Our Company

Barkmate Behavioural Solutions has gone through a number of changes since launching in 2005, all owing to the rapid expansion of the company -- from a small start-up business to the trusted name in dog behavioural products that we are considered today.

Starting out with one type of bark control collar as Hush Puppy Bark Control Products, we quickly expanded the range to include a variety of options; not all of which were within the bark control category. Thus, Hush Puppy Bark Control became Hush Puppy Behavioural Solutions.

For the majority of 2009, the company focused on building relationships with pet stores, breeders, veterinarians and suppliers to establish a retail network that will come into effect in early-mid 2010. With the new shift in strategy, the decision was made to again further stand apart from our history of being a bark collar-only retailer, and Hush Puppy Behavioural Solutions has become its final incarnation; Barkmate Behavioural Solutions. We felt the new name accurately captured what we consider to be our ultimate goal; turning your dog into your dream dog!

Barkmate are pleased to welcome new and old customers alike to our new website and identity. There are exciting changes in store for the immediate future, so we hope you'll come along for the journey.

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Why are we so much cheaper than the rest?!

We are often asked why our prices are so cheap in comparison to other retailers, so we thought we’d create this page to explain a little on how we work and how we offer the prices we do.

First, let’s clear up a myth that other retailers are trying to use to lure sales away from lower priced items like ours;

MYTH: Our products are cheaper because they’re not built as well and/or don’t work as well as more expensive brands!

FALSE. Having sold products from all the major brands at one time or another, the return/exchange rate on other brands as compared to the Barkmate brand is identical. The customer satisfaction rate of Barkmate products, compared to more expensive products, is almost exactly the same -- except the Barkmate satisfaction rate is actually slightly higher, because people factor whether they got a bargain or not into their satisfaction levels! We back our dog training products with a Limited Lifetime Warranty, so that shows you how confident we are in our products doing the job we say they will. There's no reason NOT to try us out and see for yourself!

So then, if the products themselves are similar in quality and operation, how do we offer cheaper prices?

A. Cutting Out The Middle Men

With most products, by the time they end up in your hands, they've already passed through many other hands that have all added their own mark-up along the way.

A typical supply line looks like this:

Contracted Manufacturer > Branded Company > Importers/Wholesalers > Distributors > Resellers > Customer

The Barkmate supply line looks like this:

Contracted Manufacturer > Branded Company > Customer

B. Low Overheads

Some companies want to razzle-dazzle you with how big and bright they are, with large factories, huge staff rosters, 24 hour sales/advice phone lines etc.

At Barkmate, we like to keep it simple.

A handful of staff do everything from product assembly, packaging, order fulfillment and mailing – we even design all of our own websites and product packaging in-house! For every staff member or contractor we hire to make ourselves look more impressive, the more we have to add to the price of our products, and the more people you have to go through to get a problem solved.

We make no apologies for staying small, precise and focused. We offer direct sales, with great prices on great products, to people who already have a good idea of what they want or need. We don't offer dozens of different products for the one problem, because that's confusing for the customer, and we already know that our products do most of the job, most of the time.

C. Just Plain Good Value

We'll be blunt about this one: before we first started business in 2005, the average anti bark collar sold for $250-$350, and sometimes even higher, for no other reason than there was very little competition. At Barkmate, we believe in great products at great prices, so we do not take the large mark-up that others do. We think these products should be affordable for anyone who needs them; not just the well-off minority.

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Our Philosophy

The Barkmate philosophy is simple: the customer has approached us with a problem, and we will do everything within our power to ensure that the problem is treated and, where possible, cured. Anything less and the customer is protected by our purchase and trialling guarantees.

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Our Products

Barkmate Behavioural Solutions is an official and authorised reseller of Barkmate branded products.

Barkmate is a wholly Australian owned and operated dog training product supplier, offering products that are equal to, if not superior to, overseas imports that hit you with taxes and mark-ups.

Barkmate repairs, services and/or replaces all of the goods offered on our website, so any warranty claims or exchanges are handled quickly and always to the customer's satisfaction.

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Our Guarantees

Barkmate Behavioural Solutions is here to ensure the customer gets the right product for their dog, even if it means swapping and changing a little to reach the desired goal.

We have a 14 Day Exchange Guarantee, in which the customer can purchase a product to trial on their dog. If, in that 14 days, the customer finds the product to be insufficient or ineffective for their dog, Barkmate will upgrade/exchange the product for another at no more than the difference of cost between the two items. With this formula, we are able to claim a 99% success rate in finding a solution for every dog owner.

Should Barkmate fail to find a suitable solution, the customer is then eligible for a refund (full or partial, dependant) or store credit on the product. We pride ourselves on having an exceptionally low refund rate, as we are commited to helping the customer solve the problem that brought them to us in the first place.

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Our Service

Barkmate understands that the nature of dog behavioural problems can lend itself to urgency, which is why we endeavour to fulfill and ship all orders the same day they are received. We are contactable during extended trading hours via email, so a reply to your problem or inquiry is never far away.

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Our Security

Barkmate understands that first time customers using an internet mail order service can be a little wary of entering their details online. As such, we have taken the extra steps to implement secure high-grade SSL certificates which provide insurance on the customer's transaction, up to the value of $10,000. When you shop with us, your details are processed by secure third party processors and are never displayed to, or shared by, Barkmate Behavioural Solutions.

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Our Experience

All Barkmate Behavioural Solutions employees are dog lovers with life-long experience as dog owners. We would never stock, sell or distribute products that we didn't have first-hand knowledge of in regards to effectiveness and quality. If we wouldn't use it on our dog, we won't sell it.

As a prominent and trusted name in the dog behavioural product industry since 2005, Barkmate Behavioural Solutions have acquired extensive experience with the products we offer, and we are always able and happy to answer questions and inquiries about what may or may not be suitable for you, your dog and your dog's behavioural problem.