Reviews & Testimonials For Philippa Dakin

Bark busters has been amazing for our 11 month old German Shepherd, Bear. We have seen immediate results in the week following our first training session, and have found a way to communicate with Bear in a way that he understands. He doesn’t jump on me anymore and has been less destructive of a night time now that we know how to settle him for a good proper rest.

I highly recommend Philippa Dakin from Bark Busters. My Great Dane cross, Loki, had bitten two people, and I reached out to Philippa for her expert advice on his behaviour and training options. She responded immediately and quickly arranged a session, which gave me confidence right from the start. By the end of our very first session, the transformation in Loki was incredible—he was calm, responsive, and following my commands. Philippa didn’t just train Loki; she empowered me with the knowledge and confidence to take control, rather than feeling like Loki was in control of me. Through her expertise, it became clear that Loki is not a dangerous dog, but a misunderstood one. His biting behaviour was driven by fear, not aggression. Philippa provided a detailed report to the council, and as a result, the ranger withdrew the recommendation to have Loki declared a dangerous dog. This training has truly been life-changing and worth every dollar. Knowing that Loki has lifetime support through Philippa gives me complete peace of mind. I am beyond grateful and would highly recommend her to anyone needing help with their dog.

We are impressed with Philippa's knowledge and approach. She took all the time needed to analyse our situation and propose a tailored training plan to address the reactivity issues with our dog, which was our main concern. She also proposed to improve behaviour around leash walking, recall and stay. Our dog, a 5 year old Kelpie cross responds well to the training methods. The training plan consists of daily short specific exercises based on "passively" establishing leadership and no-treats positive feedback. Our dog respond well to this approach and seems happier and more relaxed now. We're looking forward to our second session with Philippa.

Had a fantastic experience with Philippa from Bark Busters. Everything was explained in an easy to understand way and we could see the results with our two dogs immediately. She gave us all the right tools and techniques to continue our training at home so now it’s up to us to be consistent with it!

Amazing result. Philippa was very calm and professional and we couldn’t be happier

We had a great experience working with Philippa to improve our mini dachshund Bruno’s behaviour. She was knowledgeable and easy to work with, offering practical tips and tools that made a real difference, especially with Bruno’s door manners and barking. We've already seen noticeable improvements, and we feel much more confident managing his behaviour. Highly recommend Philippa to anyone looking for effective, compassionate dog training!

We have gone through 3 previous dog trainers and anxiety medication to try assist with behavioral issues without success. After the first lesson which went for 3 hours it’s been an instant change in our dog for the better. We rarely have behavioural issues, we can put her in her crate without her barking constantly, we can now have guests over and she remains calm. I can’t recommend it enough

Amazing how much my dogs changed during the first session. It shocked me! They actually listened to me. SO GOOD

Phillipa was extremely professional. She was very calm and had so much knowledge & experience in dogs . We felt at ease the moment she walked thru our door. She took her time to explain everything we would cover in this session . She even had videos which helped us understand the procedures we would use . Freddie responded to Phillipa with heaps of enthusiasm . We found her to be extremely nurturing and full of empathy and compassion for Freddie’s and Mikaylas recent incident . I am confident this is just a stepping stone to use to get Freddie & Mikayla back on daily walks. One of our neighbours stopped me when I was doing the training homework and she had noticed how calm and relaxed Freddie was compared to normal . Of course I told her it was because of our outstanding Trainer Phillipa. Thank you to Kelly also for assisting us with our booking . We feel very grateful for all of you making Freddie’s forever home ( instead of the alternative- we were facing ) . We love our dog and couldn’t think about giving him up after we rescued him from the RSPCA . A million thanks to all at this amazing business .

Philippa provided exceptional training skills to help support our 8mth very anxious border collie. She gave clarity and confidence about how to best train our young dog that we saw had an immediate and positive impact on our dog's behaviour. We have since kept up the training schedule provided and continue to see improvements with obedience and overall reduction in our dog's anxiety. We highly recommend Philippa from Bark Busters to anyone who wants confidence to invest in their dog's future.

very happy with first lesson

Was good. Very informative. Philippa was great