Professional, positive dog training on Vancouver Island

We had Dave over to our condo five times to help get our two dogs under control when someone comes to the door. We have a 5 year old Papillon and a 1 1/2 year old Yorkie. I immediately felt comfortable with Dave and appreciated his gentleness with Finn and Chewy. He always arrived exactly on time which made it easier for me to ready them for his arrival. They now sit quietly in their “place” while we eat as well as when someone comes to the door. I would highly recommend Dave to anyone having difficulties with their dogs.

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.

I've had my rescue dog now for about five weeks...and have found the drop-in group obedience classes, and outdoor group socialization walks invaluable in learning to communicate with my loving pooch. Aviva (and her other trainers) highlight the need to reinforce positive behaviours in the training process. This is a far cry from the "NO!" and "Bad DOG!" comments that you hear from owners who are not aware of the positive behaviour modification skills that you learn through Baby Dog training. I invited a friend of mine and her dog to join Samson and I on one of the pet socialization walks. She was amazed how much you could learn on just one walk, and how it opened her eyes to the training that can yield so many positive results. Thank you Aviva and Baby Dog..!

Dave is great to work with and really knows how to train the human and your dog with understanding, compassion and patience. He is a great resource for how to's, and really went above and beyond when I messaged with an SOS in between training sessions. Thank you again and I highly recommend!

My poodle puppy was frightened of everything and becoming reactive. I was desperate for help. We tried classes with no results. Avila suggested the Sunday pack walks as a non-threatening way to socialize him. She always took the time to let everyone know that we needed our space and every week Vincent got more comfortable. 6 months later, Vince is walking comfortably in the middle of the pack, he’s confident and happy. He is maturing into a very cool dude, and I can take him anywhere. Thank you Babydog for helping us.

Very happy with the work that Dave did with our dog Willow. He helped her with her reactivity, and in a short period of time we have already seen significant improvement.

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!

Awesome trainers! Really help your dog receive a positive start.