Professional, positive dog training in Victoria BC

Dave was such a huge help in getting our 8 month old Shiba's fear barking under control. Despite doing our best to socialize him when he was young, he for some reason developed a fear of people and would bark uncontrollably if he was surprised by someone. We read several books and watched tons of Youtube videos in an effort to address it, but couldn't get any traction. Dave was able to help us get it under control in just a few sessions. While he doesn't exactly "like" people, he is now a quiet and confident dog around them. What a difference! I'd highly recommend their puppy socialization classes at Bosley's as well.

Aviva has done amazing work helping my fear reactive dog come out of his shell. I have also worked in the past with BabyDog in puppy obedience classes, which were amazing. Highly recommend!

Love, love, love, how much I learned from taking my pup to BabyDog. The group socialization at Bosley’s allowed my pup to play with other pups of different breeds and temperaments while teaching us humans how to understand ‘dog’ body language. It also made for a relaxing day (big nap after play time)!! The group training with Aviva and Ruth in Brentwood and pack walks on Sundays taught me that every time we are in a different situation it is yet another learning opportunity for both of us! We learned a lot in an enjoyable, positive way. We also did some basic obedience with Dave at Tomey K9 Services which taught us how important it is to be consistent and that repetition (with good treats) helps our pups to understand what we are asking of them. The one thing that I will always remember is that Dave said “Our dogs want to please us” !

While I have owned dogs most of my life so far, I have never had a young puppy. Wanting to do right by her, I researched training and socialization classes. Baby Dog was the one that was recommended over and over again without hesitation. We've now been going to weekly sessions for three months and my dog while having mastered what they teach loves the class so much that we just keep coming. When I pull up in front of the class she knows what we're there for and her excitement is off the charts. Aviva and her team run amazing classes and they should be the go to for every new puppy owner in Victoria. I studied to be a dog trainer 17 years ago when considering a career change. That said, I have learned a ton from Aviva while having our pup trained and her approach and explanations are much more effective and in line with what dogs need, than what I was originally taught. We are very luck to have Baby Dog as a resource.

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'.

We are so glad we ended up doing formal dog training, and Danika was superb in giving us all the tools we needed to succeed with our pup. 90% of dog training is training the owners, and she was incredibly patient with all of us as well as our kids. Truly would not have our dog at the level he is right now without her. Especially love the focus on positive reinforcement and patience, which other places may not emphasize as clearly. Thanks for all your help Danika, we look forward to intermediate!

Danika is very professional, and encouraging in ensuring you get the value for the training. She was able to address behavioral issues with my puppy and was able to provide effective solutions. More importantly, she provided tips on how to train humans and little humans on proper dog handling.

Danika is an amazing instructor. She takes the time to engage with each dog and owner and is very professional and knowledgeable. My puppy walked into the first class, shy and never normally approaching strangers, and ran up to Danika and stayed by her side, like she had known her for years! That is her magic! Danika makes everyone feel like they are heard and the star student of the class! I highly recommend Babydog lessons. We are so grateful and we have learned so much. We will be back for more lessons. Thank you so much Danika, From Heather Ann and Lucy Belle