17 listed6 based in Southport11 covering from nearby1 verified by owner16 being checked
Verified owners first, then alphabetical. Nobody pays to be here and nobody can pay to move up. Last updated 1 Oct 2026.
Showing 3 of 17. Show all
Based in Ainsdale · covers Southport, Burscough · Mobile and premises
Claire Johnson's trainer from Ainsdale running small group and puppy courses, capped at six dogs, at a unit on Burscough Industrial Estate, plus one-to-one. Force-free and insured in a 2023 post. The cheapest full course on this page after the Alsatian club.
Listed from public records · details reviewed against the business's own page today
Covering Southport from Liverpool
A Liverpool training business whose Southport page offers home one-to-one, puppy and reactivity work and board-and-train at its kennels. It is one of about twenty town pages the firm runs, so it is listed as covering from Liverpool.
Listed from public records · no checks yet — why?
Covering Southport from Warrington
Nikki's behaviour practice, Warrington-based in its own words and taking clients from Ainsdale, Southport and Formby since September 2026: separation anxiety and reactivity one-to-one at your home, then out in public places, with online courses. Claims IMDT and SA Pro certification; the IMDT finder did not return the business for the Southport area.
Listed from public records · details reviewed against the business's own page today
There are 17 dog trainers and behaviourists on this page for Southport, Merseyside, including 11 that cover it from nearby. 1 is verified by its owner. This list is free to be on and nobody pays to move up. It covers the dog trainers and behaviourists based in Southport in their own words, the clubs and trainers nearby who say they cover the town, and, for each one, whether the memberships they claim actually appear on the trade's registers. Nothing stops anyone calling themselves a dog trainer, so that column is the point of the page. The two directories that fill the Google results for this search check nothing and list almost nobody local; they are not here.
Start with the register column. No licence is needed to train dogs for money, and the registers are voluntary: the Association of Pet Dog Trainers keeps "a register of assessed dog training instructors", and the Animal Behaviour and Training Council "maintains the national Register of appropriately assessed practitioners". Being on one means somebody independent has looked at how a trainer works. Not being on one isn't a verdict, and some of the most recommended trainers in town aren't on any, but a claimed membership that the register doesn't show is worth a question.
Read the methods in their own words. Every trainer here is quoted as they describe themselves: "reward-based", "force free", "your dog needs a leader". They mean different things and they are not interchangeable. The page doesn't referee that; it shows you the words so you can.
Decide between a class and a one-to-one before you ring anyone. Puppy and group classes are cheaper and sociable and run on a timetable in a hall or a field; most of them round here are in Scarisbrick, Formby, Tarleton or Altcar rather than Southport itself. One-to-one is for the problem you actually have, reactivity, recall, lead pulling, and most of the Southport trainers work that way, at your home or on your walk.
If the word is "behaviourist", ask what that rests on. Two businesses on this page use it; one publishes a psychology degree and a diploma, the other a certification. Neither word is protected.
Take the free call. Several trainers offer a free first conversation, and it tells you more than any website: whether they ask about your dog before telling you about their programme.
Inside Southport, puppy classes mean M.A.D in High Park. Everything else with a timetable is a short drive: the Alsatian club at Scarisbrick Village Hall, AllPaws from Ainsdale running its classes at Burscough, West Lancs Canine Centre's floodlit field at Formby, K9ofLC's indoor arenas at Tarleton, MereBrow at Burscough, the Pawfect Retreat at Hightown. Use the puppy classes and group classes filters; each card says where the class is held.
Two businesses on the page call themselves behaviourists. The Dog Psychologist in Southport works by a home assessment of up to three hours and publishes its package prices, and says plainly that it does not use aversive methods. Positive Steps, moving from Warrington to Ainsdale in its own words, works one-to-one on separation anxiety and reactivity and claims an IMDT certification that the finder did not return for the Southport area; that is noted on the card rather than hidden.
The clubs and centres around the town are on this page as nearby because they say they cover Southport and people in town use them: Formby, Scarisbrick, Tarleton, Burscough, Hightown and Altcar. A Liverpool trainer's Southport page is here too, labelled for what it is. Trainers who name Hesketh Bank or Skelmersdale and never Southport are not.
Prices where a business prints them, named as that business's: M.A.D's puppy course £119 and its five-week beginner course £95; the Alsatian club's nine-week companion course £45; AllPaws' five-week course £75; The Dog Psychologist's packages £160 to £350 with follow-ups at £110; West Lancs day training £50 to £150; Zen K9's group obedience £20 and agility £12 a session, residential from £400 a week. Most one-to-one trainers in Southport don't print a price; ask on the free call.
Group courses printed locally run £45 to £119 for five to nine weeks. One-to-one and behaviour work is mostly unpriced on trainers' own pages; the one Southport behaviourist who publishes prices charges £160 to £350 for a package. Several trainers start with a free call.
No. Nothing stops anyone trading as a dog trainer. The registers run by the APDT, IMDT, ABTC and the Kennel Club are voluntary lists of people who have been assessed. This page shows which local trainers appear on them, as the registers state it, and notes any claimed membership the finder did not return.
Fewer than the search results suggest. Of the ten Google results for the search, two are in the town. This page lists the trainers based in Southport, Ainsdale and the PR9 fringe first, in their own words, and the nearby clubs and trainers who cover the town after them.
In practice, whatever the person decides, because neither word is protected. A behaviourist usually means problem behaviour, fear, aggression, separation anxiety, worked on one-to-one after an assessment. Look at what each one publishes behind the word: a degree, a diploma, a certification, or nothing.
In the town itself, M.A.D in High Park. Within a short drive: the Alsatian club at Scarisbrick on Thursday evenings, AllPaws at Burscough, West Lancs at Formby, K9ofLC at Tarleton, MereBrow at Burscough and the Pawfect Retreat at Hightown. Each card says where and roughly what it costs.
Most of the one-to-one trainers here do, and some work only that way; the Dog Psychologist's assessment is at your home, and the franchise trainer works in homes rather than classes. Use the comes-to-your-home filter.
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