Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Learn the rules to the card game Alpha Dog quickly and concisely - This video has no distractions, just the rules.
Don't own the game? Buy it here:
buy.triplesgames.com/alphadog
RULES:
The object of the game is to get all the cards into your hand. Shuffle the deck then deal it out, facedown, to all the players. Some players may start with one more card than others. Pick up your cards but do not look at them. Instead, keep your cards facedown as a personal deck in your hand. The player who looks or smells most like a dog goes first, then play proceeds clockwise.
On your turn, flip the top card of your deck to the center of the table, on top of any other cards piled there, so everyone can see it. You must flip your card outward, so you cannot see it before other players do. The turn then passes clockwise to the next player.
Anytime the center pile shows a “dog match” or a “howl” card, you can slap the center pile. These are known as slap opportunities. If you are the first to slap the center pile with your free hand, then take the cards and add them to the bottom of your deck and start the next round by playing your top card to the center of the table.
A “dog match” is when the center pile shows matching dog breed cards back-to-back
or as a sandwich, which is when there is a card between two matching dog breeds. A “howl” card is an instant slap opportunity, where you race to slap the pile while howling up to the moon.
If you slap the center pile when there is no slap opportunity, or you don’t howl when you’re supposed to, then your slap doesn’t count and you must put the top three cards of your deck face-up under the center pile as a penalty. Flinching towards a slap is legal, so long as you don’t touch the cards. If a card is played on top of a slap opportunity before it is slapped, it is no longer valid and cannot be slapped.
The other way to win cards is with Alpha Dogs. An Alpha Dog is any dog card with a crown symbol. When an Alpha Dog is played, an Alpha Challenge is started. The next player has up to three chances to play another Alpha Dog. If they do, then the Alpha Challenge passes to the next player who now has their three chances to play another Alpha Dog, and so on. When a player fails an Alpha Challenge, and no Slap Opportunity win happens along the way, then the player who last played an Alpha Dog wins the pile.
You must maintain a quick, consistent pace while playing the game. If you stall the game or pause during your turn, then you incur a penalty and must place your top 3 cards face down under the center pile.
When you run out of cards you are eliminated from the game. Your turns are skipped and you may no longer slap piles. If your last card was an alpha, and you win the alpha challenge, then you are not eliminated but keep playing. When the 2nd to last player plays their last non-alpha card, then the game immediately ends and the remaining player collects the cards and wins.
Learn the rules to the card game Alpha Dog quickly and concisely - This video has no distractions, just the rules.
Don't own the game? Buy it here:
buy.triplesgames.com/alphadog
RULES:
The object of the game is to get all the cards into your hand. Shuffle the deck then deal it out, facedown, to all the players. Some players may start with one more card than others. Pick up your cards but do not look at them. Instead, keep your cards facedown as a personal deck in your hand. The player who looks or smells most like a dog goes first, then play proceeds clockwise.
On your turn, flip the top card of your deck to the center of the table, on top of any other cards piled there, so everyone can see it. You must flip your card outward, so you cannot see it before other players do. The turn then passes clockwise to the next player.
Anytime the center pile shows a “dog match” or a “howl” card, you can slap the center pile. These are known as slap opportunities. If you are the first to slap the center pile with your free hand, then take the cards and add them to the bottom of your deck and start the next round by playing your top card to the center of the table.
A “dog match” is when the center pile shows matching dog breed cards back-to-back
or as a sandwich, which is when there is a card between two matching dog breeds. A “howl” card is an instant slap opportunity, where you race to slap the pile while howling up to the moon.
If you slap the center pile when there is no slap opportunity, or you don’t howl when you’re supposed to, then your slap doesn’t count and you must put the top three cards of your deck face-up under the center pile as a penalty. Flinching towards a slap is legal, so long as you don’t touch the cards. If a card is played on top of a slap opportunity before it is slapped, it is no longer valid and cannot be slapped.
The other way to win cards is with Alpha Dogs. An Alpha Dog is any dog card with a crown symbol. When an Alpha Dog is played, an Alpha Challenge is started. The next player has up to three chances to play another Alpha Dog. If they do, then the Alpha Challenge passes to the next player who now has their three chances to play another Alpha Dog, and so on. When a player fails an Alpha Challenge, and no Slap Opportunity win happens along the way, then the player who last played an Alpha Dog wins the pile.
You must maintain a quick, consistent pace while playing the game. If you stall the game or pause during your turn, then you incur a penalty and must place your top 3 cards face down under the center pile.
When you run out of cards you are eliminated from the game. Your turns are skipped and you may no longer slap piles. If your last card was an alpha, and you win the alpha challenge, then you are not eliminated but keep playing. When the 2nd to last player plays their last non-alpha card, then the game immediately ends and the remaining player collects the cards and wins.
