Kevin Sanderson - Dog trainer and behaviourist based in Kent

Although i've titled this as 'dog trainer', Kevin doesn't actually train the dogs. He trains the owner to train their own dog. He shows you how to do it and is always on the end of a phone or computer during the week if you're having issues with the dog, but his mentality is that our dogs are our own responsibility and if we want an obedient dog, we have to work hard. Otherwise, get a stuffed dog and take that for a walk.

His group classes are small (7 owners max) to ensure that he can concentrate on all the owners, and any dog is accepted into the class after a compulsory 1 to 1 session to assess their needs and as long as the owner is prepared to put in the work. Aggressive dogs are welcomed, and precautions are taken, such as muzzles and only being offlead with the 'right' kind of dog, ie Zeb the bombproof Springer (his own retired explosives dog, which he adopted from a rescue and trained up himself).

Training methods are simple - positive and negative reinforcement, but never 'tools' such as electric collars or physical punishment. You can take your dog to hell and back if he's shown aggression to another dog, but then you make them do something you know they can do, such as sit and then leap praise on them. That way there's a clear distinction between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. He also recommends what lead to use - he favours slip leads for the compulsive pullers, and flexi's for 'free' walking time for the small terriers, and the moment we switched to a slip lead Nico was much easier to control. The best part is that if he see's you being unfair to your dog (and believe me, he does see!), such as yanking on the lead, he threatens to do the same to the owner to show them how confusing it is for the dog. And if you're not giving the dog the chance to get it right by trying to move ahead to quickly, he'll tell you.

Prices are also very reasonable for the amount of time Kevin puts in. He also has no qualms about asking somebody to leave the group if they're not putting the hard work in. He doesn't care if your dog can only sit for one second, as long as you're putting in the effort to progress further. It's the people that turn up and don't try that he doesn't have time for. Personally I think this is a good thing - he could just continue to take their money, but he'd rather give their place to another owner who is prepared to work hard for their dog.

He is based in Kent and I know most FDR forum people live ... near FDR? (Geography is not my forte) but if you ever decide to relocate and you need a dog trainer, Kevin's your man and Zeb is your reminder that a rescued dog can achieve both high levels of obedience, and cuteness too. Website: http://www.ksdogtraining.co.uk/index.html