Barking Mad
The Dog Training & Behaviour Co.
The Barking Mad Dog Training & Behaviour Company is one of the most trusted Professional Training Organisations in the country.
Since 1994 we’ve been helping both pets and their owners to better understand each other and live together in perfect harmony. All in a warm, friendly and welcoming environment!
"Dogs do speak, but only to those
who know how to listen." Orhan Pamuk
Why Choose The BARKING MAD Dog Training & Behaviour Company?
When looking for a dog training school it’s often out of necessity; either because we have a puppy and it’s considered the right thing to do, or perhaps you have an adult dog which is a bit of a Loony Goon or a Grumpy Git.
Over the past 25 years our team of expert Instructors and Behaviourists have successfully trained thousands of pet and behaviour clients and we can help you too!
We’ll put you at ease right from the beginning. Providing all the support you need we’ll help you to achieve your goals and aspirations.
We see ourselves predominantly as teachers; teaching you to develop the relationship and tools you need to be the ultimate trainer of your dog.
Our classes, 1-2-1s and intensive courses are all done in a relaxed, friendly and most importantly, realistic outdoor environment.
For us, the customer’s experience and journey is at the heart of what we do. We firmly believe that if you enjoy it so will your dog, and our great reputation will continue!
Richard Clarke GoDT(MT) set up Barking Mad 25 years ago. He has a wealth of experience in training dogs both as pets and in working roles. His working experience includes training dogs to detect drugs and explosives as well as bed bugs for the 2012 London Olympics. Richard has trained dogs to perform in film and television and has travelled the world detecting Sumatran Tigers in Indonesia and Box Keeled Turtles in Vietnam.
Whatever your problems, goals or aspirations, you can feel confident that the team at The Barking Mad Dog Training & Behaviour Company will be able to help!
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Richard Clarke
GoDT(MT)
Director/CEO, Director of Training
Originally in the Royal Navy, Richard went on to become a Civilian Environmental Trainer for the Ministry of Defence, qualifying over 28 years ago in both Canine Psychology and nutrition.
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Today, he and his team work with International Organisations and vets all over the world helping hundreds of dogs each year.
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Richard is a qualified trainer and has worked on a variety of film and TV work including as a Judge on BBC's Dog Borstal and most recently featured on BBC Countryfile programmes.
Natalie Clarke
GoDT(PT), Adv.IBMDTC, OFQUAL Level 3 Canine First Aid, Acc. Hoopers Instructor,
Acc. Dock Diving Instructor
Director/Head Trainer
Natalie originally came to Barking Mad in 2003 with her naughty Westie Barney who had severe behavioural issues. She went on to successfully compete in Working Trials and in the process was bitten by the dog training bug. Natalie and Richard moved to Suffolk in 2014 and since then have set up BM in Suffolk. Natalie specialises in 121 behavioural and sports training as well as puppy and adult classes. Natalie has 4 Labradors a Westie and a Bedlington Whippet - Betty, Nellie, Donkey, Dolly, Poppy and Kitty. Natalie loves gundog training and agility with all her dogs,
Julie Cant
Adv.IBMDTC, Acc.Hoopers Instructor
Deputy Head Trainer, Senior Behaviourist
Since completing the Instructors courses at Barking Mad Julie has been a full time Accredited Instructor for the last 13 years. Having worked as a specialist detection instructor in Vietnam with Richard in 2010 Julie's ability as an instructor quickly went from strength to strength. Julie successfully rehabilitated her 'Ex Grumpy' Cruz who ended up being a real ambassador for her and Barking Mad. Julie is now an accredited Hoopers Trainer and has competed to the highest level with her Labrador Yoshi, she is now working on doing the same with Skipper.
Meg Summers
Adv.IBMDTC, OFQUAL Level 3 Canine First Aid
Senior Instructor & Behaviourist
Meg has always had a passion for animals, especially dogs and maintains their welfare needs. She previously worked in a boarding kennels and loved learning about the different breeds and their characteristics that come with them!
Meg trains her German Short Haired Pointer, Otto, whom she hopes to progress in many sports with him. Together they have achieved their Expert Tricks Dog Title in association with Trick Dogs Uk and their Gold Star Award within our club.
Meg teaches Pet Classes, 121's (training and behavioural) and Dog Sports, including gundog and agility.
Jennie Collins
Bsc, AIBMDTC
Instructor
After completing her BSc in Animal Science at Writtle College Jennie joined the Barking Mad team to combine her passion for dogs with her other passion in life - horses. Having completed our Initial Instructors course Jennie continues to further her knowledge about animal genetics and behaviour. Jennie specialises in pet classes, 121s, scent work and agility.
Jennie owns Diego, a rescue dog whom is blind and Apple a black Labrador. Apple is currently working operationally as a specialist detection dog.
Ness Burling
AIBMDTC, OFQUAL Level 3 Canine First Aid
Dog School Manager
Ness has always had a real passion for dogs and horses and after balancing a very successful but stressful job for years she decided to make the leap in 2021 and do something she loves. She's previously owned a Lab X Collie and rescued/long term fostered a Springer Spaniel for 8 months whilst finding him his forever home. In 2020 she welcomed her Border Collie Maggie Mae into her home and trained her by herself until she was 10 months when she joined Barking Mad to advance her training. She loves doing Agility, Flyball and Working Trials with Maggie Mae and they love learning new tricks together! Ness successfully completed the Instructors Course in 2021 and hasn't looked back!
Michelle Clarke
AIBMDTC
Instructor
Michelle's journey to becoming an instructor began in 2007 with her chocolate lab Luna. Luna had some challenging behaviors so Michelle began training at Barking Mad (which was based in Hertfordshire at the time). She thoroughly enjoyed her training sessions and so when the opportunity arose to train as an instructor she jumped at the chance! She loves being part of the Barking Mad team - taking pet classes, training the dogs in Dog School and working in our office! Michelle is still part of team Labrador and currently has 2 lovely labs - Bosun and Goose!
Rachel Sharman
BSc, AIBMDTC
Instructor
Rachels genuine love for animals has driven her career from a young age. After completing her BSc in Animal Behaviour she went on to work at Africa Alive where she worked with a trained a variety of animals from Porcupines to Rhinos. She then decided to volunteer out in Zimbabwe volunteering in the rehabilitation and rerelease of lions. Following this she decided it was time to work with her favourite four legged species - the dog!
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Rachel joined the Barking Mad team and completed the instructor course with the help of her first dog Ronnie. Rachel runs and joins in many sports clubs and plan to compete later this year.
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Daphne is Rachels newest addition and we can't wait to see what she achieves!
Martha Ash
AIBMDTC, OFQUAL Level 3 Canine First Aid
Instructor
Martha has always been passionate about animals (especially dogs) and started teaching her first dog George (a Cocker Spaniel) tricks when she was just 10 years old! After moving from Devon to Suffolk in 2020 she began Gundog training at Barking Mad with her Lab Willow which gave her the training bug! From here she successfully completed our Instructors Courses and is now teaching puppy and adult classes as well as 121's. Martha is also an important member of our Dog School Team! She has recently welcomed a Cockapoo puppy (Gigi) to her home and is excited to train her to Gold standard and see what they can achieve together!
Anneka Goater
Instructor
Anneka has joined the team after completing her degree in Zoology, where she learnt about a range of topics including animal behaviour. She then discovered her passion for dog training is is continually working to further her knowledge. Recently she has adopted a rescue dog called Juno and she is really enjoying teaching her - watch this space to see where she takes her!
Gemma Baxter
AIBMDTC, OFQUAL Level 3 Canine First Aid
Instructor
Gemma successfully completed her instructor course in 2022 and has been teaching pet classes and 121s ever since. When Gemma is not on the field she's kept busy at our Dog School working with a variety of breeds and supporting their individual training needs. Gemma has a Cocker Spaniel called Ruben, she is currently working through an external dog tricks course as well as our BM awards system.
Leah Clarke
AIMBDTC
Instructor
Leah has been a huge part of Barking Mad from a young age and completed our Instructor Course at the age of 12.
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Leah loves training her dogs Poppy (Westie cross) and Nellie (Labrador).
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Leah is currently studying at Norwich College and specialises in puppy classes, Kidz Club, Gundog and Agility.
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Leah also enjoys going to local shoots.
Grace Hesslin
AIBMDTC, OFQUAL Level 3 Canine First Aid
Instructor
Grace started her career working as a veterinary assistant, and has since worked in a number of animal related roles, including a canine handler in a rescue centre. She started her journey at Barking Mad in 2021, training her reactive dog Dinky; who has since achieved her Gold Award. Grace completed the Instructors Course in 2022 and specialises in puppy and adult classes as well as 121s. She also works in our Dog School helping to train and modify behaviours for our customers dogs.
Maddie Mills
AIBMDTC, OFQUAL Level 3 Canine First Aid
Instructor
Maddie's love for dogs started at an early age and she now currently works with her Cocker Spaniel, River, focusing on Agility, Scentwork and Flyball.
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Maddie has completed a Level 3 Science Diploma and specialises in puppy and adult classes as well as 121's. Maddie also works in our Dog School helping train and rehabilitate customers dogs whilst in our care.
Jackie Blanche
AIBMDTC
Instructor
Jackie originally came to Barking Mad 7 years ago with her naughty Whippet Reggie, adding Ernie, a Terrier Cross, a couple of years later.
Having been through this journey as a dog handler with her own dogs and thoroughly enjoying the experience, Jackie finally completed the instructors course in 2021 and now combines working in food safety and people management during the week with dog training at the weekends.
Testimonials
Here’s What Our Customers Are Saying...
Roxie was about as dog-reactive as you can get... The transformation in the first three weeks of 1-2-1s had to be seen to be believed. I can now take Rox pretty much anywhere without worrying, and I’m much better equipped to read her and situations that might upset her and deal with those things properly.
It feels like a big family atmosphere at Barking Mad; it feels like everyone there is interested in how you and your dog are progressing. Turning up to that first session was the best thing I have done since I adopted Roxie from the Dog’s Trust. It’s turned our lives around. Thank you Julie and everyone at Barking Mad!
Ross & Roxie, Malinois
I had never had a dog before so I wanted as much help as possible to raise a well behaved one and Barking Mad have definitely helped me achieve that.
We love going to dog classes every Sunday morning. Hunter gets to see his friends who he has know since we first started back in June. It’s great socialisation for both Hunter & I and we are still learning so much every week.
It’s a great company and would highly recommend them.
Becky & Hunter, Cocker Spaniel
Absolutely fabulous group of trainers. Really friendly and never make you feel stupid when you get things wrong. Always happy to give you advice and really do know their stuff. My dog loves training here. He got bored training in a village hall but here every week is new, fun, different and exciting and we have both tried things IÂ wouldn't know where else to go to have a go at it. Try the free sessions and find out for yourself.
Lindsey & Buddy, Cockapoo
Barking Mad is amazing, we have a rescue dog and started with a few 1-2-1s before moving into a group. Natalie really understands dogs and our dog loves her. With Nat's help, Bella has gone from a reactive dog to a well-behaved and friendly dog. We love all the classes and really look forward to going. This is the place to train your dog whilst having fun. (Although sometimes I think it's us being trained)! I highly recommend Nat and the rest of the team.
Katina & Bella, Border Collie
Get in Touch Today
School Farm, Halesworth Road, Ilketshall St Lawrence Beccles United Kingdom NR34 8LB
07495337774
