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Empowering Owners. Training Dogs.

Transforming dogs & their families by opening doors that were initially closed!

I worked doing all the things my vet recommended for almost 2 years trying to get my big pitty to let me trim his nails. It worked off and on but to really get his nails done he needed to be sedated (which is over $100)
After Rachel came over and worked with him and me, I can trim ALL of his nails like nothing, and I’m learning how to get my older dog less feisty too!
Its a little more work but 1000% more pleasant.
Seriously, Rachel paid for herself in 1 visit!

Carmen Moyers

Contact Us

Evaluation

If you’re unsure about committing to a training program, or if you would like to see our training tools and results for yourself, we can set aside a personal, no-obligation visit with you. The evaluation helps us get to know you and your dog in person, and enables us to determine which program would best suit you and your dog’s needs & lifestyle!

An evaluation is required for our Board & Train programs, but the cost goes towards any program you select!

The first step is completing the contact form, this allows our team to connect with you and schedule your evaluation with us.

Board & Train

Our Board & Train Program is an immersive training program that is designed to give your dog a good foundation by removing bad habits, lessening anxiety and fear issues, and establishing confidence in you, as their owner and leader.

By removing a dog from their familiar environment, we can change ingrained behaviors and help them learn how to make better choices through consistency and guidance. Our trainers work with your dog out in various public situations, mirroring challenges they will be around when they return home.

Our Board & Train program includes specialty, precision training with an e-collar, allowing for off-leash reliability and the best obedience results for your dog.

After training, we offer a 2-hour go-home session so that we can teach you everything your dog has learned during their stay, empowering you, as the owner, to feel confident to take them with you anywhere!

Dogs must be at least 6-months old and have some experience with crate training to attend board and train.

This program comes with lifetime support. One-hour refresher classes are available once every 6 months at the owner’s discretion.

Evaluation Required.

Obedience Classes

With our one-on-one training, we can customize a plan that empowers you to enact the change you want in your dog today!

We show you the basics and fundamentals to encourage that you work with your dog daily to get the results you want. By helping pattern a new state of mind, making better choices, and achieving consistent good behavior, you can experience the life you want with your dog.

You will be working on the 3 D’s: Distance, Distraction, and Duration, all of which allow you, and your dog, to be able to really enjoy the world around them.

If you’re unsure whether or not your goals are attainable through one-on-one training, contact us to schedule an evaluation, and we’ll advise which program is best suited for you and your dog.

Evaluation Recommended.

Puppy Classes

Does your new puppy have you at your wit’s end with nipping, jumping, and pulling on the leash? Our puppy class will help you learn how to curb bad behaviors and shape new habits!

Our puppy class is open to a maximum of 5 puppies per class, however, we offer one-on-one training if the owner prefers.

In our group class, we offer socialization practice, teaching your puppy proper manners when it comes to social interactions with people & dogs.

Training can start as early as 10 weeks old!
Private sessions are available.

Aggressive Board & Train

This program is designed for dogs that are exhibiting dog aggression, fear aggression, human aggression, and biting issues.

We are among a handful of trainers that, not only WILL work with, but have experience training and rehabilitating aggressive dogs that have a history of biting.

We believe that every dog deserves a chance to learn, to live and that every dog has potential. We will always give you an honest assessment during and after training of what your dog’s immediate limitations will be.

This program includes specialty, precision training with an e-collar, allowing for off-leash reliability and the best obedience results for your dog.

Dogs must be at least 6-months old, and have some experience with crate training to attend board and train.

This program comes with lifetime support. One-hour refresher classes are available once every 6 months at the owner’s discretion.

Evaluation Required.
Muzzle-Conditioning Required.

View Some of Our Before & After Videos

Our Team

Rachel Moore

Rachel has worked professionally as a dog trainer for almost a decade, and while she enjoys rehabilitating challenging cases, she has a real passion for rescue and loves empowering clients to take up a leadership role with their dogs.

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Nick Sutton

Nick has been working professionally as a trainer and dog behaviorist for almost three years and prides himself in training dogs by building quality, trusting relationships with them.
While he loves working with pets and rehabilitation cases, his true training passion will always be for Competitive Obedience and training for Sport.

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Argos

Argos has been a dog for nearly two years and is one of the best. He plays a very important role in keeping morale at a consistent high across the company. He also plays tug-of-war with everyone to keep the team in tip-top shape.

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People We've Helped

I worked doing all the things my vet recommended for almost 2 years trying to get my big pitty to let me trim his nails. It worked off and on but to really get his nails done he needed to be sedated (which is over $100)
After Rachel came over and worked with him and me, I can trim ALL of his nails like nothing, and I’m learning how to get my older dog less feisty too!
Its a little more work but 1000% more pleasant.
Seriously, Rachel paid for herself in 1 visit!

Carmen Moyers

They are awesome. Nick has totally changed my relationship with my dog, Blaze. We needed to be trained to understand his needs.

Suzanne Constan

Doing an excellent job with my grandog Floyd!

Kathy Williams

Nick is an amazing trainer! He trained me to train my goldendoodle. His goal is to have a dog that is excited to behave. Nick has an incredible amount of knowledge with regard to dog behavior and how to change it. He spent a lot of time explaining to me the ins and outs of how to use the educator collar. It took him no time at all to teach the dog what he wanted. And then he made sure that I could get the dog to do the command, and that I was comfortable practicing on my own. He actually explained to me how to train Annokhi on some new commands at home on my own! It really impressed me that he was more concerned with teaching me how to train my dog, than bringing him back for more sessions. He was really patient with both me and my dog, and was quick to respond to issues I was having with a phone call. I have been to many trainers, for different dogs over the years, and hands down, Nick is the best I have ever used!

Ryan-Leigh Butorac

When I adopted my 6 month old German Shepard mix, Castiel, I knew from the start I needed help. Luckily I had met Rachel and Nick a few months before and decided to give them a call. Nick came to my house and spent 2 hours talking through their training process and making sure I were on board with everything he wanted to start with. Alpha instincts not only builds confident dogs, they build confident owners. With every lesson nick made sure that, not only was I confident enough to lead my dog through training, but that I understood WHY we were doing what we were doing. In a month I have seen Cas go from a destructive, defiant, timid ball of fur to a confident dog with less separation anxiety. I also know how to help him channel his extra puppy energy in a constructive way. I’m so thankful for Nick and Rachel for always answering my questions in between lessons, and for being patient and flexible. These guys understand dogs and people better than anyone else I’ve ever met. They truly care about every single client. You can’t get better service or training in my opinion. They know what they’re doing and I would recommend them to anyone who’s needing help. They have changed my relationship with my dog and bettered both of our lives!

Vanessa Burch

Copper, my beagle, used to be pretty stubborn, entitled & slightly aggressive towards others when it came to doing simple things that he decided he did not want to do. After going through the Board & Train program with Rachel, Copper came back as a dog that was eager to listen and made better choices than he had before around the house. We’ve got a better relationship and he’s much better around the new puppy we have.

Avery Holland

My dog Bear just finished his training with Nick. It was a very positive and productive experience for both Bear and myself. We have both learned a lot and our relationship is so much better. He is actually happy to know what is expected of him. I highly recommend Alpha Instincts Dog Training.

Patti Warden

What can we say?
Rachel and Alpha Instincts has saved our relationship with our dog. With the help we’ve been able to make leaps and bounds of improvement. Before we have a basically rescue case who’s entire life changed, and his personality changed along with it. We couldn’t have people over, we were having a hard time taking him out and giving him the exercise he needed because of how reactive he had become, and he didn’t trust us. While hesitant we reached out, Rachel has been accommodating with scheduling, and I am convinced if she ever made her way to Washington Thor our boxer would train with her without a problem. With her help we now have a dog that at least trusts us, is learning he doesn’t need to control every situation, we can have people over again, and we now are equipped with the tools to help our dog, and our life with him. We’ve learned we shouldn’t have to compromise our lives, to love and live with him, but that we can help him be a beneficial addition to our family that he has been. If you need ANY help with your dog, don’t think you can do it all on your own or that you have too.10/10, 100% of the time we recommend Rachel and Alpha Instincts!

Nathan Walsh

I have a Doberman – at one point a different trainer told us she was “aggressive” and that we should “give her back to the breeder.” Alpha Instincts evaluated our pup, reassured us that she wasn’t actually “aggressive” (though they said they do love a challenge, she wasn’t going to be one) and started training the same day. I type this review while my sweet pup is snuggled up at my feet. I’m very thankful we called Alpha Instincts.

Ali Donnell Caputo

We are so grateful to Alpha Instincts. We did a lot of research, watched their Facebook before and after videos, and met with Nick for a couple hours to discuss their programs. Our puppy did so good and all our lives have been enhanced by having a well-trained dog in our home 😊. We continue to practice at home, and he is calmer, and more obedient all around. I would recommend Alpha Instincts to anyone looking for a safe, friendly, and effective training program.

Jamila Meesarapu Randall

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ‘balanced’ dog training?
The balanced dog training approach is incredibly powerful when it comes to fixing & resolving the behavioral issues that reward-based training is often unable to help with. These training techniques are derived from animal behavior psychology, how dogs interact with each other in pack dynamics, and why they behave the way they do.
By decisively, and effectively addressing the issues, in the moment, we take the most natural and common communication in dogs and help restructure home environments, establish better communication and ultimately, improve relationships between owners and their dogs.
What kind of dog behaviors do you work with?
We handle many different dog behavior issues. The following are among the most common behaviors we address, but they do not represent everything we are experienced with handling:
- Separation Anxiety
- Recall
- Jumping
- Excessive Barking
- Aggression (Dog & Human)
- Anxiety
- Fear
- Impulse Control
- Leash Pulling
- And many more…
Why do you use prong collars?
Because they work! All tools are about communication, and some tools are more effective at communicating than others. In all of our programs, we properly fit a prong collar for you to your dog. When properly fit, a prong collar is designed to distribute even pressure around a dog’s neck, and communicate information through gentle pressure that a handler can release quickly, unlike with harnesses or flat collars when a dog strains against them.
The strain against a flat collar or a harness is actually more harmful to a dog’s structure due to the constant resistance and pulling.
With a prong collar, we are able to eliminate tension and have a dog engage with us much more quickly when they are in a distracted state of mind. Much like someone trying to get your attention, a prong collar provides an effective, but fair, interruption to a thought process and brings their attention back to their handler.
What is remote or e-collar training?
Modern remote collars, like the brand we use from E-Collar Technologies, use the same technology as a TENS unit, commonly found in physical therapy practice. The TENS unit provides a gentle, localized muscle contraction in the dog’s neck to indicate that their handler is communicating with them.
The remote collar we use is not a shock collar.
We find that with proper e-collar training, we are able to provide the best, most consistent off-leash reliability. Regardless of size, breed, temperament and training backgrounds, all dogs can be trained or can improve their skills with e-collar work. We are capable of building confidence, giving clear communication from a distance and establishing trust between owners and their dogs.
We do not advocate applying this tool without a professional, as there is a proper way to condition your dog to the collar. These tools are not designed to ‘shock’ your dog into submission. The device has 100 levels and we’ve developed a training method to identify the lowest possible working level that your dog will sense. We teach them to understand that the sensation is prompting them to focus, in a calm, and positive way.
Some of the features of the Mini Educator Collar:
- Water-Proof
- ½ Mile Transmitter Range
- Digital Screen
- LED Light for Night Visibility
Through our Board & Train service you will learn how to utilize the e-collar and how to properly maintain your dog’s training with it.
Do you offer group training classes?
Our puppy program allows for socialization and group support! Proper socialization techniques are pivotal at a young age, and we teach owners how to watch for pushy behaviors and make sure that everyone is being respectful.
Our Basic Obedience program, however, is completely private!
Where is the training conducted?
Our one-on-one training sessions usually begin in your home environment, but they transition out into public situations. We provide real-world solutions by addressing behaviors as they naturally occur.
Both indoor and outdoor training is conducted around the Huntsville, Alabama area in dog-friendly environments.
What if I am having problems with my dog’s behavior after you’ve finished training them?
Our dog training programs are tailored to fit your goals and to ensure your success when the training is finished. We make ourselves available to help you work through any issues and give you support.
With our Board & Train services, we include follow-up sessions to continue your training journey with your dog and troubleshoot any minor issues that may have come up post-training.
Whether you are successful in maintaining your dog’s training and behavior, ultimately, is up to you! If you’re willing to put in the work, embrace the training tactics and build a solid relationship between you and your dog, you’ll do amazing in our programs!
Will my dog have to wear the remote collar or prong collar for the rest of their lives?
The training tools we use are intended for training purposes. We find that with consistency, structure, and quality training, you can find yourself using these tools less over time.
The timeline will vary from dog to dog, as some dogs need these communicating tools longer than others.
What is your refund policy?
Our program fees are non-refundable. Deposits provide a good-faith payment for a time reserved in our calendar for your dog. If you need to reschedule a Board & Train within a 60-day period, we are more than happy to credit your payment to a future date.
It is incredibly important to us that you feel confident about dropping your dog off for the best training opportunity of their life (literally, we offer life-time support)! We encourage that you revisit our social media posts so you can reacquaint yourself with us, that way you know if we are what you’re looking for!
The evaluation fee is refundable with 48-hour notice.