About Us
Barbara is the founder and head trainer of Puppy Poppins, with almost 15 years of hands-on experience. Animal behaviour has always been a strong interest and, after working in marketing for several years, she chose to follow her passion and dedicate her career to helping dogs and their owners build positive, lasting relationships.
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She was certified by the Association of Pet Dog Trainers in 2012 (APDT No. 01273) and holds a Certificate in Canine Behaviour and Training from the Cambridge Institute of Dog Behaviour and Training (CIDBT). Barbara has completed further study with leading behaviourist Sarah Whitehead and regularly attends conferences and courses with organisations such as APDT and PACT to stay current with modern training methods. She also holds ABTC ATI Accreditation, representing the current professional standard in animal training.
Our Training Method
We only use positive, force-free methods in all our training sessions and classes. This approach is not only kind and enjoyable for dogs, but also one of the most effective and sustainable ways to build new behaviours. Force-free training is sometimes misunderstood as being permissive or lacking boundaries, when in fact it provides clear structure and is considered best practice in modern animal training.
Rather than using intimidation or harsh corrections, dogs learn best when they clearly understand which behaviours work and which don’t. By rewarding the behaviours we want and carefully managing the environment to prevent unwanted ones, we give dogs consistent, easy-to-follow feedback.
The result is dogs who behave well not because they fear correction, but because the right choices genuinely make sense to them. This leads to behaviour that is more reliable, confident and resilient, even around distractions or stress.
Force-free training isn’t about being soft, it’s about being precise, fair and effective, building understanding rather than fear and strong relationships rather than resistance.
A few words on dominance and pack theory
For many years, dog training was influenced by early studies of captive wolves, leading to the belief that dogs misbehave to assert dominance or challenge their owner’s place in the “pack”. From this came the idea that owners needed to be the “alpha” and show their dog who was in charge.
We now know those studies were based on artificially created groups of unrelated captive wolves, whose behaviour differs greatly from natural wild wolf families. In the wild, wolves live in stable family units that are cooperative and structured. The so-called alpha pair acts more like parents, providing leadership and protection rather than enforcing control through conflict.
Domestic dogs are not wolves, and they do not see their human families as packs requiring dominance. Modern dog training is therefore based on science, learning theory and practical experience, not outdated ideas about power and hierarchy. By teaching dogs what to do instead of trying to control what not to do, we reduce frustration and build calm, reliable behaviour based on trust.
What People Say About Us
"Barbara is a brilliant trainer! We had 1-2-1 classes with her for our cheeky 9 month old puppy and she really taught him - and us - a huge amount. You can ask her any question without feeling daft and Barbara was great at going back to basics and giving us lots of confidence in and outside of our home. Our dog was also really pleased and excited to see her - would thoroughly recommend!" - Joanne
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"Barbara has helped us make a significant change with our rescue dog Kayla, who is a Staffie/Alsatian cross. When we adopted Kayla she lacked confidence and was terrified of pretty much everything. She was reactive to every single dog she saw and was quite a handful. Following our 1-2-1 home sessions with Barbara, Kayla has progressed past the point the rescue centre told us was possible. Using the clicker training method, Barbara has helped us work on Kayla’s obedience as the basis for improving and controlling her behaviour. Having had several sessions Kayla is noticeably different in how she behaves and interacts. She’s less reactive to dogs, can be put into social situations with other dogs with little to no issue and is more relaxed on her walks. Thanks to working with Barbara, Kayla has started to enjoy the life of a dog that she was deprived of before we adopted her." - Pip
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"Barbara is a great teacher of puppies and their owners. The lessons are well structured and her delivery is clear and professional. She promotes a nice, friendly atmosphere in which the puppies and owners feel comfortable however easy or difficult the puppies are. The lessons progress in a logical way, making the instructions easy to follow and practice at home. The dogs are allowed some time to socialise in an orderly way. There are useful hand outs and Barbara always has time to discuss particular issues. The venue is very good with off road parking and toilet facilities. I would strongly recommend Barbara to dog owners whether this is their first experience of owning a dog or not." - Simon