Relationship Teacher.
Activist.
Animal Welfare Advocate.
All round animal lover.
As featured on
Hi, I’m Mark and this is Buddy.
How it started
From the moment I was born, my life has been filled with animals - chickens, snakes, cats, dogs, fish, rodents, birds and so on. So strong was my inquisitiveness, respect, connection and love for them that at the age of 11 I stopped all animal product consumption. I discovered animal welfare work some years later and then dove into it, spending up to five to seven days a week working in a shelter on a voluntary basis. I trained hundreds of volunteers in animal handling, and did rehabilitation and rescue work, before starting my own non-profit animal welfare group and rescue organisation. Through it all, I not only learned so much about what it means to exist in this world alongside other creatures, but also about myself.
I faced a lot of inertia both internally and externally trying to balance my animal work while having a corporate job. So after graduating with my MBA, I decided to take the plunge and do this with all my heart. It was liberating to not just do this as a career, but as an aligned expression of my life and soul, ever expanding.
Meaning of Bark Inc.
It’s not just a cool company name. Bark Inc = Buddy and Mark, incorporated into each other. Buddy was one of my rescues, and after many unsuccessful attempts at rehoming him, I had to put him in the shelter till I found a suitable adopter. During his stay, we grew close; he chose me and I chose him and I knew we would be companions for life.
Our trust and bond grew, and we’ve shared countless adventures together since – camping, hiking, out at sea, riding around on my motorcycle exploring new places, all without a leash. I was dedicated to giving him the freest life I could give him the way he liked it, while helping him develop a deep sense of security to live his fullest life.
Bark Inc. represents our journey together, of learning and leaning into each other to create a deeply loving and fulfilling relationship. To help your dog become its’ most confident, centred and radiant self, by becoming your most confident centred and radiant self.
Methodology
I employ a relationship-based approach to handling dogs - to strive to develop the absolute strongest bond and relationship of trust and reliability between both dog and handler.
To realise this approach, I use vehicles that stem from the areas of evolutionary biology, general psychology, and ethology.
I use a full balanced training method, while following the Humane Hierarchy and LIMA frameworks.
I use mindfulness techniques to help you increase your overall awareness of yourself and your dogs to identify and remove any emotional biases and blocks.
I will also use and teach you a proprietary system of communication that I developed to ensure a flow of crystal-clear communication between handler and dog. This system comprises of a combination of tools, and frameworks from the most up-to-date research in the multi-disciplinary fields of animal psychology.
Mission
Using the most efficient and productive methods,
I will help you to overcome any handling or behavioural challenges and issues you face with your dog.
I will facilitate and guide you and your dog to an entirely new level of depth in your relationship, to experience all of life not apart, but together as companions.
I will help your dog achieve better emotional and physical wellness, giving them more confidence, independence and in turn happiness.
Philosophy
Working and living with a companion animal stretches much further than the traditional popular notion of pet ownership. I adopt a naturalistic approach in both my handling and training philosophy; to respect and fully understand the dog as its own individual, with its own sentience and sovereignty.
I believe that each and every living being has its own unique expression of its soul with its own unique needs, wants, and desires. If we understood what they need, and understood what we need, and work to meet both those needs in a balanced way, we would live a fulfilling life filled with adventure and joy.
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