Private Session Training Partners

HRA’s Training and Behavior Center is supported by professional trainers who offer training services through their own businesses in addition to the work they do at HRA. If you are in need of private training and behavior services, we proudly recommend the following trainers: 

Elizabeth Ashley

Elizabeth loves to work with all dogs on a wide variety of topics. Her clients include:  puppies, service dogs, dog manners and obedience, shy and fearful dogs, and aggressive and dangerous dogs. Elizabeth specializes in private in-home dog training lessons and group classes. She customizes enrichment, training, and management plans for each unique home environment. She is there to train your dog AND you because there are two ends to the leash. Both ends of the leash have got to be working together in order for your communication skills to grow!  

Elizabeth is the owner of Calvert Dog Academy and a member of the Fear Free® Speakers Bureau and is vice-chair of the Linda L. Kelley Animal Shelter Advisory Board and is a board member of the regional humane education non-profit  Wag Workshops.

She teaches dog training classes at the nonprofit Humane Rescue Alliance, including puppy kindergarten, basic manners, therapy dog and reactive dog classes.

Elizabeth got her start in dog training at the world-famous San Francisco SPCA facility in 2013. She earned her certificate in training and counseling from the Academy for Dog Trainers in 2018. She then earned her Fear Free® certification in 2019. In 2022, she earned her Service Dog Coach Certification from Cooperative Paws. She participates in continuing education regularly to ensure that she is always using the most modern and effective dog training techniques.

Alexandra Dilley, M.A. Animal Behavior, CPDT-KA

Alexandra Dilley is the owner of Home Alone Canine, which provides treatment and support for separation-related problems in the community. Alexandra was the Director of Training and Behavior at the Humane Rescue Alliance from 2013-2021. During her time there, she worked with the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center in Asheville, North Carolina, to develop HRA's first intensive program for severely fearful dog rehabilitation; additionally, she started and ran a prison dog training program at Patuxent Institution in Jessup, MD; she also taught classes on everything from obedience to dog reactivity and provided ongoing private session and behavioral support for adopters, fosters, and the Washington, D.C. community.  

Over those years, she worked closely alongside and completed a formal mentorship program with Tracy Krulik, CTC, CSAT, from Separation Anxiety & Beyond, in how to address separation-related problems in foster and shelter-adopted animals.  After leaving HRA, she became a trainer for Separation Anxiety and Beyond. She continues to support shelter dogs by taking on separation anxiety and other behavior cases in foster homes. 

Joyce Loebig, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA

Joyce is the owner and lead trainer of Rewards Dog Training. Joyce is certified as a Karen Pryor Certified Training Partner and a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, Knowledge Assessed. Joyce has been training and volunteering with dogs in the Metro DC area for over 15 years. Her experience includes work with basic and foundation behaviors, puppy socialization and life skills, enrichment, and behavior issues such as leash reactivity, fear, dog-cat relationships, and aggression. She has volunteered as a trainer and dog handler for rescue and non-profit organizations. Joyce uses only force-free, positive training methods and never uses pain, fear, or intimidation to achieve results. 

Positive Dog Solutions

Positive Dog Solutions provides the support and resources needed to ensure a healthy, happy human-dog relationship. We provide strategies and solutions to enhance communication between dogs and the humans with whom they interact. Founded by behavior consultants Jackie Maffucci and Vivian Levén, a neuroscientist and a mediator with a degree in conflict resolution, respectively, Jackie and Vivian have a combined 30+ years of experience and knowledge working with dogs and people.  Positive Dog Solutions specializes in addressing more serious behavior challenges and is committed to improving behaviors in dogs using science-based techniques while enhancing awareness, knowledge, and compassion in the families and the communities in which they live.

Andy Merryman

Andy is a certified trainer and counselor and has worked extensively in a variety of roles at The Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Colorado. Upon graduation from The Academy for Dog Trainers, she began work as a contractor for the humane society conducting hundreds of private one-on-one training and behavior consultations for clients and their dogs. Andy is the owner of Merry Mutts and now brings her expertise and passion for reward-based training to the DC area in partnership with the Humane Rescue Alliance. Andy utilizes behavior modification techniques based on science and learning theory and is exclusively a force-free trainer. Andy will work with you and your pup to tackle any issues and foster your relationship with your pet simultaneously.  The goal is to find simple yet effective tools to address the issues at hand. 

Jackie Moyano, BS, CPDT-KA, PMCT, SAPRO

Jackie is the owner of Behavior United. She transitioned careers from a respiratory therapist to dog training. In addition to caring for patients, she also taught both patients and respiratory therapy students. Jackie's medical teaching experience lends itself well to teaching people how to train their dogs. Pssst! Dog training is really people training! Jackie's dog training expertise and education comes from completing three of Pat Miller's training academies, attending Ken Ramirez' Animal Training Seminar at SHEDD Aquarium, attending Sue Sternberg's Eden Internship working with Alaskan husky sled dogs, plus completing all 5 of the Bailey-Farhoody chicken workshops where Jackie learned animal training science and practiced training skills with chickens.  Jackie actively pursues continuing education and recently added a separation anxiety credential, SAPro to her name. 

Rachel Rollins, CPDT

Rachel is a certified professional dog trainer and owner of Rollins Family Dog Training. She graduated with distinction from Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behavior as well as Catch Canine Trainers Academy.   She is a certified specialist in the treatment of separation anxiety as a graduate of the Julie Naismith SA Pro Trainers program and is an active member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers. 

Lisa Stemcosky

Lisa is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant and Certified Professional Dog Trainer with over 12 years of experience in shelter behavior and private behavior consulting/modification. 

She is the Feline Behavior Manager at Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA). Lisa creates training plans for and performs behavior modification on cats and dogs in HRA’s care. Lisa provides support to adopters, fosters, and the public by offering remote behavior consultations and teaching group classes - in person and online. Lisa has also given talks and workshops to other area animal shelters, at animal welfare conferences, and behavior conferences. 

From 2017 through 2021, when the program concluded, Lisa was a mentor for the Jackson Galaxy Project, Cat Pawsitive Pro. As a mentor for Cat Pawsitive Pro, Lisa advised and mentored staff members and volunteers in shelters across the US on how to implement feline behavior modification programs in their shelters. 

Lisa also owns Pawlitically Correct, an in-home cat behavior consulting business. Based in Washington, D.C., Lisa provides behavior modification plans and support to clients in the DC metropolitan area, nationally and internationally.