Heather Osswald

I grew up with family dogs, but got my first personal dog as a college senior thinking, “How hard could it be?” When I ended up with a handling-sensitive, sound-averse, adolescent puppy, I found myself thrown into a crash course in canine behavior and learning, behavior modification, cooperative care, and advocating for a “challenging” dog. During graduate school, I worked in the dog ward of my city shelter and grew as a handler and advocate. I have continued this effort through today as a volunteer and foster for San Diego rescues and shelters, working to give adoptable dogs the skills necessary to successfully navigate our human world. I use positive reinforcement training with the goal of giving my learner agency and choice in every training session. I believe that if you are a dog guardian, you are a dog trainer (whether you want to be or not, our dogs are always learning from us!) so I hope to arm you with skills to teach your dog to work towards your personal goals, whether you want to take a loose-leash walk around a park and grab a beer on a dog-friendly patio or dive deeper into dog sports.I currently live with 14-year-old Murphy who is the boss of the whole house, as old dogs should be, 3-year-old Ancho, who is my current training and sport partner, and two cats who frankly like the dogs more than me. When I’m not at my day job I enjoy reading, hiking and backpacking, and being “soccer mom” for my dogs’ busy social calendars.