Our leadership team of certified behavior consultants, board-certified veterinary behaviorists, and business and technology specialists are working hard every single day to bring you and your dog a learning experience like no other.
Walk with the dreamers,
the believers, the courageous,
the cheerful, the planners, the doers,
the successful people
with their heads in the clouds
and their feet on the ground.
Let their spirit ignite a fire within you
to leave this world
better than when you found it.
–Wilferd Peterson
🏅Little dogs are doing BIG things at Instinct Portland🏅 Check out Teddy learning to jump over agility poles and weave around a cone. Thanks Teddy for being an awesome Instinct learner!
Agility is one of many ways to provide mental enrichment and physical exercise for your dogs, regardless of their age or size. This is just one of many ways to add variety and fun to your training program. At Instinct, we can help you discover safe and fun to bond with your dogs and help them learn. Our trainers are happy to create a custom plan fit for your needs!
Check out instinctportland.com or link in our bio to learn more.
📝 GUESS THAT BREED 📝 spoilers below!
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If you guessed SPINONE ITALIANO, you’re right! We work with dogs of different breeds and needs, and we’re happy to help you find a training plan and lifestyle that fits you and your dog!
Thanks Twyla for being part of our diverse Instinct Portland family
🐾 MEET THE TEAM - DR. CHRIS PACHEL, DVM, DACVB, CABC 🐾
Dr. Pachel guides our team at Instinct Portland in providing high-quality, science-based training for our clients. In addition to teaching courses to veterinary medicine students around the world, he has authored articles and contributed to books on a variety of animal behavior topics.
He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for dvm360 and is a Certified Animal Behavior Consultant through the International Association of Behavior Consultants (IAABC). Members of the Instinct Training Team trust Dr. Pachel for guidance and leadership on tricky behaviors and continuing education which we get to share with YOU, our clients!
Keep an eye out for his tips and tricks on how to live a more balanced and happy life with your canine friends. Thank you Dr. Pachel for all you do for us and your clients at Instinct Portland!
Check out 🤘rockstar camper 🤘 Rowan hanging out with horses during a Camp + Coaching session. This is a HUGE milestone for a dog to calmly hang out near animals multiple times their size. Sometimes our campers get to have experiences us humans wish we had!
Want to learn more about how Camp + Coaching can provide enrichment and learning on your dog training journey? Visit the link in our bio to schedule a discovery call today! 📞💡🐾
We’re SO proud of our clients! Here’s a success story from one of our Camp + Coach campers ⛺️🏅
At Instinct, we prioritize fun AND practicality to help you and your dogs learn skills that matter in your real day-to-day life. It makes our day to see another dog calm and confident in this big, bold world!
Thanks to Megan for this awesome review and for trusting Trainer Kaysha to care for her dog and play a part in their training journey! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Labor Day plans? Your dog can level up while you’re away 🌸
Our In-Home Camp + Coaching Program gives dogs (9 weeks and up) the chance to live and learn with an Instinct Trainer, developing real world skills in a home environment.
This isn’t just boarding: In-Home Camp + Coaching is immersive, weaving learning into daily life. Help your dog build:
✨ Manners in the house
✨ Confidence out in the world
✨ Social skills and exposure
✨ Foundational cues and practical life skills
Spots are limited —— reach out now to secure your dates 🌷 [email protected]
A better life with your dog starts with understanding 🩵
At Instinct, we focus on helping you learn about your dog’s individual needs, building trust, and teaching skills that have real world application: that’s how you make behavior change last.
We love hearing from clients that we’ve made a difference in their lives — big shout out to Instinct Trainer Poppy for her incredible work!
Ready to make a change for you and your dog? Give Instinct a ring at 971-358-8787 to get started ☎️
Our new website is live!✨ 💻
We updated our website to make things easier for dog guardians to learn about our training philosophy, explore our programs, and find the right fit for your needs.
No matter what stage of training you may be navigating with your pup, you’ll find everything you need at instinctportland.com. Take a look around and let us know what you think!
Instinct Portland is looking to welcome 1–2 experienced trainers or behavior consultants to our team.
If you’re a certified trainer or behavior consultant with 3+ years of experience, enjoy working thoughtfully through complex behavior cases (fear, anxiety, aggression, resource guarding, and more), and are committed to evidence-based, force-free training, we’d love to connect.
Our team works collaboratively, with weekly case discussions alongside the @animalbehaviorclinic veterinary behavior team, ongoing support from experienced colleagues, and a shared commitment to helping dogs and their people build safe, strong relationships.
We’re hiring for part-time or full-time positions serving the Portland metro area (Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties, plus Clark County, WA) through a mix of in-home and virtual sessions. Already local? Wonderful. Relocating for the right opportunity? We’d love to hear from you, too.
Compensation includes paid client sessions, paid admin and drive time, and full benefits for full-time team members, including health, dental, retirement matching, and PTO.
If this sounds like the kind of work you’ve been looking for, we’d love to hear from you. Link in bio to apply!
Reactivity is all about how your dog FEELS.
Dogs who display leash reactivity are almost always experiencing an emotional response toward their triggers. Typically, that emotional response includes fear, anxiety, frustration — or even a combination of all three!
There’s no question; being on a leash is weird for our dogs. A leash restricts your dog’s ability to move away from scary things, and to move toward exciting things. Restriction can lead to intensified emotional responses to a trigger.
Understanding the underlying emotions your dog is experiencing is key to navigating reactivity; without considering their emotional state, we can’t affect behavioral change.
Need help figuring out exactly what your dog is feeling? Give us a call 🩵
