t. Charlie is confident, energetic, happy, and making progress every day. As both dogs are in their beds quietly sleeping (because we asked them to) — we are two happy dads. Thanks Brandi!

Brandi has been working with me to train my puppy Staffordshire Bull Terrier and we have been very pleased with her professional and personable approach.
On their site, Barker Behavior state that thy will ‘train you to train your dog’ and that is exactly what Brandi has done. She has shown us exactly what steps we need to take everyday to teach our pup’ good behaviors.
Our Staffy is a big time leash puller. Brandi has shown us how, in time an practice, we can prevent her from doing this and we are seeing promising progress.
Highly recommended.

After I adopted my French Bulldog-​Boston Terrier Boss last summer, I quickly realized he had some social anxiety that the shelter did not inform me of. After an incident where he bit another dog in the neighborhood, I panicked and knew I needed to work with a trainer. A client of mine had said wonderful things about Barker Behavior and I loved that they came to you so that you could work on training in the same environment that you’d typically be in. After inquiring, they put me with Megan Ores-​Uhrich. Right off the bat, Boss took a liking to her. We only had five sessions, but she really made the most of each one and really communicated with me on what was most important to me and what I wanted addressed in each session. We’d do some work inside, some work out in the neighborhood walking, some work in a park by my condo. More than anything, Megan taught me the skills I needed to be a confident dog owner and bring out the most positive qualities of Boss, rather than bring out his stress with my own. By our last session, I was feeling much better, but still wanted tips on how to introduce Boss to other dogs that may come into our lives, in hopes that he could warm up to them. Being that we didn’t have an actual dog to practice with, she walked me through possible scenarios and the best ways to introduce new dogs.
Though she gave me great advice, I’ve always been nervous to introduce him due to his aggressive past. Flash forward to this fall, my best friend got a French Bulldog-​Boston Terrier puppy. We finally set up our first play date, and I closely followed Megan’s advice for acclimating them and within 20 minutes, my sassy boy was gently playing with this puppy! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I don’t think I could have ever relaxed enough to even TRY to let Boss be around a puppy if it weren’t for her great advice!
Boss has gone from a skiddish, jumpy rescue dog to a social, happy lover boy and I thank Megan so much for helping us through the transition! I would recommend her to anyone!

Megan helped us with our biggest pet challenge to date. We brought into our home a 10 yr old Jack Russell, a rescue, that needed a lot of help adjusting to her new world, and learning things no one taught her. On top of that, we already had another adult dog in our home who had just started developing barking issues, and of course, we had our own crazy schedules.
Megan is truly the best. I love her pragmatism, knowledge base, resource options, and just amazing way with dogs and people. She’s fantastic, and I would recommend her in a heartbeat.

We contacted Barker Behavior for help with our anxious dog. We moved here from DC about a year ago and began having a lot of trouble with barking and aggression toward other dogs on our walks. Enter: Megan
We had a trainer in DC before we moved. He provided us with temporary fixes-​mainly using negative reinforcement. With Megan, we learned this only added to his anxiety. She taught us many positive reinforcement techniques and we began to see huge improvements literally the same day. We can now take walks without «meltdowns» and people can come visit us at our apartment without being barked at the whole time.
My husband and I can’t say enough good things about Megan. She really goes the extra mile. From sending check in e-​mails to arranging a practice «drop in» between sessions, you can tell she really cares and wants to help you and your dog be successful.

We (and our dog George) are really big fans of this place!
We had Megan as our trainer and I thought she was very knowledgeable. She definitely has a way with dogs and is super helpful with random questions. We just had

When my fiancé and I got our first dog EVER (a chihuahua mix) we were thrilled. A few weeks in, every terrible behavior possible was cropping up, most significantly screaming, crying, and throwing himself around his crate whenever we were out of sight. Our landlord was livid and we wanted to kill each other. I thought we had made a terrible mistake.
Enter Brandi, who from the moment I contacted Barker Behavior, did everything possible to help us, from squeezing us into a cancellation’s spot to meet sooner to exuding patience and confidence with us AND our puppy the moment she walked through the door. She trained us in our home and was never short of ideas on how to help us. She even made appointments for us around our awful work schedules.
Fast forward 6 weeks and we have a dog who is beginning to really listen to us, is silent when we leave the house, and is a pleasure to have in our family. Brandi did nothing short of save us from a lot of resentment and possible apartment hunting!
Her classes are affordable and packed with information, her approach is refreshing and productive, and Brandi is a total blast to be around while she trains both you and your dog. I could not be happier with our decision to contact her, and we will eagerly do so again for any future dog debacles or pup additions to our home!

I can’t say enough good things about Barker Behavior and Brandi Barker!
I have two great danes, one who is deaf and the other who is a rescue from an abusive home. If you know anything about great danes, you know that they are sensitive creatures who have a stubborn personality. Brandi has taught me how to work with both of those challenges.
When our deaf great dane entered the teenage years and started to show naughty beahvior, I knew I was in over my head — I looked up Brandi Barker and have been using her services off and on ever since.
I could have stopped with just a few lessons and had average dogs, but I quickly realized that I loved training my pooches and really liked Brandi’s approach. Because my dogs are huge (190#, 125#), it was really important to me that my dogs be well behaved. After all, a small dog jumping up on someone or sniffing them in excitement may be ok, but it is another story when your dog is the size of a wooly mammoth.
I’ve used Brandi’s one-​on-​one services and her classes (Puppy 1, Adult 1, Growl).
Here are just a few of the things my dogs and I have accomplished with Barker Behavior:
1. Successfully taught a deaf dog to «check in» by glancing in my direction often without being prompted. This may seem trivial, but is incredibly important and difficult to teach. It allows me to give him commands from a distance without having to get up and go to him and gives me the peace of mind to let him off leash while hiking. I am 100% positive that he will pay attention to me and return, even if chasing a squirrel or tennis ball, due to the work we’ve done through Brandi.
2. Taught the deaf dog to focus on me and obey over 30 sign language commands, including vital commands like long distance stays, emergency recalls, and fun ones like play dead and spin in a circle.
3. Integrated another dog into the household, working through issues like resource guarding and fear.
4. Helped my dog aggressive pooch work through on-​leash reactivity. He used to snarl and lunge at other dogs from half a block away. We can now meet other dogs while on leash on a regular basis and he will now look at me or sit down when another dog growls or lunges at him, instead of responding in kind.
5. Taught my fear reactive abused rescue dog to trust me. I can’t tell you what an accomplishment that is!
The rescue dane and I now regularly volunteer for our great dane rescue as the meet and greet dog and owner. We’re used as an example to show how well behaved and fun great danes can be. The deaf dane and I visit a nearby nursing home once every two weeks and he chills with the residents.
Neither of those things would have been possible without Brandi. I think we’ve had success with Brandi because instead of teaching my dogs things, she has taught ME how to teach my dogs. It has saved me both time and money!
Really, Brandi doesn’t really train dogs — she trains people who own dogs.

We had an in home visit from Brandi to help with our 3 yo Chow, whom had never been trained. Within minutes, Indy was sitting etc. She gave us things to work on to improve his walking, his bullying of our little Shitzu, food time tips, and general behavior tips. Her ideas are second to none, and actually surprised me at how well, some simple things worked with him.
We then enrolled Indy in the Adult Behavior 1 class. The class size was small (which is a huge bonus when working with grown dogs that are «set» in their ways) and Brandi had techniques to deal with barking dogs, easily distracted dogs, etc… Both you and your dog are given weekly homework, which is not easy, but gets easier each week, as your dog gets the foundations and progresses. While our dog, is not perfect, he gets better all the time. We could barely walk outside with him before, now he’s an 8 out of 10 on walks (the longer we keep reinforcing, I’m guessing we will hit that 10 mark), he sits and waits for his food (as in, he will sit, stare at it while drooling, and wait for us to tell him he can eat, which if you’d bet me a million dollars he’d be able to do, I’d taken you up on it taking the side that he couldn’t), he sits, stays, even will sit there with the door open to our place while waiting to go out on a walk (again, I’d taken a bet he never would), leash pulling is improved 80% (100% in the end, because we stop and he doesn’t go anywhere until he stops pulling), he can lay down on command, he walks past things he wouldn’t have before, etc… I could go on and on, but our dog, again a stubborn Chow Chow, is so much better than I could have ever imagined!!! Satisfied 100%… you must be dedicated to your dog, though, as it’s just as much you as it is the dog…

Simply put, Awesome.
Brandi has helped us get a better understanding of our high energy gsd/​beagle mix and has helped us curtail behaviors that we thought were unteachable. Being our first pup — and having read, watched and researched dog training for months before getting a rescue dog, we thought we had a good handle on what to do in certain behaviors. Low and behold, it’s always the things you don’t plan for that take you for a loop. Brandi was helping us correct «our» approach withing the first 5 minutes of meeting our Roxy and us and we saw immediate results. A life saver… and if Brandi could only teach every dog owner in Chicago the basics the doggy world would be a much better place (and is improving with every new client she has). KUDOS!

I’m a proud parent of a Barker Behavior Puppy Class I grad! I just finished puppy class I with my 6 month old lab last week and I couldn’t be happier with the class. Megan was our instructor and she was super nice and incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. We got «homework» emailed to us every week after our class as a reminder of what we practiced that week in class and what to keep practicing at home-​this was so helpful!
Before class started we actually got to meet Brandi and have a 1-​on-​1 training session with her. The puppy class was originally supposed to start about a month before it actually did, but because there weren’t enough people signed up, they had to keep pushing the class back. Brandi was the ultimate awesome business owner when it came to handling this setback. She emailed and called me to keep me in the loop with what was going on, offered me a full refund if I didn’t want to wait, and because the class got pushed back so far, she offered a 1-​on-​1 session to at least get our puppy started. She was outstanding, love, love, love.
Our class was 6 totally different puppies, all with different personalities and needs. Megan catered to everyone, and gave tips on how to handle certain behaviors with each breed of dog. I would not hesitate to recommend Barker Behavior to anyone, the offer adult classes and in-​home training sessions as well!

I would like to highly recommend Brandi to anyone needing help with your pooch! I thought there was no help with my dog’s anxiety and we had previously tried a different trainer without success. Brandi will come to your home and change you and your dog’s life!
Brandi patiently taught us how to curb our dog’s behavior. She spent an hour discussing, demonstrating, and watching me perform the techniques on our dog. She did not try to sell us packages for additional training, but told us she’d keep in touch.
That night we got a detailed outline of everything she told us to work on, down to specifics. She will return your emails when you run into road blocks (She definitely got a few from me!) and follow up throughout your course of treatment as needed.
It is still a work in progress after about a month since we met with Brandi but I am confident it will continue to improve as it’s already so much more enjoyable living with my pooch! Thanks Brandi!

Brandi, the owner and founder, impressed me so much with her knowledge about dogs. My fiancée and I enrolled our four month old black lab in Puppy I and were surprised at how much he learned in the six week class. We immediately enrolled in Puppy II to follow up on what we learned. Brandi’s obedience courses are helpful and so much better than any other obedience class. If you’re going to train your dog, it’s worth a little extra money to take a class at Barker Behavior.
Things I was impressed with:
1. Brandi emails you «homework» and notes about class each week so you can practice and remember the things you learned in your hour-​long class.
2. In Puppy I we learned Touch, Watch, and Wait which she taught in a fool-​proof way — I still use these three commands every day.
3. In Puppy II Brandi helped us wean our puppy off treats and we practiced Come in all situations (At the end of class each dog in class was able to go right to their owner when the owner said Come, even though there were hot dogs on the floor!)
4. Brandi was available to me via email when I had a few problems with our puppy that weren’t covered in class or came up during the middle of the week.
5. Brandi loves all dogs and does a good job with large and small dogs. She brings special treats for the dogs, and teaches in a common-​sense kind of way.
I completely recommend Barker Behavior… you will not be sorry!!!

I have a Siberian Husky suffering from separation anxiety. I did some research and found Barker Behavior to be the best rated. I filled out the form for an in home visit, willing to pay and do anything it takes to make my pup feel more secure. Without ever meeting my pup, Brandi called my vet and then called me telling me I needed to go to my vet that the problems were to serious. Obviously this made me really upset because I had no idea this problem was that serious and I absolutely do not want to drug my pet. When I went to the vet, the vet had the same shocked reaction I did to the fact that Brandi never met my pup and still thought I needed to go to the vet. He recommended some behavioral modification.
It is hard to rate someone without meeting them, but I feel strongly that Brandi should have taken my money and come out for a visit. A lot of our «problems» are not problems at all, but natural husky behavior. She should know that.

I took my very hyper Boston Terrier Iggy for Puppy I class at Barker Behavior not hoping for much other than some socialization skills. I was amazed by the end of the classes how much he had learned!
Brandi has an great way with dogs and I was very impressed with her teaching methods. My puppy went from being a crazy spaz who wanted to hump the whole class to being a good listener, following commands, and being more of a gentleman around other dogs. I highly recommend Brandi’s classes to others and can’t wait to enroll Iggy in the adult classes in the future.

We just moved (if you couldn’t already tell that by all my home improvement reviews) and the pupsters has been a little nervous (barks occasionally when we leave). The same thing happened the last time we moved and within a few weeks she calmed down.
Brandi came over one evening for an hour to hang out with Summer (our pup). And Summer, who is a little skittish around strangers, loved her instantly… perhaps it was all those treats in her pocket! She watched Summer’s behavior for a bit, which pretty much involved starting at my husband and following him around. 10 minutes later she shared the news that Summer has separation anxiety… DUH!
The diagnosis didn’t tell us anything new, but she did give us some great tips on how to deal with the problem. An hour later we had all this great info, which of course we couldn’t remember since we didn’t write it down. But no problems there– Brandi emailed us a very detail plan of action the very next day! I’ll update this review as our work with Summer progresses, but based on what I’ve seen so far Brandi may just be the next Cesar Millan!