BADDogsInc Family Dog Training & Behavior

My dog was growling at people and other dogs, pulling the leash and snapping food out of my hand for four years until I gave up on waiting for her to «grow out of it» and called Barbara. After in-​home and group sessions my dog now gets complimented on our walks by people who say they wish their dog were that good. And she even has enough self control now to retrieve a hot dog (sometimes).
Amazing progress through positive reinforcement that makes me and my dog feel good.

Bad Dogs Inc. provides all the tools and techniques you’ll need to make your dog the best version of itself. I went with the private lessons for my two boxers and I definitely saw results. Granted I had to put in the work as well. The trainer did not snap her fingers and all was solved. If you have a puppy or owner that needs a little help, I highly recommend Bad Dogs Inc.

I’m not completely certain what corner of the Internet this unfavorability is cropping from and why it’s being directed at Barbara, but I can say with some confidence that it’s pretty well unwarranted. I understand that there are some philosophical rifts between different dog training methodologies — for example, I’m aware that some people think Cesar Millan is the Canine Antichrist. Whatever. I’ll leave my personal experience here, take it for what you will.
Who Am I:
Full disclosure, I’ve never had a dog before my wife brought home an 8 week old stray puppy. My engineering student brain immediately began devouring all sorts of dog training literature, dog nutrition, «how to raise a puppy» sites, forum pages, and youtube videos. Both my wife and I are educators in our own ways, her as a tenured middle school teacher (herding animals after its own fashion) and I as a former military technical instructor.
I don’t know anything about training a puppy or dog. Intuitively, I know that puppies are most «malleable» before 14 weeks. Petco’s dog training program wouldn’t take little Tommy — they wanted him to get rabies first, which would have been after 14 weeks per the vet’s direction. Good thing too; Barbara’s program was much cheaper (I imagine by virtue of co-​locating with the shelter) and more inclusive. Pay a couple hundred bucks to Petco, get a couple months of training. at BADDogs, they’ll handle your dog out to five or six months old, situation depending (she’s stated she likes keeping model dogs around to serve as examples). She requires that the vaccinations have at least started, which is in line with ASPCA guidance I’ve read — unsocialized animals are at a higher risk of being put down for biting someone or what have you than dying of Parvo.
Upon arrival at the Riverside County Animal Shelter, the training rooms are off to the right of the building and seperate from the shelter proper, so you’re not exposing your dog to any sort of nastiness or whatever you might be fearful of coming across in there.
Barbara’s a wonderful, even-​tempered, patient instructor. I entered without any bias to training methodologies. I prefer positive reenforcement /​operant conditioning techniques, which is what she seems to advance. Great. I’m a blank slate, and shortly after we arrived another pair of owners bring in two adolescent Lab mixes just all kinds of full of energy. By the end of the session, using some pretty common sense techniques reenforced by food treats, she had the lunging, pulling animals lying quietly under the leash.
My own dog took to her techniques pretty quickly, and we had a «sit» and «lie down» behavior worked in inside of an hour, and were making good progress towards «shake.» We also drilled impulse control very heavily. Not bad for 9 ½ weeks.
At home, the puppy has been doing sprinting laps around the house just before bedtime. Using some of the calming techniques she taught us our first session, we were able to get Tommy settled back down and — most importantly — responsive to instructions again. It was pretty wonderful how simple and effective the techniques are, and while I suppose I can learn it from a YouTube video or a book I’d much prefer someone be there to give a little correction to the owner and not just the puppy.
I was extremely happy with my session with Barbara, and my wife and I look forward to the coming weeks with her.

I consulted barbara for a problem with my dog that I later found out was a resource guarding issue. She was baking and biting any dog, including our own dogs, that her came near her toys. Barbara told me that this was nothing and that it was perfectly normal behavior. She said that she was «just protecting Her stuff». My first instinct was Huh??? It didn’t feel right and my questions regarding this seemed to Annoy her. Anyway the problem escalated and my dog began guarding other things-​the couch, etc and I contacted another trainer. I found that resource guarding is a problem that has to be managed from the get go and because we did nothing it became much much bigger. She is doing great now but it was not a quick fix. It is best to trust your instincts and also Get A Second Opinion!

The trainers are set in their ways and not open to taking in new ideas. The one on one session was nice, but not worth the large amount of $$ we paid because I could have googled the same information myself for free. They’re not willing to work with you or understand your situation, they are all about what benefits them the most. I definitely WOULDN’T recommend this company, not worth the money!

I completely disagree with the other reviewers. The trainers methods and system saved me and saved our dog! Our golden retriever had horrible guarding issues and had seriously attacked me several times. I still bear many scars from canine punctures and claw marks. Most people would’ve given up this dog or put her to sleep, but I knew deep inside there was a great dog there.
The trainer came into our home and worked to re-​train us how to work with our golden to make her happy by using training that making her think, problem-​solve, and bring us her highly-​coveted items to trade for a treat. After the training was completed I was no longer fearful of my own dog and we had 3 more wonderful years with her before we had to put her to sleep from complications due to cancer.
i think my lucky stars that I found BADDogs Inc and only wish I’d found them earlier!

I agree with Andrea B. We worked with the trainer for 4 sessions plus the initial consultation. She is a nice woman and truly has dogs’ best interests in mind. But the bottom line… she is not a very good teacher.
In behavior modification for dogs, it is just as important that the owner learn an entirely new approach. This was the problem that we had. We felt that she frequently contradicted herself as we asked questions about changing our approach. As Andrea B. pointed out, she is very attached to her ideas and if you question her, she is quite unclear when explaining. There were many parts of these behavior modification sessions that were VERY UNCLEAR to us. We only hope that we can take some of what we learned to help our dog.
If you are considering BADDogs for behavior modification with your fearful or anxious dog, save yourself $ 700. Everything she had to offer us was in a book that she recommended. Go purchase «Help for Your Fearful Dog: A Step-​by-​Step Guide to Helping Your Dog Conquer His Fears» by Nicole Wilde. This book was the most helpful!

I went to the training class for the CGC Canine Good Citizen. It’s a decent class, but I’ve attended and participated with so much training that the class was too basic for us…
…and I REALLY clashed with the trainer! Personality clash overload. She’s really attached to her ideas about training and person to person interactions. If you disagree with her ideas, beware.
One class was enough for me… and the CGC testing isn’t very often. You have to wait and wait and wait… which really sucks when one testing date is available because if you’re busy you wait some more.