Barbara Hodel

President of the Pet Professional Guild Australia, Author of How to love and survive your teenage dog and owner of Goodog Positive Dog Training

Barbara is the President of the Pet Professional Guild Australia and the author of How to love and survive your teenage dog.  The Pet Professional Guild Australia promotes a force-free, humane, and science-based way of living with and training for all companion animals.

Barbara has been running her dog training business Goodog on the Northern Beaches Sydney for over 14 years specialising in teenage and rescue dogs, offering classes and in-home consultations for young dogs as well as workshops for typical teenage challenges such as recall and loose leash walking. A lot of these teenage dogs have been adopted recently through various rescue organisations and shelters.

Barbara also has firsthand experience in rescue from her time as the rehabilitation trainer at the Animal Welfare League NSW.

She has been involved in dog training for the last 20 years and has completed her Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services with the Delta Society in 2007. In 2015 Barbara Hodel attained her Diploma in Canine Behaviour Science and Technology at the Companion Animal Sciences Institute in Canada. She also completed Karolina Westlund’s Advanced Animal Training in 2021.

Barbara competes in the dog sport of Agility and Rally O with Shellbe (a German short-haired pointer) on Master level. Chillax, one of Shellbe’s puppies, competes in Rally O and got his Rally Novice title in October 2019. He is just starting out in Agility.

Barbara holds a Master’s Degree in Modern European History and Economics from the University of Berne (Switzerland) and an MBA (Master of Business Administration) from Southern Cross University Australia. In addition, Barbara has in-depth experience in adult education and training, having taught high school and university students in Berne, college students in Sydney, as well as middle and top management employees of a large public corporation in Switzerland.

Barbara says – her first love, in the dog world, was an 11-year-old senior rescue dog Ajtano in Switzerland who was born in Spain, and then a six months old German Shepherd cross Soma here in Australia. We were Soma’s third and forever home and she was the reason for my career change. These two dogs are also the reason why I am so passionate about the welfare of all pets.

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