Dog Clients
Colleen & John and Roshi
John and I are both very grateful for all we've learned from Alana. I only wish I had known about her methods when I had my first dog. After doing it all wrong the first time, including going to obedience classes that taught us to use prong collars and other harsh methods that didn't work, I was determined to do it differently with Roshi. Alana's positive training methods have been so effective. Now we know how to communicate with Roshi and we catch ourselves when we unintentionally reinforce behaviors we don't want. It makes so much sense! We're enjoying our puppy so much more than we would if we were using punishments. Roshi responded to Alana's training methods so quickly. It was obvious she really knows how dogs learn. After taking private lessons with Alana, we continued with her group class to socialize Roshi with other dogs. We saw her methods work just as successfully with the other dogs in the class. It's really reassuring to know that she'll be able to help us if we have any problems that we can't handle in the future. Roshi just loves her! — Colleen and John |
Noga Z. and Cadence
When I first started working with Alana, I was in despair regarding my relationship with my dog, Cadence. He was engaging in destructive behavior almost daily, had developed a number of very neurotic habits, and was unable to demonstrate skills he seemed to have known for months. I was overwhelmed and having many doubts about my ability to help him. Before my lessons with Alana, I took Cadence to a trainer who showed me how to keep Cadence lying at my feet by holding his shoulders down by force with my hand. Simultaneously, I was to step on the leash inches from his head so he was unable to get up. I was to maintain this exercise for a half-hour daily. Cadence was clearly unhappy and so was I. I left beneath a cloud of disappointment at the prospect of hours spent forcing my dog into positions. Thankfully, I didn't go back. Immediately after the first lesson Cadence and I had with Alana, the cloud of despair lifted! I had never imagined that training could be such a positive bonding experience for Cadence and me. Cadence, who is hesitant and nervous with strangers, adored Alana immediately. He was so enthusiastic during our lessons and at our at-home practice sessions. As I learned to communicate with him in better ways, the blank stares which had previously greeted me disappeared. I quickly found that I had an alert, fast-paced pup who wanted to carry out anything I could request of him, as long as I could explain it to him in a way he could understand. It was clear he experienced a great sense of accomplishment after Alana's lessons. As Cadence and I practiced, we progressed in leaps and bounds. The process appeared to be rapidly building his confidence; he was clearly shining and glowing with pride. He would prance around, doing spontaneous tricks to induce practice sessions, which is now one of his favorite activities and his behavioral problems have lessened significantly! The more positive behaviors he learned, the more radically the destructive behaviors were minimized! Cadence's father, Blue, who is my other dog, eagerly joined in the practice sessions at home. I had never seen such teamwork between the two of them. While Blue did not have any problematic behaviors, it was clear he was happy with my enhanced canine communication skills. Alana has enabled me to have a dramatically better relationship with both my dogs. They love her methods, and exhibit dedication, enthusiasm, and enjoyment every step of the way. The tools I have gained from Alana's lessons have allowed me to be a better dog partner than I ever imagined! — Noga |
Gina V. and Lucy
Meeting Alana was a blessing. As a new puppy owner, I was overwhelmed and way in over my head. Alana's warm nature and positive techniques allowed me to enjoy the process of raising a puppy. Through positive reinforcement training, Alana taught me how to curb my dog's play-biting and showed me how to prevent her from jumping up on people. Thanks to Alana, I have a well-behaved good natured dog and am a happy dog owner. — Gina |
Cathy and Kody
I wanted to extend my heartfelt thanks for all the help with Kody, our 5-year-old Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Before contacting you for a behavior consultation, my husband & I weren't quite sure what to do about Kody & his aggressive behavior. We were beginning to think we would have to give him up, but neither of us really wanted that. He became very aggressive, especially around food, be it his or ours, especially while I was cooking supper at home or in our travel trailer. He would have a tendency to come at me & growl & sometimes try to attack me. We would put him in a stay & he would end up breaking it. He did not like it when I would put him on his tie out or try to release him. Quite often he would growl & try to snap at me. He also got in the habit of hiding under my desk while I was working. When I would get up, he would dart out at me. Kody had actually bitten me a couple of times in the above circumstances. Kody & I had attended obedience classes where a choke collar was used & after awhile Kody just refused to listen to the collar & when the collar was snapped, he would sometimes growl at me. After the consultation with you & the subsequent lessons we have a totally changed dog! Your lessons had an immediate effect on Kody & have definitely changed his attitude toward different circumstances & us. And thanks to you I also learned how to cope with the different situations with fantastic results. I can truthfully say that I now feel more at ease around Kody than I have in a long time & best of all my husband has also noticed the change in his behavior! I definitely recommend your dog-friendly training to anyone & especially anyone who has a dog with an aggressive problem. I know it sure helped us be able to keep Kody as part of the family! Once again, thank you so very much for your help! |
Janet and Angel
Dear Alana, I want to thank you for your help with my Belgian Sheepdog, Angel, and her resource guarding. I came to you because my new puppy, Angel, would growl at me when I came close to her when she was eating. I do not tolerate my own dogs growling at me and I dealt with it as I had in the past with other dogs, by punishing her and trying to "establish dominance," which is what prior trainers taught me. Much to my surprise, that only made things worse. My new puppy did not seem to be bonding with me and the growling only got worse and now escalated into snapping. When she was chewing on a rawhide it was particularly bad, with her snapping at me, and anyone else, strongly whenever approached. From a pup only a few months old, I was totally taken aback and had no idea what to do. I even considered returning her to her breeder. Now, several months later, I cannot imagine that I even considered such an option. You had such a totally different approach and it worked, while at the same time giving me new insights into how dogs think. So I want to thank you for your insights of positive conditioning — trading, rewarding and giving her food, and hand-feeding her. The positive method, step-wise approach worked wonders! Angel again bonded with me, and now welcomes me close to her food bowl. And the once coveted rawhide? Now, rather than growling or snapping at us when she has one, she actively seeks one of the humans to hold her rawhide for her while she chews!! Angel will turn a year old soon, and is almost full grown. I am delighted to report that she is a playful gal, very loving and deeply bonded with us. We have no problem taking anything out of her mouth at any time thanks to you! We can't imagine life without her. I feel as though you have given me the dog I always wanted! I also want to thank you not only for help with Angel, but for the way you opened my eyes to my son's dog Joe, a dog I had lived with for close to eight years. All that time, I viewed Joe as a nice enough dog, but rather stubborn and difficult to train. To be honest, I was secretly thankful he was not "my" dog, so I did not have to do much with him. I had tried to train him in the old yank and jerk method that I had used back in the late 1970s. Every time I tried to train Joe, he would get slower than molasses in January, would yawn and look away, lick his lips, and other behaviors that I took as stubborn refusal to be trained. I gave up on him as hopeless! But in clicker-training Angel, I was amazed that Joe was always there, listening and doing what I was asking of my puppy. A few treats, and he was enthusiastic about being trained. But I still didn't understand his previous behavior — not until you explained calming signals (again in conjunction with my puppy). I suddenly realized that all those behaviors I took as blowing me off and being stubborn were calming behaviors! What Joe was really trying to tell me, in the only language he knew, was that he was no threat to me and would I please stop hurting him! I knew that Joe had tremendous understanding of other dogs and never got in fights — Joe the ambassador we call him. But I had not realized he was using that same language with me. Your insight opened a whole new appreciation for that dear dog and I have integrated him into training, which he now loves! I always said that Joe was not sure I liked him. Now, I understand how he got that impression. We have a much closer relationship and deeper understanding and now, well, Joe KNOWS I love him and I do. Thank you so much for sharing your understanding and love for dogs, and for opening new channels of communication between me and my canine companions. We are ALL enjoying training now! Thank you! |
Kristina K. and Sage
My veterinarian highly recommended Alana. I signed up for her Puppy Manners class with my puppy, "Sage," and also took private lessons with her. We have two very young boys who are a handful, and now we had this new puppy who was biting and chewing EVERYTHING, including our children. Sage was chewing almost everything and we had real problems with housetraining. It seemed like a total disaster and we yelled at Sage a lot. Things improved tremendously after lessons with Alana. Alana taught us how Sage was learning from us 24/7. She showed us positive ways to teach Sage. Instead of focusing on what Sage was doing wrong, Alana taught us to teach her what we wanted from her. Not only was Sage housetrained in such a short time, but Alana also taught us how to control the rambunctious play that would occur between Sage and the boys. I'm very happy to say, Sage is a much calmer, secure, and well-behaved puppy. Because of Alana's help, Sage is such a joy to have around now and she is truly a part of our family. — Kristina |
