Instinct Dog Training of NJ and PA

02/08/2025

01/20/2025

Having Dobermans play well together takes a lot of monitoring and coordination. Adoptable Dawkins (a 1 year old Blue Dobie) never learned how to play as a puppy.

So helper dog Bridget has been helping him learn to come in softer and defer. He’s come a long way! And when he gets a little much she corrects him again. This type of training is only possible if the recipient (Dawkins) can accept correction- which he does!

Dawkins, a one year old Blue dobie with natural ears, is adoptable through our friends at Doberman Pinscher Rescue of PA, Inc.! If you’re interested head on over to their page to apply. And he comes with three free lessons at Instinct Dog Training of NJ and PA!

10/29/2024

It just doesn’t get any better than this. Happy tails to our sweet and spicy Steve ❤️😘🥰

🎉Huge congratulations to our spicy nugget Steve!🎉 He is another foster fail for the year. His foster mom Leslie and foster dad Phil could not see him going anywhere else. He is home!
Everyone has been following Steve’s journey from his tragic injury at 10 weeks old to the present time enjoying life to the fullest and being the best ambassador for the Doberman breed ever! Lots of wonderful volunteers and people to thank along the way. Thanks to Kristina Evans, our Communications Director, for seeing his Craigslist ad and jumping quickly to get him approved to come into DPRPA (we could not say no to this little guy and his plight) and for helping with his transport. And thanks to Diane Sorantino for helping out with the transport chain. Thanks so much to Suze Cullinan and her team at Instinct Dog Training for stepping up to help foster and get this spicy nugget all the help and vetting he needed throughout his long journey. Thank you to Joey's Paw for the wonderful donation of a doggy wheelchair to help
him get around in life. And also, to Special Needs Dobermans for their continued support with Steve and DPRPA. We cannot thank them enough. Thanks to all the wonderful vets and staff for never giving up on Steve's to ensure he got all the help he needed along the way. We can’t forget to thank all his donors who made his victory successful. And we cannot thank Leslie and Phil enough for doing everything possible for Steve to ensure he was happy and living his life to the fullest. He still has a long journey ahead of him but we at DPRPA know he is in the right place to make his journey a long, loving, and caring one!

Happy Tails to the spicy nugget and we all look forward to hearing about all his adventures in the future! We love you, Steve!

08/06/2024

UPDATE: The roads are clear! Message to all of our families- you may hear that streets in Englewood are flooding. They are indeed however all of our dogs are safe. We have flood controls in place and people on site. We also have a generator in the event that power goes out (which has not happened). If you are picking up your pup tonight please don’t attempt to drive in. We’ll keep them safe and sound and want you to stay safe too! Please call tomorrow before coming to the facility for drop off, pick up or lessons. We’ll post more updates here as we have them.

07/16/2024

I've swithered about the wisdom of posting this for fear of backlash but I keep coming back to these questions and I think they are important so here goes nothing...

I was working in the park yesterday and saw things which, if I'm honest, kind of broke my heart a wee bit. A beautiful puppy on a slip lead being corrected (by a 'trainer') whenever they stopped to sniff. An obedience class of dogs half of whom appeared to be on 'grot' collars (choke collars). A dog being walked on a prong collar in a strict heel and never allowed to stop, sniff or interact with the world around them.

So my questions are...

What has happened in our relationship with our dogs that makes more and more people feel ok about training their dogs with force & coercion & discomfort/pain?

Do people believe these things don't hurt? That the dog truly doesn't mind? Or do they acknowledge that these things are unpleasant (at best...painful at worst) but believe this is the only way to teach dogs? Do they understand what they are doing but feel there are no other options? Is the dog's discomfort simply a price worth paying for the human's convenience? Has frequent exposure to coercive trainers on social media numbed us to the casual cruelty with which they treat dogs? Or do we just avoid thinking about it all too deeply for fear we may have to face some uncomfortable truths?

Where is our empathy, kindness and understanding for the captive animals we have chosen to bring into our lives? If we truly care about our dogs (and I believe most owners do) then why are we often so quick to use physical force & discomfort? If we are prepared to sacrifice their wellbeing and experience in favour of our control over them - and it's worth saying these are not mutually exclusive - then we have some serious reflecting to do....

07/10/2024

Ok all our dobie lovers! Let’s find a foster or adopter for this sweet girl! Please share widely
&
Doberman Pinscher Rescue of PA, Inc.

07/10/2024

A great podcast!

Cog Dog Club!
In one hour, 5pm pacific, it’s all about what we call “start buttons” in training. I have thoughts, and if you learned about this from me more than a couple years ago, they’ve changed a lot.

Membership or patreon! 🔗 in comments

06/16/2024

Cherishing all our alumni families.

03/08/2024

Meet Steve! Steve is a 13 week old Doberman pup who sustained a catastrophic spinal injury several weeks ago. Luckily our friends at Doberman Pinscher Rescue of PA, Inc.. were able to do an emergency admission when it was realized that he was not recovering. Steve will likely not regain use of his hind legs - however Steve approaches life full throttle and doesn’t even realize he’s disabled! While he has a long journey to creating his best life he’s now being fostered by Suze Cullinan and comes to work here every day. The entire team of trainers and canine care help care for him. He starts rehab next week, and thanks to the incredible generosity of Joey's PAWJoey's Paw he’s soon to receive the gift of a free doggy wheelchair! Stay tuned for more updates. For now, enjoy this spicy little nugget and look at that play with helper dog Bridget!

02/14/2024

Pugs and kisses and poodles of love from Instinct ❤️

12/22/2023

Adoptable Eri has found his forever home! The best of gifts for the holiday- he’s already in love with his new sister and family. Thank you for all the work you do! Head on over to their website to donate - your dollars help find homes for dobies in need

12/20/2023

From Heath’s people!
“Just wanted to drop a note and tell you how wonderful it’s been to meet and work with Emma. We had our post-boarding home session today, and it was so worthwhile for all of us to spend time with her.

As much as we have liked our other trainers—shout-outs to Amber and Tiffany—(and, of course your colleague, Meg), we are particularly impressed by Emma. Heath threw curveballs today, and she was as effective here as she had been at Englewood. Gentle, kind, and entirely unflummoxed by our big boy. By the end of the session, there was marked improvement that we aim to replicate.

Thank you for your kindness to our guys, and hats off to you for being able to attract and retain top notch staff in all capacities. You knew this already, but we are fans.”