Home visits
Practical dog behaviour awareness, how to judge the risk, and what to do to stay safer when visiting private properties.
Discuss this course
Why the course matters
This course focuses on prevention for housing association and utilities staff entering homes, gardens or sites where dogs may be present: reading warning signs, planning visits, speaking with owners, using safer positioning and knowing what to do if risk increases. The Safety Hub guide on dog risk for visiting staff covers the same visits.
Who it is for
Delivery can be adapted around role, sector, incident history, and the confidence your organisation needs delegates to build.
Practical outcomes
Reading dog behaviour, safer body language and what to do when there is a dog at the property.
Course content
Scenarios and practical application
The course is designed to help staff recognise risk early, apply clear procedures, and make calm choices they can stand behind under pressure.
Allow up to five weeks from confirmation to the first session. That depends on trainer availability and your own staff availability. The window is used to review your policies, build your reporting routes into the material, and give teams time to attend. Where a programme runs across several sessions, the full schedule is agreed up front so you can plan cover.
In-house at your premises, or live online with a trainer. Both formats are tutor-led and cover the same content, discussion and scenario work.
In person across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Live online sessions can be delivered to teams anywhere in the world. Training is delivered in English, with live subtitles through Microsoft Teams or PowerPoint, which can translate captions into the delegate's own language. Where legislation differs across the UK and Ireland, we research the law that applies to you and build it into the material rather than delivering the England and Wales position by default.
Larger workforces are trained as a planned programme, not a single booking. The schedule is agreed at the start and worked around shift patterns and cover. Where travel is involved we will look at consecutive days. Half-day courses often run back to back, morning and afternoon on the same day, with a saving on the half-day rate. Sessions are delivered by associate trainers. We keep the same trainer where we can.
We do not publish prices. Cost depends on group numbers, delivery format, travel, overnight accommodation where the location requires it, and how much bespoke design a programme needs. Any figure published here would be misleading.
It is useful for housing officers, repairs staff, enforcement teams, community workers, utilities staff, delivery or inspection teams and anyone entering homes, gardens, communal areas or outdoor sites where dogs may be present. It is particularly relevant where staff cannot choose the environment they are entering.
Yes. The main aim is preventing avoidable incidents. Delegates learn how to gather information before a visit, recognise environmental warning signs, assess owner behaviour, avoid escalating the dog, use safer positioning and decide when not to enter or when to withdraw.
No. This is not a dog-handling or animal behaviour qualification. It is practical safety awareness for workers who may encounter dogs while doing their job. The focus is on human decisions, communication with owners, body positioning, warning signs and incident response.
Yes. The session can be shaped around appointment booking, pre-visit questions, warning markers, lone working procedures, refusal to enter, reporting routes and post-incident support. This makes it more useful than generic dog safety advice.
Every delegate receives a certificate of attendance, a PDF copy of the certificate and PDF course handouts.
Free, maintained guidance from our Safety Hub on the subjects this course covers.
Tell us what you need and we will quote for it.
Discuss this coursePractical insight and resources built from thirty years at the frontline.
Practical controls for violence, aggression, conflict, reporting and review.
Guidance for staff who work alone, visit, travel, or need check-in and escalation.
Abusive calls, repeated contact, boundary setting, records and escalation.
What non-specialist staff should notice, record in fact, and refer.
Gifts, over-familiarity, unofficial contact and pressure to bend the rules.
What to check before a visit, and what to do if a dog is present.
How scenario practice tests real workplace decisions without theatrical conflict.
Travel, walking and public transport. Written for employers to share with staff.
Tell us about your staff roles, working environment and the situations your staff face. We will recommend the right training approach for your organisation.
Trusted by organisations across the UK for practical, scenario-led staff safety training.
