# Puppy Walking under my feet



## Namazzi (Sep 30, 2014)

Hello. I've had my puppy for about 4 days now. He's a big pup. 23 pounds (and about 12 weeks old). He has a really bad habit of walking under my feet. He's really attached to me and any time i get up and walk into another room he follows. He walks under my feet and it keeps tripping me. I haven't fallen, but it's starting to hurt my ankles. He does the same thing outside when walking on a leash. I keep trying to get him to walk beside me by holding him off to the side with his leash, but so far it isn't working. There has to be a simpler method. lol. I taught him to sit in under 5 minutes with treats. So you'd think I would be able to teach him this. Any advice?


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## petpeeve (Jun 10, 2010)

Personally, when raising puppies, I always consider the space around my feet to belong to the dog. It's THEIR space, in a manner of speaking, and it's up to me to make allowances and to 'yield the right of way' to the pup. I do this mostly with future formal obedience in mind, where you actually WANT the dog to think that area is a good (and safe) spot to be, ie: the heeling excercise. If possible, for the time being try shuffling your feet instead of lifting them normally when you walk about the house, the same way you might do when toddlers are playing on the kitchen floor etc. Hopefully you won't be as inclined to trip yourself, accidentally kick the pup, or step on him.

As far as walking at your side. Often times it's easier if you teach off leash to begin with, using food treats as rewards for correct positioning. Always deliver the reward in the exact place where you want him to be. This video .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5il8ym0ymY .. demonstrates the basic idea of how to get things started, although I'd probably suggest feeding from your hand as you move along rather than tossing the treat on the ground as shown. You don't necessarily have to teach the precision and eye contact aspects unless you wish to, just the general positioning at your side. Practice this only in a secure, enclosed area of course. Later, you can add the leash to the equation once you've established a bit of a reinforcement history first.


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## Kyllobernese (Feb 5, 2008)

Try walking around with a puppy that only weighs a couple of pounds. You learn to shuffle along till they learn to keep out from under your feet which they do eventually learn. Most puppies want to be right with you so they end up under your feet. Try what Petpeeve suggested, using treats to keep the puppy where you want him to be when you are walking him on leash.


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## hanksimon (Mar 18, 2009)

Years ago, I fell on my puppy and he stopped for the most part. However, he is now 14 yo, and I accidentally just stepped on his foot, while he was underfoot ... and he just stayed there, b/c it didn't seem to hurt ;-)


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

With puppies/small dogs I always shuffle my feet around the house so I don't end up killing them lol (and it gives me a little more safety so they don't kill me as I fall trying to avoid them). When I am moving and they're in the way (unless very nervous) I say in a singsong voice "excuuuuse me" and shuffle toward them. If they stay in the way they get pushed by my shins and when they actually move away from my body pressure (ie: moving into their space) they get lots of praise and a treat thrown about 5 feet from me.


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## mzink (Dec 9, 2012)

Lol just got a lab pup a couple weeks ago and I've ended up sprawled in some pretty goofy positions to avoid hurting the pup when I forget to watch my steps. You'd think I was playing twister  I typically use the same method as SDRRanger, gently nudging them to the correct position, only I use the command "watch out". Ends up transferring to other scenarios pretty easily. I used the Watch Out command today while moving a couch into my living room when my other dog Rocky blocked my path. He knows right away to step to the side. I also use the same command when I'm biking with him when he drifts to close to the bike  .


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## OwnedbyACDs (Jun 22, 2013)

I teach the command "excuse me" and "back" so if I am carrying something heavy, hot and otherwise dangerous, I can move them for their safety and mine lol. I walk toward them and say the command, first I teach excuse me, when they take a step back they yet a treat/toy/play (whatever their fave thing is) party. Same with backing them up.


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## chimunga (Aug 29, 2014)

I had that problem with Watson, and he is a lot smaller and gets underfoot very easily. He likes to walk under my feet or right in front of me while we're walking. So I trained him to focus on my upturned hand when we're walking. He does that because that's how I hand him treats when he's walking well, I feed him out of my palm. So if I hold out my hand upturned and flat over his head, he automatically starts walking under it. It makes it much easier to get him out from under my feet, and it also helps when he needs to switch which side of me he's walking on. Honestly, it was a totally unintentional turn of events, but it's really handy.


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