Alana Stevenson, M.S. is a dog and cat behaviorist and dog trainer. She specializes in helping people resolve dog and cat behavioral problems, including fearful and aggressive behaviors, in a humane, science-based way. Alana has been professionally teaching clients how to implement behavior modification for their dogs and cats without using aversives such as shock, pinch, choke collars, leash corrections, scolding, shake cans or squirt bottles since 2003.

Training Philosophy
Alana Stevenson embraces a compassionate and holistic approach to training animals and resolving dog and cat behavior problems. She teaches her clients how to manage and prevent problematic behaviors using humane methods. She does not use physical force or compulsion, or shock, pinch, prong, or chain collars (also called “correction-based collars”) for teaching and training dogs.
Alana’s training philosophy is that dog and cat “training” is teaching, and teaching dogs and cats, or any animal, should be based on trust, kindness, mutual respect, compassion, and understanding.

Services
Alana Stevenson offers in-home and virtual animal behavior consultations and dog training lessons. Video consultations are by FaceTime, Google Meet, Zoom, or Skype. She provides dog and cat behavior consults and regularly services areas in New England, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. She has helped clients on dog and cat behavior issues throughout the US, including California and New York. She has assisted clients in Japan, Canada, Jordan, Morocco, Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Indonesia, Turkey, Malawi and South Africa.
The length of dog and cat behavioral consults vary according to the severity of the behavior problems and the number of animals involved. In-home animal behavior consults are about 3 hours. Virtual consultations are one and two hours with one-hour follow-ups.
All animal behavior consults and dog training lessons are scheduled by appointment. Deposits are required to hold in-home appointments and are non-refundable. Virtual consultations are pre-paid upon scheduling.

Certifications
Alana Stevenson has a Master of Science in Biology Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. She is Elite Fear-Free Certified (veterinary and dog trainer) and is certified in Low Stress Handling for Dogs and Cats.

Specializations
Dog and cat behaviorist, dog trainer, cat behavior, feline behavior modification, leash-handling, fear and aggression, behavior modification for animals in shelters, dog and cat behavior and body language, animal massage therapy

Training Methods
Alana Stevenson uses positive reinforcement methods and does not use aversive training methods such as shock, pinch, choke collars, leash corrections, scolding, shake cans or squirt bottles.

Customer Reviews

Coco
“When Coco came to us, she had very deep trust issues, especially with men. She would growl at us at home and would not tolerate any touching on her hind quarters. We worked with Alana for several months not only giving Coco the skills she needed but also learning a lot about how dogs behave and why.
Without Alana’s training, it’s hard to imagine that Coco would be such an intricate part of our family. Alana taught us how love and gentle techniques can be very effective even with a dog who had aggressive tendencies and a lot of fear. We highly recommend Alana for anyone looking to have a better relationship with their dog.”
~ Meridith Pierce & Coco

Bilbo & Gandolph
“My cats had been together for eight years—best of friends. One day, the neighbor’s cat peeked into my apartment through the back door and my cats began fighting horribly with one of them confining the other to hiding under the bed. The fighting was so bad and aggressive they simply had to be separated!!!
Alana came over at 3 pm on a Saturday. By 5 pm (the end of the session), my cats were able to tolerate being in the same room! I continued with the retraining program exactly as Alana suggested that evening and the next morning in intervals and to my great surprise and utter joy, after about 7 hours of training in total all aggression and hissing had stopped and by the late afternoon—so only about 24 hours after Alana left—they were once again grooming one another!!! I got my happy cats back!!!!” Read full story… ~ Tal Kenet, Bilbo & Gandolph

Mica & Megan
“I think I neglected to tell you… the new litter box arrangement you recommended has been working great. Mica covers his projects like a pro—no more pathetic scraping at plastic sides!”
~ Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D., author of Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals and The Exultant Ark, Phone Client

Diva
“Alana brought great pain relief and increased mobility and flexibility to our 16 year old English Setter, Diva.
She is frail, wobbly, senile, deaf and mostly blind, but Alana quickly allayed Diva’s anxieties with her gentle patience and skillfully found the trigger points and sore muscles contributing to her pain and skewed posture.
Diva benefited from the sessions and really enjoyed them. I recommend Alana’s massage therapy for any pet, old or young, with neuromuscular issues.”
~ Rob Pease & Diva

Media Appearances
Featured in Hondenleven magazine.
Podcasts/Radio: Interviewed by Animal Voices Canada 2011, Lucky Dog Show 2009, Rich Britton’s Passionate about Pets 2012, Pet Place Radio 2008.
Featured in local newspapers, The Newton Tab, Boston Tails 2008, 2009 and in the Boston Globe, as a feline behaviorist 2011.
Magazines: Dog Living, Modern Dog, Northern Virginia Dog, American Dog, Animal Wellness, Animal People, K9 Magazine.
Behavior articles (feline) for LifewithCats.tv.
Behavior articles (canine) for LifewithDogs.tv.
Featured segment on Chronicle, a local television show about New England, on my animal behavior consulting practice, 2006.
Appeared on Capital News 9 – provided tips on how to calm down high-energy dogs, 2004.
Appeared on local news stations regarding a rescued (exotic pet) capuchin monkey, “Jimmy.” 1994-1996. “Jimmy” was released to Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Jacksonville, FL.