Alyssa Hosbach Dog Training

06/04/2026

I can. But I’m not going to.

I don’t want your dog to shrink away while I insist on ruffling their hair up.
They don’t need me to touch them to prove “I’m safe”.

What they actually need is for me to keep my hands in my pocket and wait for some signals of consent.

We have a tactile “obsession” when it comes to dogs.

Maybe it starts when they’re puppies and their squidginess draws our hands in.
100% their fur and wee fat rolls combined are irresistible.
From there though, it can become a habit.

We see a person up the street we haven’t seen for a while, stop for a chat and our hand goes down to pat while we say “Aww whose this wee girl”.
That’s how easy these habits grow.

They’re ingrained.

How about we start to normalise not touching?
And start normalising watching for consent.

06/03/2026

It's time to swap "a tired dog is a good dog" for "a fulfilled dog whose needs are met is a good dog"!

Why?
➡ Overworking a dog doesn't solve problems.
➡ It's misleading. Exercise doesn't replace training.

❌ You can't exhaust a dog out of a behavior problem. In some cases, it can worsen things because you're essentially left with an overly tired toddler!

Management is still a part of many dogs' lives, and that's okay! We rely on management to control otherwise unpredictable situations or situations we know our dog can't succeed in. Management will be more effective than too much exercise, and you'll be less frustrated in the end as well.

06/01/2026

In my Playgroup classes I teach you how to navigate play between dogs and help you read body language to know when to intervene and when to let them keep playing.

"All good ☺️They're not growling"
Hang on.
Some dogs can and do growl in play.
It can be completely normal.

"So how can I tell"?
It can be tricky to tell the difference between healthy play and those interactions that are something else entirely.
There are some areas we can look at to help us decipher.

➡️Immediate posture changes/rigidity/stillness

Some dogs pause, go still and then explode with loose and wiggly movements. That’s often play.
The problematic kind of rigidness is different.
It can linger for longer.
Even when the other dog is showing everyway they can "all's good here".
That stillness and posture is "tight".

It can come with hard stares, leaning or standing over.
Stiff body posture from either dog, even the one on the ground.

That’s not play

➡️When high energy switches to frantic.

Chasing and being chased. Some dogs love this.
There can be an energy change with chasing that we need to watch for though.
It can turn.
It can become far more frantic and direct.

If one dog is always the chaser, and when they catch the other, the tone changes, the body language tightens, the movements escalate and it stops looking mutual?
That’s when caution is needed.

We don't want to stop dogs playing but we do need to recognise when it's no longer fun for all dogs involved.

05/27/2026

Body language opens up a conversation, sometimes an invitation from one dog can be a request for space from another.

Some tactics work well for avoidance, jumping up stops people leaning over, licking moves children away and showing a belly might mean you can’t do something else, such as putting on a harness.

We aren’t supposed to be experts, but we can gather information, stay informed, open our minds and conversations.

Confused or want to know more? I’m currently running a language of dogs series over on YouTube. Look at the break downs and what to do. Or find all the videos on the Trick Woofs App. (Link in bio)
dogtraining