All dogs can make progress but don't take my word for it...
Check out these amazing stories!
Polly
-Tracey
Our carefree British Lab, Polly, developed some anxieties at about 18 months of age. Our vet referred us to Alicea Howell for evaluation. For about a year Alicea worked with Polly. Alicea was a keen observer of the dog’s fears and approached training with patience, canine behavioral knowledge, kindness and, when it was not fun for Polly, Alicea stepped back and reevaluated. As a result, Polly has far fewer anxieties. The ones Polly does have are minimal and we, her owners, respect and accept them always working to minimize those things that might challenge her. Alicea “trained” both the dog and her owners - and it was fun!
charlie
-Diane and greg
Trembling. Cowering. snipping. SCRATCHING. Biting. Symptoms all too familiar to veterinary staff and pet owners alike at those necessary trips to the clinic. RESTRAINT. SEDATION. CONFINEMENT. FRUSTRATION. GUILT. Reactions to those symptoms, and also familiar to veterinary staff and pet owners.
We found that new approach with Alicea Howell at Bark Tutor. Our rescue dog Charley was 7 months when he began to exhibit some unusual behaviors in certain situations. Alicea described his behaviors as anxiety-related and quickly began her strategies to decrease his fears, many she believed to be extreme. Charley’s sessions were consistent and frequent, initially using her desensitizing and behavioral techniques and more recently evolving into happy sessions to maintain his trust and accomplishments. Charley is now 6 years old. While some fears linger and will no doubt remain, his journey with Alicea has been a huge success. He continues to be a trusting, social, happy dog. This could not have happened without the procedures implemented by Alicea and the caring staff that adopted her approach.
dexter
-Sarah
Dexter, our temperamental terrier mix, came to us at a year old with some troubling behaviors. Dexter had aggression issues towards other animals that made family walks very stressful and nearly impossible. He also was fiercely protective of our yard. After several years of trying to manage his behaviors ourselves, we were lucky to find Alicea. She was awesome at determining the reasons behind his behaviors and strategizing with us on how to solve them. She also helped us to set up our home environment to promote Dexter’s success. One of the things we loved most about working with her is that she empowered US with how to handle Dexter (when so many of the trainers out there just train the dog) - we were the ones that needed the teaching! Dexter will always be a bit quirky (he’s a terrier, after-all), but our time with Alicea helped make life with Dexter a whole lot less stressful!
Rubin
Katelyn
We came to Barks from numerous recommendations for training our deaf chihuahua, Rubin. He came to us with some resource guarding and trauma when we rescued him and he is our first deaf dog. Alicea and Kathy were amazing. They were patient with our guy and with us. Training is just as much for the owner as the dog and we appreciated having someone teach us the best way to handle Rubin’s unique needs.
We have seen significant improvement in Rubin’s behavior and it was worth every penny spent. We will recommend Barks to anyone in need of support and would choose them again!
google Reviews
I met Alicea about 8 years ago when I was searching for someone who was familiar with Karen Pryor Clicker Training method. She is amazing at assessing any behavior issues and/or working with you and your pup to establish a loving/working/mutual respectful relationship. Her approach to managing your dog's behavior is top notch. You can see right away that she has a special relationship with dogs. I wouldn't take my dog(s) to anyone else.
Sue Corwin
Alicea is amazing. We have a rescue German Shephered who was found chained to a tree after having just given birth. We weren't sure we could keep her when we first got her because she was so reactive. The vet didn't want to deal with her, but they gave us a card for Alicea who had just arrived in town.
She immediately came over and was able to determine that Hilde was scared, not mean, and was able to both win her over and show us how to train and live with her. I've worked with other trainers before but I've never seen anything like it. She is kind, professional, and very skilled.
Jim Whall
Alicea is one of my dog’s favorite humans! He has learned so much - obedience, agility, rally - and is always excited for his sessions. She definitely knows dogs and her fear free training methods have made learning so much fun.
Dani Liblang
We do not have words to adequately describe/express how amazing Alicea is! We have a German Shepard/Husky anxious baby and it’s been incredible to see her influence on both our pups. She is beyond a dog whisper. She not only trains/teaches them but us as parents. Highly recommend!
Andrea Ludka