Instinct Dog Behavior & Training Portland

We (pups and humans) adore Kaysha. We did both a coaching and a homeschool series with her to help support our 1-year-old dog, Ginger, through a lot of very big feelings. From tricks to help Ginger learn to love her crate, to strategies to reduce leash reactivity, to games to help her use her brain, our home is a better place because of Instinct. A bonus is that Kaysha helped Ginger and our older dog form a playful and (mostly peaceful) bond. I went from feeling guilty, exhausted, and frustrated that we'd brought a second dog into the house to loving Ginger for the unique, spunky lovebug that she is. I having nothing but positive things to say about Instinct and would recommend them to anyone.

Our Golden Retriever puppy was trying to kill himself by swallowing whole socks, gloves, underwear, matchbooks, paper towels, etc. WHATEVER he could find was what he put in his stomach. After our third ER visit in the span of 10 days, two different vets recommended we send him to Instinct. After speaking with an Instinct intake specialist about our dog's specific needs and issues, we decided a two week camp + coaching option was necessary. We met with a trainer ahead of dropping him off so we could chaat about his behavior and agree on what the focus/goal would be. During his stay, we got regular updates on our dog's progress. These included pictures, videos, and written documentation on how he was doing with his training. Once we picked him up, we had THREE training sessions with Emily, our dedicated trainer, so that we could learn how to keep up with everything our dog learned while at Instinct. Two of the sessions were at our house, which was wonderful for us so Emily could see how our dog reacted in different settings. We felt at complete ease while our pup was staying at Instinct. Their care and attention allowed us to feel confident in our choice. Our dog is now mastering his learned skills. The foundation Emily set with him has made him a much better behaved dog. The only thing I'd change is sending him earlier than we did!! He's planning another two week camp + coaching in a few months to refine his learned skills and focus on recall, something we haven't been able to fine tune ourselves.

We brought home our 3rd German Shepherd at 9 weeks but this time around we chose to get a pure bred dog. Our others were adopted, mixes that were mostly GSD. We thought that our previous dogs were mostly German Shepherd but now, after working with our new one, we question that. We had a lot we needed to learn and different issues than we had to deal with before. We had puppy in training (Puppy STAR class) two days after we got him and have continued that, also worked socializing him carefully so he learned to play properly with other dogs. The dog is truly smart, noticeably more so than our previous dogs. That said, we had a few issues that we wanted specialized help with and we turned to Instinct and a package with one of their behaviorists. Taylor Snead was recommended when I asked for someone who had experience with working dogs. Taylor has been an absolute godsend to us. They were able to clarify behaviors, offer practical solutions and lead us thru raising our pup properly. He's the most incredible dog and the problematic things (some separation anxiety, food aggression, over alerting) have lessened dramatically and I do expect as we continue to work with him using the techniques we were taught that they will stop or nearly so. This is hands down the best spent money ever for us. We truly needed the help and the knowledge we got. Having Taylor come to the house where some of the problems were occurring? amazing. Truly allowed them to see things in action rather than simply get our explanation of behaviors (when we could have been misinterpreting what was going on). Taylor has a broad knowledge of dog behaviors and the kind of experience you want when you're looking for help. Taylor also met us at the dog park (because puppy, BIG puppy now, gets very VERY excited there and wants to jump out of the car in a way that makes it hard to leash him up) and demonstrated how we slow his roll there. That is still a work in progress but Taylor's calm, confident demeanor is super fun to watch when they worked with our dog. Taylor has our sincere gratitude and we know now we're doing what we should be to raise our new companion properly... and if we ever have a question, we certainly know who to ask for a practical, informative answer!

Bliss is a 7 year old dog who developed leash reactivity. When we moved off our farm to a neighborhood, she needed to be able to walk on a leash. We took 3 sessions with Emily and can now walk through the neighborhood safely. Bliss loves training and is doing so well. This will always be something that we continue to work on but it is a relief to know we can enjoy walks. I recommend Instinct to everyone!