Is In-Home Dog Training Right for You?

If your dog lives inside your home, that’s usually where training should begin.

Think about where most dog owners actually struggle with their dogs.

The dog jumps all over people when they walk through the front door. He steals food from the kitchen counter. He digs through the trash and finds a chicken wing. He barks out the front window every time somebody walks down the street. He loses his mind when the doorbell rings. He bolts toward the front door. He barks in the crate. He pulls on walks. Maybe he becomes reactive when another dog comes down the sidewalk.

These aren’t problems happening inside a dog-training facility.

They’re happening at home.

That’s one of the reasons I believe so strongly in in-home dog training.

Education starts at home.

It’s similar to raising kids. Parents don’t expect school to be the only place their children learn structure, boundaries and appropriate behavior. A lot of that education starts at home.

Dogs aren’t children, of course, but the principle is similar: the home is where everyday expectations are established.

And if your dog lives inside your house with you, that’s where I want to start building those expectations.

What Is In-Home Dog Training?

In-home dog training simply means that a professional dog trainer comes to your home and works with you and your dog in the environment where you actually live.

We’re not just practicing obedience for the sake of practicing obedience.

We’re looking at real life.

How does your dog behave when somebody rings the doorbell?

What happens when you walk into the kitchen?

What does your dog do when someone walks past the front window?

Can your dog settle while the family is relaxing?

Can you call your dog away from something?

Does your dog understand what you’re asking, and do you follow through when you ask for it?

Those are the things I want to see.

When I walk into a client’s house for an evaluation, I’m watching the dog—but I’m also watching the owners.

Sometimes I’ll see a dog jumping all over me as I enter.

Another dog might be running around the house and jumping from one piece of furniture to another.

Some dogs hear the doorbell and immediately start barking, rushing the door or jumping against a window.

And one of the biggest things I notice is owners repeating themselves.

“Sit.”

“Sit.”

“Sit.”

“Come here.”

“Come.”

“I said come!”

The command keeps getting repeated, but nothing happens.

Usually, there’s a lack of clear communication and follow-through.

Before I start telling somebody what to do, however, I want to hear from them.

What’s going on with your dog?

Maybe he jumps on everybody.

Maybe he pulls you down the street.

Maybe he doesn’t listen when he’s distracted.

Maybe he’s reactive toward other dogs.

As the owner explains what’s happening, I’m also watching how the owner and dog communicate with each other.

That’s important because sometimes the problem isn’t that the dog “doesn’t listen.”

The dog may never have received clear, consistent instructions in the first place.

Why Start Training Inside the Home?

Because that’s where your dog lives.

Your dog is comfortable there. Your routines are there. Your dog’s habits are already established there.

Good habits and bad habits.

So let’s start there.

We can build communication, structure, rules and boundaries in an environment the dog already understands.

Then we take those skills outside.

If I can teach a dog to pay attention to its owner inside the house, follow commands, walk properly on a leash and respond to a communication system, I’ve created a foundation.

Now we can take that foundation into the front yard.

Then the neighborhood.

Then around distractions.

Then, depending on the dog and the training goals, we can progress into increasingly challenging environments.

That’s much easier than expecting a dog with very little foundation to suddenly behave perfectly when the environment becomes exciting.

Functional Obedience Changes the Way You Live With Your Dog

This is one of the biggest things I want dog owners to understand.

Obedience shouldn’t just be:

Sit.

Down.

Stay.

Come.

And then training is over.

That’s obedience as a collection of exercises.

I want functional obedience.

Functional obedience means taking the commands your dog understands and using them to solve problems in everyday life.

Think about how a household operates.

There are different windows throughout the day.

You wake up. There’s a morning routine.

There’s breakfast.

There’s work.

There’s time to relax.

There’s playtime.

There’s dinner.

Your dog doesn’t need to be doing whatever he wants during every one of those windows.

There should be times for activity and times for settling down.

That’s where obedience becomes useful.

Your foundation might include:

* Loose-leash walking

* Heel

* Sit

* Down

* Stay

* Place

* Recall

* Clear verbal markers and communication

Once your dog understands those exercises, you can start applying them to the behaviors you’re dealing with.

That’s when obedience becomes functional.

A Lot of Behavior Problems Improve When Obedience Improves

Many of the behavioral problems I see become much easier to address once the owner develops better functional obedience.

That doesn’t mean every behavioral problem magically disappears because a dog knows “sit.”

It means you now have a way to communicate with and direct your dog.

Let’s say you’re making dinner.

Your dog normally walks into the kitchen and starts counter surfing.

Instead of constantly fighting with the dog around the counter, you have options.

You can direct your dog to a place command.

You can have the dog settle somewhere appropriate.

If the dog engages in an unwanted behavior that needs to stop, there may also be an appropriate consequence or correction.

Training isn’t about choosing between obedience and corrections.

Depending on the dog and behavior, you may need both.

But the stronger your functional obedience becomes, the less you’re constantly reacting to your dog’s behavior.

You’re giving the dog direction before the problem starts.

Why Dogs Jump on Guests

Jumping is probably one of the most common problems I see with indoor dogs.

But I want owners to think about something:

Why is the dog jumping?

In many cases, the behavior started when the dog was a puppy.

A little puppy comes running over and puts his paws on you.

What does everybody do?

“Ohhhh, come here!”

They pet him.

They give him attention.

They pick him up.

They’re trying to bond with their new puppy, and there’s nothing malicious about that.

But from the dog’s perspective, something important just happened.

Jumping produced affection.

The behavior worked.

As the puppy gets older and bigger, everybody suddenly decides they don’t like the behavior anymore.

But nobody explained that to the dog.

Now you may have a 60-, 70- or 80-pound dog doing the same thing that worked when he was 15 pounds.

Jumping can also become pushy behavior.

The dog wants attention, and he’s learned how to demand it.

“I want affection right now.”

Up come the paws.

That’s where boundaries become important.

Be One Step Ahead of Your Dog

If your dog jumps on everybody who enters your house, it’s no longer a surprise.

You know the pattern.

Your dog jumps on you.

He jumps on your spouse.

He jumps on your kids.

He jumps on your mom.

He jumps on guests.

If you know what’s going to happen, you have an opportunity to get ahead of it.

One basic rule I recommend is simple:

Don’t reward the jumping.

If somebody wants to give your dog affection, wait until all four paws are on the ground.

And everybody needs to understand the rule.

If your guest walks through the door, your dog jumps all over them and the guest starts petting the dog, that guest may unintentionally reinforce exactly what you’re trying to stop.

This is also where functional obedience becomes extremely useful.

If your dog understands place, you can put the dog on place before opening the door.

Then bring your guest inside.

You can also explain to the guest:

Don’t rile the dog up.

Don’t immediately turn their arrival into a huge event for the dog.

Let them come inside and settle.

Eventually the dog can learn that every person who walks through your front door isn’t arriving specifically to entertain him.

There are additional training techniques I may use depending on the dog, but those decisions are individualized. That’s one of the things we can determine during an evaluation.

Why Dogs Bark Out the Window

Here’s another extremely common household problem.

Your dog sees something outside and starts barking.

But again, ask:

Why?

The answer isn’t always the same.

Maybe you have a German Shepherd with strong prey drive who sees a squirrel.

The dog wants to chase it but there’s a window between the dog and the squirrel.

That frustration can turn into barking, and if it’s repeatedly practiced, it can become an obsession.

Another dog may be territorial.

Someone walks past the house.

The dog runs to the window.

Bark. Bark. Bark.

The person continues walking and disappears.

What may the dog learn?

“I did it. I made him leave.”

Then the same thing happens tomorrow.

And the next day.

And the next.

The behavior keeps getting practiced and reinforced.

That’s why we need both management and training.

If the dog understands recall, I can call the dog away from the window.

If I see the behavior developing, I can intervene.

If necessary, I can mark inappropriate behavior and then give the dog direction.

But there’s another piece people often forget:

Impulse control.

Instead of only practicing obedience when absolutely nothing is happening, start teaching your dog to listen while normal life is happening around him.

People are walking outside.

The mail carrier arrives.

UPS pulls up.

Kids are outside.

There’s movement.

There’s noise.

That’s where obedience starts becoming useful.

You’re not teaching “down” just so your dog can lie down in your living room when everything is perfectly quiet.

You’re teaching your dog to respond to you when something else has his attention.

What About Pulling and Reactivity on Walks?

Another common reason people contact me is leash reactivity.

Their dog barks, lunges or pulls toward other dogs on walks.

There can be different reasons for that behavior.

One is excitement and frustration.

A dog sees another dog and desperately wants to get over there.

Maybe nobody ever properly taught the dog how to walk on a leash.

Maybe the dog hasn’t developed much impulse control around distractions.

The owner is trying to physically hold the dog back while the dog becomes more and more excited.

Before expecting that dog to walk calmly past another dog, I want to make sure the dog actually understands how to walk.

And we don’t necessarily need another dog standing five feet away to teach that.

We can start in the house.

We can work in the backyard.

We can work in the front yard.

Once the dog understands the exercise, we gradually introduce distractions.

Food.

Toys.

Balls.

Interesting smells.

Movement.

The dog learns:

Just because you want something doesn’t mean you get to break position and take it.

That’s impulse control.

Then we can progressively work toward more realistic distractions.

Not Every Reactive Dog Is an Excited Dog

There’s another side of leash reactivity.

Some dogs are insecure.

Some have had a bad experience.

Maybe another dog attacked them.

Maybe something frightened them when they were younger.

Now they’re on a leash and can’t simply create distance.

So they respond with barking, lunging or aggressive displays.

Those dogs need to be handled differently.

A fearful dog shouldn’t simply be thrown into an overwhelming situation and expected to figure it out.

Depending on the dog, I may initially have the owner handle the leash.

With another fearful dog, it may make sense for me to begin working with the dog directly.

More challenging cases may need more frequent training initially before tapering down as progress develops.

For dogs displaying serious aggression, safety comes first. Depending on the individual dog, size, history and circumstances, additional safety equipment and management may be appropriate.

There isn’t one universal recipe for every aggressive or fearful dog.

That’s exactly why evaluating the individual dog matters.

Corrections vs. Obedience: You Need Clear Communication

I don’t believe dog owners should spend their entire day correcting their dogs.

That’s exhausting for the owner and confusing for the dog.

But I also don’t believe in pretending unwanted behavior doesn’t exist.

Some behaviors need to stop.

Some behaviors can be dangerous.

The important part is creating a communication system the dog understands.

That’s why I want the obedience foundation first.

When the dog understands what you’re asking, you have options.

Your dog runs toward the front window?

Recall him away.

Someone knocks at the door?

Send him to place.

You’re cleaning the house?

Give him something appropriate to do and have him settle.

You’re cooking?

The dog doesn’t need to be cruising around the kitchen looking for opportunities to steal food.

Someone approaches the front door?

You handle the situation and give your dog direction.

The stronger your communication and obedience become, the less chaotic these everyday situations become.

Never Give a Command You’re Not Going to Enforce

If there’s one thing I want dog owners to remember from this article, it’s this:

If you repeatedly tell your dog “come” and allow him to ignore you, what are you teaching him?

That “come” is optional.

If you repeatedly tell your dog “place,” but nothing happens when he walks away, what are you teaching him?

That place is optional.

This doesn’t mean becoming angry with your dog.

It means becoming consistent.

Say what you mean.

Teach the dog what the command means.

And follow through.

A dog can’t follow rules that haven’t been clearly taught.

Is In-Home Dog Training Right for You?

If most of your problems happen inside your house or begin with a lack of foundational obedience, in-home dog training may be an excellent place to start.

Especially if you’re dealing with things like jumping on guests, counter surfing, trash diving, barking at windows, rushing the front door, poor household manners, difficulty settling, pulling on leash or certain forms of reactivity.

The advantage is simple:

We’re working where you actually live.

I can see the environment.

I can see the dog’s habits.

I can see how you communicate with the dog.

And instead of trying to recreate every household problem somewhere else, we can work on many of those problems where they’re actually happening.

Then, as the dog’s foundation improves, we can expand the training into the neighborhood and increasingly distracting environments.

The goal isn’t to have a dog that performs obedience exercises for a trainer.

The goal is to give you better communication and control of your dog in everyday life.

Because eventually I’m going home.

You’re the one living with your dog.

And that’s why education starts at home.

Ready to Find Out What Your Dog Needs?

If you’re dealing with behavioral problems, poor manners or a dog that simply doesn’t listen consistently, an in-home evaluation gives us an opportunity to see what’s actually happening instead of guessing.

We’ll talk about the problems you’re experiencing, look at your dog’s behavior and current foundation, and determine what kind of training makes sense for you and your dog.

Book an in-home dog training evaluation with Empire K9 Dog Training.