Instinct Dog Behavior & Training Portland

We were lucky to have the opportunity to work with our trainer Kaysha for a two week puppy camp. I was surprised by how nervous I was to leave my brand new cavapoo puppy someplace for training, but my anxiety was relieved as soon as I met Kaysha. Her knowledge and expertise was evident immediately. She sent us regular updates with really helpful photos and videos so we could track our pup’s progress, and also learn ourselves how to reinforce our puppy’s positive growth and development. I really appreciated Kaysha gentle and clear instruction with our puppy. Every moment was designed to be a positive and enjoyable interaction. Both Kaysha’s own dogs (whose calm, engaged behavior and obedience constantly impressed us) and her family (including her delightful toddler) were enlisted to help our puppy learn to socialize and live in a home setting. I knew that our little pup was in safe hands and getting the best positive enrichment during these very early and impressionable weeks of her life. My husband and I have learned so much about training from Kaysha, as well as ways of being the best humans we can for our little dog. I would recommend Kaysha to anyone looking to support their dog’s physical and mental wellbeing and growth in the most positive and healthy way possible. Signing up for puppy camp and working with Kaysha was truly the best decision we made as new puppy parents.

We use Instinct for boarding our dog and home schooling. We just wrapped up a round of home schooling with Emily and she truly worked miracles with our dog. He’s a hyper active young golden retriever and was overstimulated while out on walks. After the end of our training program, he was able to stay focused and be by my side for an entire walk without getting too excited by other people and dogs. I would highly recommend the home school program to anyone who needs it!

My dog Hugo and I have recently completed 6 sessions of in home behavioral consultations with Kaysha at instinct and we’re getting ready to start a 3 week homeschool session with her this week. Kaysha is a skilled trainer and educator. More important than her considerable skills and knowledge is her ability to shift and adapt a strategy that isn’t quite working to find the one that will. Her creativity and flexibility are what has made our time with her so invaluable. There is absolutely no one size fits all approach here. The review, feedback and communication between sessions have really helped me feel supported and able to make progress despite any stumbling blocks we’ve encountered along the way. I also found Instinct's initial online self paced course really valuable in terms of establishing a baseline of general dog care, stewardship and values. It was nice to have that as a background, but not have it take up valuable training hours together. I feel confident choosing another round of training with her because of the leaps and bounds we have been able to make in the past. Our quality of life has improved significantly from where we started and i absolutely could not have done it alone.

KAYSHA ROGERS-SCHULER Came into our lives just at the right time. We adopted a 3 month old shy GSP from the humane society. Overwhelmed in puppyland with a super hyper and very smart pup, Kaysha began to lay the foundation of everything dog training from our very first conversation and thanks to our first quick chat, I was able to jump on top of some leash/dog reactivity before our week long puppy camp at Kaysha’s house. Fast forward a few weeks, our pup is at Kaysha’s with her five pups and toddler, learning everything there is to know about a busy house and lots of different dog attitudes. Kaysha took our puppy out on MULTIPLE adventures each day. He met horses, went to stores, adventured at the park and river etc. He got a year of socializing under his belt in one week. Kaysha was so thoughtful and thorough in her updates, photos, and videos all week. He came back so bright and eager to learn and keep up his training. We’re now a week in to post-puppy camp and he is thriving. I can see how much more confident he is in this big world. We are immensely grateful to Kaysha for her dedication and expertise in shaping our furry friend into the best version of himself. Thank you, Kaysha, for everything!