Recommendations please dog trainer/behaviourist

Looking for recommendations for trainer/behaviourist in Kent, i live in Bromley.

Merf barked at strangers when she was younger out on walks so we worked on that with lots of street walks, a clicker and treats and she was able to walk past a variety of people in different situations and be fine, now she is still happy to pass people in the street, say hello to people with dogs and ignore people in parks without dogs.

Yesterday a man in the park maybe 50 feet away shouted over asking for directions and Merf started barking at him she was maybe 3 feet away from me and took a couple of steps in his direction whilst barking - i told her no and she stopped - not sure if that was right?

Tonight at our agility foundation course (week 4) someone brought their mum who sat and watched the class at the end i was speaking with her daughter when the mum sitting 6 feet away got up and came towards us, Merf started growling so i moved her away and asked for a sit.

She loves people she knows and is a dog who loves a fuss and lots of attention from them but it takes her meeting them at least twice or being with them for a while before she accepts them.

She goes to training classes and is happy to accept a fuss from anyone there be they an existing member that she has met or a completely new person but of course the common theme there is that they all have dogs so she is paying more attention to the dogs.

Ringcraft training she was fine there too although we have now stopped that as i didn't enjoy it.

She was in season for just over 6 weeks so we missed training classes and don't start back there until this friday but we did lots of street walks, she is 10 months now.

So although im continuing her street walks understandably not many people hang about once she has growled at them so im looking for a good trainer/behaviourist to help me help Merf to be more comfortable around strangers.

Have looked on APDT and found a Kay Scott but recommendations would be great.

Hiya Melissa | how about pming smokeybear and asking her for recommendations. She's really on the ball when it comes to stuff like this.

Kaye scott in biggin hill is good

Fabulous she was the one i was going to contact so i will give her a call. Thanks

Hey ,Good idea, i will do that. Its not a massive problem with Merf but i would love for her to feel happier around strangers.

I am afraid I cannot think of anyone that I know in Kent that I can personally recommend!

That does not mean there are no good trainers there of course, just that I do not know them!

(Makes note to self, must make more friends in Kent)

No worries, i will give Kaye scott a call and explain Merfs behaviour and see what she says, as i say its not a huge problem as 99% of the time she is fine and we had made great progress then her season comes along and bam the growling is back still it keeps life interesting at least.