Instinct Canine Holistic Behavioral Training

I can’t recommend Ben enough to anyone looking for a dog trainer!! I’ve known him for several years now, watched him work with my two parents dogs in Darien, and just recently sought his help for my own dog. These three dogs could not be more different — from reactive issues, to confidence challenges, to unwieldy puppy energy. He is extremely talented, has a strong ability to read each individual dog’s behaviors, and his style and techniques are flexible, adaptable and responsive to each dog’s individual needs. He’s made a world of difference and has been instrumental in helping my family’s dogs as well as my own become more well behaved, well adjusted, and extremely happy. My dog Theo loved working with Ben, and because of Ben’s hard work, Theo no longer tries to eat things that will harm him, has learned place, and will walk in lock-step with me down busy city streets, despite all of the distractions. He’s also been patient and generous in training me and guiding me to be a better owner by helping me better understand my own dog. I can’t endorse Ben enough — the best!

Ben is a miracle worker! We hired Ben to help our 2-year old Golden Retriever (Pepperoni) build his confidence. He was always a bit of a fearful pup, but around 1 years old, he started to develop irrational fears. We decided we needed to hire a dog trainer when Roni started to not be able to use the stairs, and as a 90 pound dog, it was becoming really difficult for my husband to have to carry him up and down the stairs everywhere we went. Ben suggested his 3-week group training package so Roni could be trained around other dogs to learn from them and build his confidence. Roni's fears were so intense I was hesitant that the training program would work at all, but Ben was confident and reassured me that Roni would transform in 3-weeks, and he overdelivered on his promise! My dog started to use the stairs again after only ONE WEEK! Then for weeks 2 and 3, we focused on building his confidence in other areas and got the added bonus of working on additional skills I didn't think we'd get to, like leash walking and impulse control. We are so thankful for all of Ben's hard work with Roni, he is so well-behaved now and so much easier to take care of. This was our first time working with a trainer and we think it was the best investment we could have made!

Ben was recommended by a friend and I honestly cannot recommend him enough to anyone else looking for a dog trainer! Our dog has shown food resource guarding/ aggression towards other dogs and attacked a couple of dogs before over food. Luckily, the other dogs are fine but we knew we needed to find professional help because we were at the point where it was more stressful for us to hang out in situations with multiple dogs (even in controlled environments) than it was for us to keep him home to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. This was a behavior that was hard for us to train because at home, we don’t have another dog and he’s perfectly fine with people. That said, we were skeptical at first how any trainer would be able to help us with this problem without putting another dog at risk. We started with an in-house consultation that allowed him to see how our dog behaved in and outside our home. From the moment Ben arrived, he was already noticing the details of our relationship with our dog and how minor changes could help us build a stronger bond & communication with him. We went with the 3 week program and when I say our dog has transformed, it’s amazing! Ben picked him up Monday-Friday for 3 weeks, debriefing us after every day and we did weekly 1x1 and group trainings that allowed us to be involved along the process which was very important to us. Ben was thoughtful in how to ensure all other dogs he was working with were safe while training our dog and we trusted his methodologies. We knew Ben would be able to help us but we also knew that if things weren’t reinforced at home, we would never see the real results that we wanted. We spent time at night and on the weekends working on the trainings that Ben walked us through & that helped a lot. At the end of week 3, our dog was able to see food on the ground with other dogs around and want to focus on the handler (Ben or us) more than reacting to the other dogs because our relationship with him is better than before. That said, we know it’s a work in progress and it doesn’t end at week 3 but I can find comfort in knowing that in multiple situations where things could’ve gone south, he now looks to us first instead of reacting. As part of the trainings with Ben, our dog is now significantly better at leash walking (heeling), place training, down stays and so much more. Our dog absolutely loves Ben and we’re so happy with the results here!