It’s easy to think that training your dog only happens out on walks, at the park, or in a class. But the truth is this: training starts at home. The behaviors you allow or encourage inside the house are the same ones most likely to appear when you’re out and about.
For example, if you never practice teaching your dog to lie calmly at home, they’ll struggle to lie quietly at a café or bar. Calmness isn’t automatic, it’s a skill. Practicing it first in a safe, low-stimulus environment helps your dog carry that behavior into more distracting places.
The same principle applies to barking. My own dog, Ollie (a SchnauzerXCollie), struggles with barking at the postman. I’m not home during the day to stop him, and to Ollie’s mind, barking works. The postman comes, Ollie barks and the postman goes. As humans, we know that this is not because of Ollie, but because the postman has a job to do. But Ollie doesn’t know that. In his brain, the sequence is simple: bark → postman leaves → barking creates space. The same logic applies if a dog barks at other dogs out the window. When those dogs move on, the barking feels reinforced.
Here’s a handy tip: if your dog barks every time someone knocks on the door, ask every visitor—friends, family, delivery drivers—to knock before entering. Over time, your dog will begin to associate the sound not only with strangers but with people they love. This helps break the cycle of bark = intruder, and builds a calmer association.
When I trained guide dogs, the only reason they became so calm in every environment was because they practiced it all day, every day. We put in hours and hours of work to prepare them for the challenges of human life. And they had been doing that from a puppy, well into adulthood when we were training them at 14 or 18 months of age.
But that training wasn’t just hard on the dogs, it required full mental effort from the handler, too. You can’t expect to hold a conversation with a friend and train your dog to 100% at the same time. Training takes focus, presence, and commitment from both sides.
Three Tips to Build Good Habits at Home
- Practice calmness – Reward your dog for lying still at home before expecting it in public.
- Redirect barking energy – Offer an alternative cue (like “go to mat”) when they fixate on the postman or passing dogs.
- Train in layers – Start in the house, then gradually increase distractions. Remember: dogs need to practice basic behaviors in new contexts.
And remember that good things take time. Rewiring your dog’s brain and reshaping habits doesn’t happen overnight. With patience, consistency, and calm guidance, your dog can learn new responses and thrive both at home and out in the world.
Handy takeaway: Calm training at home builds calm dogs in the world. Be patient - progress is slow, but the results are worth it.