Instinct Dog Behavior & Training

We've had our pup, Bacchus, for almost 2 years. He is a rescue from Texas who made his way to New York. Over the last year and a half it became clear he needed additional support. I spoke with the team at Instinct, including the founder, and they agreed that he would benefit from their program. Rebecca worked closely with Bacchus over his boarding program and did his in-house visit, and I cannot sing her praise enough. My pup was pretty anxious on walks, averse to engaging with other dogs, and inattentive to me when he was anxious. By the time we got him back after two weeks, he was able to pay attention to us on walks and ignore other dogs. As a facility, I loved that I was able to tour the place in advance and that they advised an overnight stay. This made me feel like they had his best interest in mind. They even told me when they were concerned for a possible outbreak of kennel cough, and advised me about their cleaning protocols. They also offered to let me pick my dog up early. I declined given their protocols, but this is a very dog-centered approach. They provided cute camper updates that comforted me while he was away, and shared videos of his progress. It was great to see him engaging with the trainers and being with other dogs. Rebecca was our trainer and I think she's a real star. She loved Bacchus, and you could tell how much of a bond they forged in their two weeks. I didn't include that I wipe his face daily in his intake form, but since he's a shih tzu mix, it's almost required. She made sure to wipe around his eyes to keep him clean. To know your dog is in the care of people like this is invaluable. They only use positive reinforcement, and this is exactly the type of environment I wanted for my dog. When they explain their strategies to you, it's clear that they are trying to ensure the dog is engaged, rewarded, and cared for. Progress since he has left the program has been remarkable. Bacchus has a dog cousin, and they recently started playing together. We thought co-habitation would be the most our dog could achieve, so this was unfathomable previously. I have Rebecca and Instinct to thank for this.

We recently had our dog Holly stay at Instinct for their Board and training camp package. I am in the world of animal rescue. I run a shelter and have been rescuing dogs for close to 20 years. Instinct has always had a great reputation, and many of our adopters, love them. So when my regular sitter was going to be away at the same time as we were away- I knew we needed reliable professional, certified trainers to care for our very special girl, Holly. She has a lot of fear- based aggression with unfamiliar people. When we took her for her trial day, and met Cassie and Rebecca, I knew we made the right choice. They were extremely professional and knowledgeable about the type of care that Holly required. We felt extremely comfortable leaving Holly in their care for the ten days we were out of the country. We received daily updates, photos, and a progress report on how Holly was doing. We highly recommend Instinct for your training needs. We are happy to continue Hollys training with them, and look forward to seeing her make even more progress.

We worked with Sam Bell-Brown over 9 home school and 4 private sessions. We have a Shiba Inu who has some anxiety and is extremely house protective. She gave us so many tools to practice alone with him over and over again over the sessions and then with some guests. We now have a good protocol for having guests visiting and staying over, where our dog is no longer as stressed and guests can even approach our dog and throw or give him some treats. We understand our dog better and he also seems more at peace, knowing what he needs to do during different situations. The tools she gave us also helped in walking him and distressing him when there are a lot of things going on around during walks. It’s been so great to work with Sam and we’ve loved the training!