Who is Mugdha Yelkar?
Mugdha Yelkar is the founder of Dog Friendly India, a Pune-based organisation focused on dog travel readiness and pet-ready property verification. She is a certified force-free dog trainer and the creator of Roadtrip Ready, a 10-session, one-to-one training programme for dogs and their parents.
Why travel readiness?
Simba’s hyperexcitement in cars and Arrow’s motion sickness made the problem personal. Travel also revealed what training at home could hide: anticipatory stress before reaching the car, difficulty recovering after stimulation, uncertainty in unfamiliar rooms, free-roaming dogs, livestock, unclear property rules and staff who were not comfortable around dogs.
Those experiences shaped a simple operating belief: the goal is not to take every dog everywhere. The goal is to understand what is possible, prepare deliberately and know what to do next.
Training approach
Mugdha uses a force-free, LIMA-aligned approach. She looks first for stress, confusion, environment and unmet readiness needs before labelling a dog stubborn or disobedient. Parent coaching is central because travel depends on the handler’s ability to read early signals, manage space and make sound decisions outside the training session.
Beyond dog training
Before Dog Friendly India, Mugdha spent 16 years working across rural programme design, heritage management and community livelihoods in Maharashtra. That background now informs DFI’s property lens: reading physical spaces, operations, local context and the behaviour of the people who will actually host the dog-parent pair.
Simba and Arrow
Simba, a Cocker Spaniel, and Arrow, a German Shepherd mix, are not mascots. Their real travel histories are founder case studies and the testing ground for DFI’s methods. Their progress is presented honestly, including what remains difficult.
Credentials and focus
- Founder, Dog Friendly India
- Certified force-free dog trainer, K9 Companions India, Pune
- Creator of Roadtrip Ready
- Specialist focus: dog travel readiness, parent confidence and real-world environments
- Based in Bavdhan, Pune, Maharashtra