Instinct Dog Behavior & Training Portland

I can't say enough about this company, or their trainers/behavioralists. My partner and I worked with Jennifer and Caroline, and they were truly our angels as we navigated the very sad and confusing road of trying to manage our loving, yet aggressive/reactive dog. The damage caused by our rescue (who has normally sweet and submissive) was repetitive and severe enough that we eventually settled on behavioral euthanasia to prevent more harm to both family and strangers. And, as a mercy to our little guy who could not make peace with the world due to severe abuse he experienced in his past. This decision was only made after a LOT of other steps, time, safety measures, considerations, consultations, etc. were made. The decision to move forward with BE is one I would NEVER wish on my worst enemy. Almost a month later, our hearts are still very much broken over the loss, and there is a lot of guilt/shame that goes along with the overall sense of grief. It feels very different than euthanizing a pet who is physically suffering or in pain. Caroline gave us so much support, love, encouragement, and resources during this time. She never judged us, made us feel guilty, or made us feel that we were failing our dog. I don't think we could have navigated this horrible situation without her. And, to me, that matters so much more than someone being helpful and supportive during the "good times." I'll never forget this group of incredible people, and will forever be grateful to them for all the compassion and care they gave to me, my family, and my loyal friend and companion, UNO.

Really disappointed with this training program and particularly the trainer we had. Communication was subpar I had to repeatedly contact them for updates and then would get apologies and statements like oh I thought I uploaded that update or oh we forgot to update the page. We were given specific expectations for communication that were not followed.. Our dog seems more stressed and actually lost muscle and weight while there. We were also disappointed that they called her by different names the whole time when we had told them the name and nicknames we use. The after session was disjointed without linear knowledge sharing. It was confusing and we were told it was because the trainer was so used to just doing it she didn’t know how to share. So that was a waste of time. No skills were practiced outside the facility so she had no real world experience with distractions. Overall, We feel like it was an absolute waste of time and money. Now we are starting over the search for a dog trainer.