Professional, positive dog training on Vancouver Island

We brought our puppy Lola to Level 1 Obedience class with Meg. She was an incredible instructor. She explained and demonstrated the training clearly and was fun and patient. She always checked in to see if we had questions and was also happy to answer questions outside the curriculum. When we had missed a class, she took the time to show us what we had missed. We learned a lot and were so impressed by how quickly our puppy learned each task. Taking the class with Meg helped build our confidence with training our puppy using positive reinforcement. We can’t wait to take her to Level 2!

I was so impressed and happy with the work Danika did with my dog Higgins and I. Higgins is two and had a bad habit of jumping on people when he was excited - not aggressively, but given he is 80 lbs, he could hurt someone badly. Danika provided 4 private lessons and stayed very focused on the problem of jumping. She was knowlegeable, professional but also very fun to work with. Higs never never wanted her to leave! Most importantly, I now know what approach to take to make sure he stays under control.

No one else does puppy socialization like Baby Dog. What does this mean? It means more staff on hand to curate the socializations, astute groupings of the dogs according to temperament (e.g. shy, boisterous), and ongoing commentary from staff describing dog behaviour in action (!). This last point is especially helpful to listen to, as you will begin to recognize the many signals/cues your puppies demonstrate for fear, aggression, modes of play, etc. Can't recommend Baby Dog highly enough. When we invite another puppy into our lives, we will return to Baby Dog. Note: to this day, when our dog sees Ruth and Aviva, she is so excited. They are some of her 'top' humans, as far as those she considers her 'pack'.

If you’re looking for puppy training, you can stop now. You’ve found the best. My pup, Zion, a three-month-old Bernese Mountain Dog, has gained more in his training sessions with Baby Dog than I could possibly have accomplished on my own. Like any over-functioning pup parent, I read the books, listened to the podcasts, and watched the YouTube videos. None of that compared to the information, coaching, and motivation we received from our trainer, Danika. Each week, Danika presented us with new training tools, discussed them in detail, and went though the steps with Zion. Then I would make my attempts, with Danika giving helpful tips and tricks along the way. Zion absolutely loved Danika. She was lovely with him: calm energy, engaging demeanour, and just the right amount of assertiveness when he needed it. Danika was flexible with the sessions, keeping us on track, but was also happy to answer all of my random questions. Her follow up emails were very helpful. Now that we’ve completed the beginner sessions, I plan to take a few months off, then attend the intermediate classes. Danika has given us so much to work with, and I look forward to watching Zion develop his skills then show them off when we meet again!

Dave was exceptional with my beagle, Ryder. His patience and knowledge is exemplary. He gave me lots of great tips and helped Ryder become a more confident dog and thus, me a more confident owner.

These guys are just brilliant, we started the puppy classes with our 13 week old feisty pomsky and it had a hugely beneficial effect on her behavior, the private lessons helped us iron out early problems and now at 1.5 years old we have an amazing lovable behaved dog that s a true joy. Knowledgeable, patient with dogs and humans :) Recommended!

Babydog was fantastic! I had no idea what to expect when I walked in with my 8 week old pup. Aviva, Dave and Ruth were great at explaining canine behaviour and helping me understand why something was going on! I became so interested in dog training and behaviour, I became a volunteer. I recommend Babydog to any new dog owner. Also don’t forget their weekly pack walk for dogs of any age!

We are so happy with the progress our dog has made and recommend them to anyone! Our trainer Ruth was amazing and we had such a great time working with her.