Feeding the domovoi was a routine part of Slavic household life rather than an occasional ritual. A bowl of milk, porridge or bread left behind the stove overnight, or a small portion of whatever the family had cooked, kept the relationship in good standing; some households addressed him directly as grandfather or master and asked his blessing before undertaking anything important, such as a marriage, a birth or a long journey.
The domovoi's warnings were read as omens rather than words. A moan or a knock behind the stove, a horse found sweating and disturbed in its stall by morning, or a strand of hair found braided or knotted overnight were all taken as signs that trouble was coming, and a household that heeded them was thought better placed to prepare. Ignoring the signs, or worse, insulting the domovoi outright, invited petty misfortune: missing tools, spoiled milk, restless livestock, disturbed sleep.
Because the domovoi's protection was tied to the specific house rather than to the family's blood, moving posed a real problem. Ethnographic accounts describe families formally inviting their domovoi to a new home, sometimes carrying a shovel of embers from the old hearth as the vehicle for the invitation, addressing him by name and asking him to follow. A domovoi left behind in an empty or sold house was thought to become a lonely, potentially hostile presence for whoever moved in unaware, which is one reason the custom of a formal household blessing on entering a new home persisted long after its original household-spirit rationale had faded from conscious belief.