Instinct Dog Behavior & Training Portland

I have a leash reactive dog and I've struggled in the past with getting him the proper training he deserves to be happy on his walks. Instinct matched us with the perfect trainer (Kirah is the best!) who has first-hand experience with anxious dogs and gives us all the tools we need to be successful. I also appreciate the follow-up you get after the classes are over, there are always resources for you to go back to and the facility is super responsive to questions. Highly recommend!

Kirah Collins helped us with our toy Poodle's reticence (almost to the point of obstinance) to go for a walk, plus other issues. Kirah is confident, took control of the situation, but I could see she is very much a true animal-loving person. Our little girl took to her immediately. Kirah also diplomatically trained the humans. She gave us amazing follow-up reports and homework. I think Instinct Dog Behavior & Training Portland is a qualified program.

Kirah has been working with me and my very reactive adopted lab mix pooch Koko for about 8 months (two full rounds of the Home School program), and she has been fantastic. Koko is friendly and sweet, but I had some serious biceps just trying to walk her – no leash manners – and she would get so excited seeing another animal that she would explode and bite the leash. We were (nicely) asked not to come back to a reactive dogs class because she was impeding the progress of other dogs, and that’s when we started with Kirah. Koko walks quite nicely on the leash now, and when she does react to seeing another dog, she usually just bounces a little and I’m able to call her back to me for a snack. We just finished up the last session in our training package with Koko calmly playing a treat game directly across the street from the dog park, with lots of activity happening and Koko focused on Kirah. We still have a lot of practicing to do to get to where I would like to be, but we have a very good foundation and I feel confident and motivated to continue our progress. Koko improves a bit each time we practice. Thank you to Kirah aka the Cheese Lady for her expertise, patience and kindness.