Instinct Dog Behavior & Training, New Jersey and Philadelphia

We rescued a Doberman last October. She has extreme separation anxiety. She cannot be left alone or she will scratch at doors and pee/poop in the house within minutes. We have been prisoners in our own home for over 6 months. With a baby on the way, we knew we needed help. Training didn’t work for us. After working diligently with her for 10+ weeks, her threshold went from 1,5 minutes to about 7 minutes. Not enough time to even walk to the mailbox. Yes, these things take time (so I was told) but feel like I wasted $1000+ with basically no improvement.

We love Instinct. Our dog Blue participated in a camp 4 years ago, and we have continued using various of theirs services. During this 4 years we have been able to consult with the same trainer which is lovely to experience. We have done Canine Good Citizen class and have enjoy working with the different trainers as well. All of them always bringing something great and different to our dog training journey.

Instinct is a truly, honestly, a safe haven for those of us with anxious or reactive dogs. Their trainers are the best I have ever worked with. Our rescue was a stray for 1-2 years before she was captured. She was so afraid of strangers (so, everyone) that the vet had put her on a list for euthanasia. When we adopted our girl I saw that she was food motivated and that she had formed bonds with the folks at the rescue and with her fosters, so I knew that there was a sweet girl in there and we could coax her out of her panic with training and lots and lots of treats. Working with the medical side of Instinct, we started Tilly on medication to help her process the world a little more calmly, and we train, train, train. In the last year our lives have changed dramatically. Instinct taught us to recognize the subtlest of body movements and signs of anxiety so we can safely avoid her triggers and keep her under panic threshold. Now she can notice a trigger from a safe distance and slowly understand that the jogger or stroller or whatever is not going to try to kill her. My son and I can walk her with ease. We also have had a lot of success with Tilly meeting guests inside our home with the smart protocol they designed for her. Without Instinct, our lives and Tilly’s life would be smaller. We would go out less, have friends over less, etc. Because of Instinct, Tilly has actually learned to just… relax. That’s huge because she would pace the house checking each window until she would drop from exhaustion in her first months with us. Because of Instinct, I know that while Tilly may never be the kind of dog to casually bring to the farmers market or other crowded spaces, she can and will be comfortable and improve her anxiety every day/month/year. If you have a dog like Tilly— you are not alone! Instinct Training and Behavioral Health was and remains the best money I ever spent.