Instinct Dog Behavior & Training, New Jersey and Philadelphia

We signed up our 6 month old German Shepherd, Heidi, for a 3 week boarding & obedience training course with this facility. We have nothing but amazing things to say! Tiffani is an absolutely incredible trainer! Heidi went in needing much help with basic obedience and loose leash walking. We’ve had Heidi back in the house for a few weeks now and it’s just night and day. She’s much calmer & responsive! Leash walking her is a DREAM compared to how it was before her training. Megan and Tiffani were so helpful throughout the whole process, always responded to our emails, we had multiple video chats and an in-home check up! We’re so pleased and so happy to have found Instinct! If you’re thinking about using this facility, don’t even hesitate!

This is difficult to write and I don’t write “negative” reviews. I’m really just hoping someone (someone at instinct or a potential client) reads this and learns something. I have been having many issues with my French Bulldog puppy since he was 9 weeks old. He growled at some people and would shake when in a new environment. I honestly thought he was just a scared puppy so I worked with him (with the help of my vet). Around 13-14 weeks he began resource guarding and there was no warning- he went right to biting. I called instinct and had a phone call with some tips and it was suggested to get a trainer: I hired one near me because I’m 45 min away and my trainer has worked with dr Levine in the past. She was WONDERFUL. Sadly, what she saw was “genetic” and felt that I ultimately did need Dr Levine. I called to make an appointment and they told me she was not available until January/February. I was shocked and made some more calls to see if anyone else could help. The next day, my 8 yr old was bit simply walking into the room where food was. The bite was considered a level 3. I called instinct and explained this was urgent. Their definition of “urgent”’was ADDING $200 to the already expensive price and getting in mid-late December. Ok- never have I heard of such disregard for a TRUE urgency- where a child is involved. The appointment required a 50% deposit that you can NOT get back. Naturally, we were worried we wouldn’t make it to December and if not- just lose our $!! During the holiday season! Despite this, my love for our puppy was real and I was determined to try and help him. The next day, my puppy growled at my oldest and our trainer suggested re-homing because she felt we couldn’t really wait 5-6 weeks for an “urgent” appointment. I am a clinical social worker and whenever I get a call for a true urgent matter, I will help people within a week- and I will NEVER charge them more. My puppy is in a child free home- without the chance to be with us. My heart is broken. How sad to take advantage of people like this. Last remark- my best friend from HS is a veterinarian in Bergen county. I asked this office if it would help if she called to explain the urgency. The office said no it won’t. Again, never would I ignore peers in my field reaching out for true assistance. The whole experience is horrifying. Doesn’t seem to be a place that cares about the animals or the people they live with.

This was truly such a disappointing experience. We brought our dog for an evaluation with the owner Suze Callinan. Apart from showing up for our appointment in the pouring rain and having to literally bang on the door to get someone to let us in because no one was answering the doorbell, the experience went well. Suze made interesting suggestions, and we were fully ready to move forward with a full 3+ week training camp. One of Suze's recommendations was that we bring the dog to a behaviorist in order to prescribe medications prior to the dog beginning camp. She recommended we use her business partner Dr. Levine, who is also a vet and shares a space with her, but informed us that Dr. Levine is booked to January. Suze said we should request an appointment and she would get on the cancellation list. The next day, Saturday October 22, we got a call from The Vet's office saying they're able to squeeze us in on November 2, and they'd email us a form to fill out. Once the form was completed they would contact us to actually schedule the appointment. The form stated "We require a 50% deposit at the time you schedule your appointment. This deposit is non refundable. The deposit is to hold your spot on the calendar and will be applied to the consultation fee at your appointment". The email also stated that the appointment was $385. We filled out the form. We left the deposit for $192.50. We did not confirm any appointment time or date. They were supposed to call us to schedule the appointment. They called us on Monday stating that "they are sorry but there is an additional fee for an emergency appointment". I asked what the fee was. She didn't know. She'd call me back. She didn't. I called the phone number she called from back to check in and was somehow routed to the East Harlem location of INSTINCT. (I was calling the Vet) Tuesday we received an email from Suze stating that she had checked with Dr. Levine and her team and we hadn't made an appointment yet. I explained to Suze what had happened, and she said someone would contact me. Sure enough I did get a phone call telling me that they were able to confirm me for 11/2 but the emergency fee is an additional $200. I promptly let her know that I did not wish to move forward with scheduling the appointment and I would like my deposit refunded. She told me the deposit is non-refundable. I reminded her that we had not scheduled an appointment. She put me on hold, came back and said someone would contact me. No one contacted me. Suze returns to the picture - essentially stating that she and the vet are separate and she has no jurisdiction over how they conduct business with their deposits. It is true that Suze is not part of the Vet office, but the actual Vet, Dr. Levine, is Suze's partner in INSTINCT. Long story short - Suze basically told us that the documents state that the deposit is non-refundable, it's out of her hands but she'd still be happy to welcome our dog to training. Mind you - no one at this Vet's office has answered the phone, and every time we call it gets routed to the INSTINCT voicemail. We had to actually contact our Credit Card Company to dispute the charge and file a claim stating that this company gave us a price, took a deposit, then essentially almost doubled the price and when we declined that fee and opted not to make an appointment they wouldn't return our deposit. Remember - we never made an actual appointment! I am not sure what the actual situation is here, or how these two people are connected but I would warn anyone that is thinking of going to either of these places to be extremely cautious. Dr. Emily Levine's office does not have it's own yelp page, but if you google her you come across INSTINCT and ANIMAL BEHAVIOR CLINIC OF AERA and the reviews/experiences are not so far off from this one. I feel that we have been bait and switched, and any establishment that is going to try to keep a deposit that they did not earn is one to completely avoid. These two businesses are tied together, and therefore I would steer clear of both.