Welcome Dog Lovers

We are Vancouver Island’s
Premier Dog Trainer

CONNECTING DOGS AND PEOPLE

CommuniCanine offers fun, effective dog training classes and lessons for the Saanich Peninsula and Greater Victoria, BC area. Private lessons and group classes are led by Darcie Jennings, veteran dog trainer and behaviour expert, and her staff.

Not on Vancouver Island? No Problem.
We also offer a range of Online Classes.

Voted Best Dog Training Company in Greater Victoria in 2022 & 2023

Imagine…

…taking your dog out for a nice, relaxing walk and coming home feeling good about it.

…letting him off leash at the park and feeling confident that he will come back when you call him.

…knowing you can trust your dog to make good choices when he’s socializing with others.

Those aren’t just dreams.

That’s what good training can do for you.

If you’re struggling to find balance in your relationship with your dog, solutions to problems bigger than you know how to handle on your own or just an inviting place to learn how to teach them the fundamentals of sit, down, come and stay, then we invite you to explore our website and let us help make those dreams your reality.

Imagine…

…taking your dog out for a nice, relaxing walk and coming home feeling good about it.

…letting him off leash at the park and feeling confident that he will come back when you call him.

…knowing you can trust your dog to make good choices when he’s socializing with others.

Those aren’t just dreams.

That’s what good training can do for you.

If you’re struggling to find balance in your relationship with your dog, solutions to problems bigger than you know how to handle on your own or just an inviting place to learn how to teach them the fundamentals of sit, down, come and stay, then we invite you to explore our website and let us help make those dreams your reality.

What Our Students Say

What we offer:

Group Classes

In-person group obedience and specialty classes for any skill level.

Behavioural Counselling

Discover areas of improvement with specialized training.

Private Classes

Specialized canine tutoring just for your and your pup.

Board and Train

Send them to us and let us do all the work for you!

Online Programs

Our signature dog training but in the comfort of your own home.

Free Resources to Explore

CommuniCanine wants to give you all the tools you need to have a healthy and happy relationship with your dog.

Our Dog Blog is filled with great advice, tips & tricks, yummy dog recipes, product reviews and more!

Cleaning Dirty Paws Made Easy With terrible weather comes the need to wipe a lot of wet, muddy paws. A lot of people have trouble wiping their dogs feet because either the dog won't stand still or constantly pulls their feet away while you are... (continued) Continue Reading Halloween Safety Tips ????Happy Halloween!!???? Although tonight is going to be a fun night for most of the kiddos, for many dogs it’s going to involve a lot more stress. People moving around in strange looking costumes, non-stop strangers at the door and, the... (continued) Continue Reading Socialization Myths: Part 1 There are so many myths about socializing dogs, that it inspired me to create a 3 part video series to bust some of the most common ones I hear. Tune in for Part 2 this week! Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRYxouBpEFc In this... (continued) Continue Reading Is Your Dog A Strong Puller? Try This Head halters can be a really useful tool, especially if you have a powerful puller or a dog that is reactive when out on walks, as they give you way more control. The downside is very few dogs take to... (continued) Continue Reading Puppy Socialization Tips While Social Distancing If you’ve just brought a puppy home, you may be stressing out about how to socialize them right now with our current social distancing requirements. The good news is your pup doesn’t need to meet hundreds of people and dogs... (continued) Continue Reading Teaching Your Dog To Be Calm Do you have a dog that can’t settle down, especially when there is a lot of activity going on around them? Or a dog who prefers to constantly play or be busy instead of calm and relaxed, regardless of how... (continued) Continue Reading Lessons From a Dog Trainer: How I Got in My Own Way Some days when I am out with my dog, Cricket, I act like anything BUT a dog trainer. I repeat commands, I get angry and irritated and I lose all sense and reason.There have even been days when I've felt... (continued) Continue Reading Teach Your Dog To 'Get Dressed' Does your dog play keep away when you want to put his collar, harness or head halter on? Here’s a simple hack: teach them how to co-operatively suit up to make heading out the door a hundred times easier.Please note:... (continued) Continue Reading Socialization Myths: Part 2 This is part 2 of the series uncovering some of the more common misunderstandings about how and why to socialize your dog. This video will explain: ~ the behaviour changes you can expect as your dog grows up from a puppy... (continued) Continue Reading Balance in Exercise Lately, I have been spending a lot of time telling people to change how they exercise their dogs. It is a common misconception - and one that I, myself, used to perpetuate - that dogs need a good hour or... (continued) Continue Reading Week Six: A Wrap-up and Review at the Park In week six of our training series with reporter Maggie of A-channel’s Breakfast Television and her 7 month old Labradoodle, Lucy, we wrap up our lessons with a quick overview of what we covered, a demo of Maggie's now excellent... (continued) Continue Reading Preparing Your Dog Before Your First Baby Arrives For some dogs, transitioning into life with a new baby is effortless. For others? Not so much. So I'm sharing with you some of the most important things to start teaching your dog NOW, before that baby arrives, that will... (continued) Continue Reading From Alpha to Understanding: A Dog Trainer's Journey I used to be one of those trainers who taught using dominance as my base for all behaviour. Even after I transitioned into positive training, when a dog would act up I would still use that as my behavioural model,... (continued) Continue Reading Dog-to-Dog Introductions: The Fearful Dog When you have a fearful dog, introducing it to other dogs isn't as simple as it is for an outgoing dog. Here I teach you a really simple approach to help give your dog exposure to other dogs without stressing... (continued) Continue Reading How to Fade the Food Lure Having a dog that "only works for food" or "only listens if he knows I have a cookie" is one of the most common complaints I hear. So today I want to teach you how to eliminate the food lure... (continued) Continue Reading Housetraining 101 While there are no shortcuts to housetraining a dog or puppy, there are plenty of things you need to do to ensure the process doesn't take an unnecessarily long amount of time. Whether it's a puppy I am raising or... (continued) Continue Reading Because Of A Dog My first dog was a black and white Springer Spaniel. A very regal and handsome looking boy who was more like a stately gentleman than a dog. When he and I were out together, people used to come up to me... (continued) Continue Reading Five Tips for Sending Your Dog to the Sitter Most of us leave our dog sitters with a pretty comprehensive list of our dogs care instructions. In addition to that, here are 5 simple things you can do to minimize everyone's stress while you are away, especially in the... (continued) Continue Reading How To Measure Progress How To Measure  Progress Success is not a straight road to the finish. It’s got ups and downs and often times setbacks along the way. One of the best ways to measure progress is by gauging where you were at at your starting... (continued) Continue Reading 3 Tips to Help Reduce Barking When Your Dog is Alone We all know what a nuisance barking can sometimes be (especially if you own a Terrier like I do!), so to help you maintain a good relationship with your neighbours, I'm sharing a few simples strategies about how to help... (continued) Continue Reading Should Dogs Be Left To 'Work It Out' On Their Own? How many times have you heard someone say to you 'Let them work it out' when two dogs are in a disagreement with one another? This is not only terrible advice, it could potentially have serious consequences for one or... (continued) Continue Reading No more biting issues! Charlie is doing great! The biting/mouthing is not really an issue any more. If it does happen, it ends pretty quickly without any drama- it’s great! I bought a 20ft rope which I let him drag around in the yard... (continued) Continue Reading Trail Etiquette: 5 Ways to Share the Trails We undoubtedly live in one of THE. BEST. places to walk our dogs in all of Canada, but sometimes we share very different views on how to best share our walking spaces. Here are 5 simple etiquette tips for you... (continued) Continue Reading Dog Park Etiquette: Are We Having Fun Yet? Understanding Body Language in Play Let’s talk about play. What’s normal and what’s not? What’s okay and what’s pushing the limit of appropriate? How do I know if my dog is being too aggressive or if he is feeling uncomfortable? Everyone you ask will have a... (continued) Continue Reading When Is Rehoming Your Dog The Best Option? Rehoming a dog is a very taboo subject. After all, dogs are for life, no? For me that’s a definite yes……but…..sometimes circumstances dictate that rehoming is actually in the best interest of everyone involved, especially the dog, and we’d be... (continued) Continue Reading On Grief and Losing a Loved One A very special client emailed me today letting me know her dog had recently passed. Even though she had lost several dogs before, she was really struggling with this particular loss and asked if I had any words of wisdom... (continued) Continue Reading Freedom is Earned, It's Not a Right I know how important it is to you to be able to give your dog(s) off leash freedom. And as a trainer, I want nothing more than to help you teach them to listen reliably when they are off leash. You... (continued) Continue Reading How To Resolve Fence Fighting Fence fighting is what happens when dogs on opposite sides of a fence or other barrier act in a barking, aggressive frenzy when they see one another. This barking can start off friendly enough but over time the frustration of... (continued) Continue Reading Teaching Your Dog To Love Being Caught If you have a dog who refuses to be caught when he is off leash, always running away every time you reach for him, this video is for you. For some dogs, playing the Gotcha Game alone has completely curbed... (continued) Continue Reading Teaching Your Dog to Drop A Toy Now, be honest. How many times has your dog picked something up that he shouldn't have or stolen a ball from another dog at the park and then, for the life of you, you couldn't get it back from him?... (continued) Continue Reading How Taking Advice From Other Dog Owners Can Harm Your Dog It doesn’t matter who you talk to, nearly every dog owner you meet is happy to give you training and behaviour advice about your dogs, even if you didn’t ask for it. While everyone is well intentioned in doing so, the... (continued) Continue Reading Five Tips to Stop Your Puppy From Biting We all know that puppies have sharp teeth, but how do we teach them to be more gentle with them?? Here are 5 strategies to help you get through that nasty puppy mouthing stage without turning yourself into a human... (continued) Continue Reading Pulling on Leash One of the biggest complaints I get from owners is that their dogs pull on leash. Here I explain why your dog still pulls despite any training you may have done and a simple exercise to start teaching your dog... (continued) Continue Reading Week Five: Teaching a Dog Not to Jump Up In week five of our training series with reporter Maggie of A-channel’s Breakfast Television and her 7 month old Labradoodle, Lucy, we not only talk about how to discourage your dog from jumping up on you when you come home... (continued) Continue Reading Getting Your Dog Comfortable Being Brushed For some dogs, regular brushing is a must, but often avoided because the dog is un-cooperative. Regular brushing not only helps to get rid of dead hair and skin cells, it keeps your house cleaner and also makes your groomers... (continued) Continue Reading Choosing a Great Breeder Once you decide on the right breed of dog for you and your family, choosing a great breeder to get your puppy from is the next most important step. Here I share a few benefits to purchasing from a reputable... (continued) Continue Reading {{title}} {{content:words:40}}... (continued) Continue Reading Calm at the Coffee Shop Imagine yourself sitting outside on the patio of your favourite coffee shop, enjoying a Double Double with a good friend, your dog lying quietly by your feet calmly ignoring the people and dogs going by. If not, then this exercise... (continued) Continue Reading Proper Dog Etiquette Is it appropriate to let your dog greet and play with every dog they meet on the street? Since dogs are social creatures, do they need to make new friends every day? What do you do if you're walking your... (continued) Continue Reading The Key to Motivating Your Dog If you find your dogs response to commands, especially around distractions, is lack luster at best, than take a look at what you're using for motivation. The type of rewards you use in training can make the difference between a... (continued) Continue Reading Come Command Do's and Don't's 'Come' is the one command that almost everyone struggle's with at some point and, for some of you, that struggle is a daily occurrence. Let's be honest, most of us (yes, even me) have had the experience of being left... (continued) Continue Reading Positive change to positive training Thanks for all your help with Charli and being so patient with us (mostly me!) as we transition to this new style of training. I found your advice really helpful, and we both saw the wisdom in it. We're both... (continued) Continue Reading The Key to Successfully Training Your Dog We all admire those well trained dogs at the park or out walking with their owners and wish ours listened like that, too. Well, yours CAN listen like that and all it takes is doing this one simple step. Until next... (continued) Continue Reading Tips For Safe Playtime Something I have been seeing quite a bit of lately are dogs who are getting really aggressive with their owners when they are playing with them or refusing to play altogether. A case in point was a puppy I... (continued) Continue Reading Four Simple Ways to Stuff a Kong I am ALL about problem behaviour prevention. After all, it's usually easier to prevent them than to fix them. Giving your dog something productive to focus on, like chewing on a well stuffed Kong, is one way to keep them... (continued) Continue Reading Walking Made Easy: Teaching Your Dog To Wear A Head Halter If you have a hard time walking your dog on a leash due to mobility issues or you have a dog that is far too powerful to be walked on a leash with a collar or harness, this video is... (continued) Continue Reading Week One: Learning Loose Leash Walking In week one of our training series with reporter Maggie of A-channel’s Breakfast Television, we introduce Maggie, her 7 month old Labradoodle, and teach the fundamentals of loose leash walking. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV5M82V5cJk Additional Lessons: Week 2 – Learning the “Come” Command Week... (continued) Continue Reading Who's the Boss? No, I’m not talking about the 80’s TV show. I’m talking about the question I regularly get asked by my clients about my dogs’ relationships to one another. My answer? All of them are. Contrary to what some dog trainers might have... (continued) Continue Reading Bringing Home a Rescue Dog Adopting a rescue dog can be incredibly rewarding, but many people don't realize that many dogs don't come "move in ready." Here I share three important things to know about your new rescue, a common mistake I see people make... (continued) Continue Reading Getting the right focus As I have a high drive dog, I have had many challenges curbing her energy and focusing her on a goal that is mine, not hers. Darcie is right on top of Sam's every move, never missing a prick of... (continued) Continue Reading

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Our Youtube Channel is all about expertise and advice surrounding common canine issues and behavioral training.

Join our Facebook page and stay up to date on all the latest canine news, including new program dates and specials.