Instinct Dog Behavior & Training Portland

We are so glad we went with Instinct. We worked with Taylor Snead who was an incredible support for us. Taylor helped our family when our dog repeatedly bit one of us. We got so many useful skills and training tools to improve trust and it’s led to a better outcome than we expected. Our dog is better adjusted, less anxious, and safer to be around. Taylor was extremely responsive to our needs and throughout the process. I couldn’t ask for a better experience or outcome. Highly recommend and although we don’t anticipate going back, we absolutely would pick Taylor and Instinct again!

We got to have our experience of Instinct through Taylor. They were absolutely incredible, providing a wealth of knowledge and wisdom as well as practical skills we could employ. We really appreciated their perspective and approach to training the animals and the humans. They really helped assuage our concerns while keeping the focus about the animals and helping us understand their perspective. We truly feel like we were given practical skills to help us navigate our dogs! We have already suggested Instinct to others and will continue to do so.

Working with Taylor has been an absolute joy. The reasons being: Very observant of both my and Clifford’s behaviors during in home sessions. This helps with suggestions they make both for homework between visits - as well as things to be mindful of when I am executing on my own. All done in a very positive voice. Taylor really listens. Like truly listens. When explaining about why I’d initiated sessions after a year and a half of not using the services, they really took time to make me feel heard and that they wanted to work with cliffy and I in a way that makes sense. Taylor sees Clifford for the dog he is and wants to be. That’s huge. He really wants to belong and be happier. He just needs help because I need help. So Taylor is helping us help ourselves. Taylor understands that in order for training to stick, it has to be fun for both of us. Super bowls is super fun! Pattern games are super fun! We both like working on these tasks together. I have seen a very big improvement in Cliffords behavior since we’ve been doing training. I also truly took Taylor’s advice to try medication for Clifford - as a trusted advisor, and that had made a huge change as well. I trust Taylor. I trust Dr Pankenkratz. Clifford trusts them too!

Claire Giesige worked with me and my labradoodle puppy Maggie from the day after I brought her home at 8 weeks old and continues to work with her and her new human. Claire's knowledge, skill and great coaching style really helped Maggie and I to come a long way in her first year. She warned me before getting Maggie that she would be a large dog and may be too much for me to handle especially during adolescence. Part of me wishes I had listened to her as that was indeed the truth. When it became evident that I would need to rehome her to someone younger and more athletic she and the whole team at Instinct worked with me to help find her a great new home. While I miss her greatly and many times a day wish she was still with me I would not trade the time that I did get to spend with her. Working with Claire I learned so much and Maggie went to her forever home with a great start. Claire is an outstanding trainer and is now working with me to fine tune my new hearing dog Papaya. What I most appreciate about Claire is that she is a straight shooter and able to give feedback in a way that makes me and my dog want to work harder. She is dedicated to her clients and is so good about staying in touch between sessions to make sure we are doing ok. The bond I had with Maggie and the one I am building with papaya are amazing and she is definitely a huge part of helping to build a great relationship with both of them. I wish I could add more stars!!

Kaysha is an amazing trainer. We reached out to another person who referred us to Instinct. We have a 120lb rescue dog named Milo. Milo was unfortunately abused and has some issues. Milo is leash reactive and lunges at other dogs as we walk in the park. Kaysha taught us numerous training tools to help distract him when he gets reactive or if we are coming up on another dog. Kaysha was so great with us and Milo. We've learned so much and have found ourselves passing on these tools to our friends and family. The homework is easy to follow, and the use of a Trello Project Management site really keeps us connected while doing the homework on our own. Instinct Dog Behavior & Training is top of the line and worth every penny we paid. We will continue doing additional training after the first of the year. This is our first rescue dog, and we were not about to give up on him.