Instinct Dog Behavior & Training, New Jersey and Philadelphia

I absolutely love Instinct- Englewood! I have 2 highly reactive dogs that are scared of people. It is the only boarding kennel that my dogs trust and look forward to going to! Instinct, especially Meg Byrne, have really helped them. She has been such a great trainer and helped my dogs meet and safely interact with my boyfriend- that would not have been possible without Meg and Instinct. Worth every penny!

When we reached out to Instinct for help with our 2 year old (now 3) rescue mutt, Lou, we were desperate and exhausted. This review is mostly about how his trainer, Brianna, has truly changed all of our lives in less than 6 months. In fact, we really like all of the staff at Instinct Englewood! We'd done tons of training research since we brought Lou home at 3 mos, hired a leash trainer, spent countless hours training and playing with him, and he'd still developed serious leash reactivity and some resource guarding behaviors that were worsening week over week. He's 80 pounds and was becoming unmanageable on walks. We spent nearly a year applying positive reinforcement training tactics ourselves, and saw minimal improvement alongside worsening anxiety and fear-based behaviors. We needed professional help. Enter Instinct. Positive reinforcement training was non-negotiable for us, but also, this was a huge expense for us and we didn't want to pursue it unless we knew this would work. In our first meeting with Lou's trainer, Brianna, she assured us that she'd work tirelessly to help Lou, but also that this is not a problem with a quick and easy solution. She helped us see the bigger picture before going deeper, and she also affirmed that she knows how hard and exhausting reactivity is, and that Lou's struggles aren't reflective of us being bad dog parents. That immediately made us feel validated and we knew she understood where we were coming from. Over the course of two, two week board + train stints and several at home lessons, Brianna helped us better understand and manage Lou's anxiety. (He's now on an anxiety medication prescribed by our vet). Lou LOVES her. The minute he sees her or hears her name, he gets all wiggly and smiley. She worked with him and us to slowly build his confidence and apply strategies to build trust and help him and us manage difficult situations. His last board and train was in June, and I'm so happy to say that now we can walk through our neighborhood, frequently passing dogs that used to severely trigger intense reactions, with minimal to NO reaction. His progress has continued every week, and it blows me away daily. I cannot speak more highly of Brianna. She truly changed our lives, and helped us create a better, happier environment for Lou. It means so much to us that he's increasingly able to do "dog stuff" like walking, sniffing, and exploring outside, without being in complete distress. That's credit to Brianna's expertise. She's also incredibly kind, supportive, understanding, and validating. When we started working with her, we were both really fragile from beating ourselves up about "ruining" our sweet dog. She has consistently reminded us that not only can we change the path Lou was on, but that we're good dog parents for pursuing professional help for him and to continue trying. Brianna also makes herself available for all of our questions, has been very flexible about schedules, and has offered options for next training steps to help Lou continue growing. We really think the world of her both as a person and a dog trainer, and I could not recommend Instinct, and specifically Brianna, more to anyone struggling with behavioral issues and training.

I heard about Instinct from a friend of a friend. Like her, I was appalled at the idea of shock collars and prong collars. Instinct uses only positive reinforcement with their training, so I went for the 4 week training program. Keep in mind, my dog is a Pitbull/German Shepherd/Lab mix and at the time 1 year-3 months, so he's smart and high energy. He's sweet and VERY playful, so he had issues crossing personal space with strangers and other dogs. I'm continuing that positive reinforcement since he's been home for the last 5 weeks and my friends and family have noticed the difference.

Instinct in Englewood is absolutely incredible! We have been clients of Instinct for several years now, for our own dogs and foster dogs. We recently worked with Meg Byrne and Amber Byleckie over the the past year to help one of our foster dogs Bella - a pit/lab mix who was extremely fearful. Meg and Amber are by far two of the best trainers we have ever worked with, and we will be forever grateful to both of them for helping Bella become a more confident, happy dog and giving her the ability to meet new people without being so fearful. Seeing Bella blossom over the past year with their training lessons at home and in facility has been incredible. They are both experts in their field and they do their job with so much compassion, kindness, and thoughtfulness. I learnt so much from both of them. We worked outside in my house, the local park, and in facility to help build Bella's confidence. She went from a dog who could not be boarded and having difficulty meeting new people, to being able to be boarded - had a blast with all the staff during her stay, and now meets people easily and is so much more confident and happy. I highly recommend Meg Bryne and Amber Byleckie, and to all the instinct staff - thank you for your kindness and compassion towards Bella, my other dogs. You all truly make a difference especially for the rescue dogs who need a loving hand to guide them! Thank you for all that you do! Bella, Jada, Niko love you all!