Big vs little dogs -- do yours get out of your way, or not?

Mine know what "Move!" means, but they won't do it voluntarily. They will move only if told.

Our Cairn Terrier has never gotten out of the way. He's constantly underfoot, especially if you're in the kitchen. We're used to it at home, but when we go to my parents' or my in-laws', we keep him on a leash to avoid him tripping anyone. We've tried everything to train him and no dice. The Bernese Mountain Dog we had before him was excellent about getting out of the way. We trained a "move" command when we first got her, but I don't remember ever having to use it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Our puppy, who will be very large when full grown, right now is a medium-sized dog. He follows behind us all the time but never gets underfoot. When he lies down in the kitchen area, he always does so on the rug under the table, so he's out of the way. Didn't train him to do that, it's just what he does. In other rooms, he is usually either on his bed or on my feet. Like our previous Berner, if I move my foot a little, he will move off my feet. 

I read somewhere that most dogs aren't self-aware - they don't actually comprehend that their physical body exists and that it is the thing impeding your progress.

(Sadly, lots of grocery store shoppers also seem not to be self-aware.)

I had an older pug that we just got used to walking around. She was partially blind and partially deaf so we let her be where she wanted to be, which was usually in the sun.

She passed and now we have a 1yr old pug. She knows beep beep as move. I'm not sure where it came from but now we say it constantly because she's always underfoot.



Jennifer

Annie (mini doxxie) will be under foot all day, every day. She will move for about 2 seconds if you tell her to move...but then she's right back in the middle of things. She gets tripped over all the time. 

Scout (Jack Russell) will stay 1 step behind you...but he is coming even if you don't invite him.

I think it's training, or a personality thing, along with age.  (Or being stepped on once too often, for small dogs.)  We had three older Shelties and they all learned or knew 'move' and KNEW not to be underfoot, especially in the kitchen. (our kitchen is too small for us, let alone three furry creatures along WITH us, lol)

Now our oldest Sheltie is 10, and HE stays out of the way perfectly... because he was trained to and has done it for years.   But the two 8-month old puppies?  They're a couple inches shorter / smaller; they're stubborn; and/or they don't want to / haven't learned yet.  They will be laying ON THE RUG right in front of the stove.   dangit!!  When we tell them to 'get out!' of the kitchen, they go out the doorway on the left side of the stove, then come around back in through the OTHER doorway, which is just to the RIGHT of the stove... just to see if we really *mean* it, I guess.        


eta:  maybe a breed thing, too?  Shelties are herding dogs, so they're wired to be right at the feet of what they're trying to herd.  I just don't like when they're trying to herd US!  They're always underfoot right in FRONT of us... I've almost taken a header over one of them quite a few times. 

My little dog came to us horribly afraid of being stepped on, so I would guess it happened enough with her first owner to give her that healthy dose of fear. Even after being with us for almost four years she’s still pretty skittish.

Now our big dog on the other hand? I swear he INTENTIONALLY gets right in our way on purpose. Want to get into the cabinet under the sink where the trash is? He’s there. Want to go out into the garage for whatever? Right there on the mat in front of the door. And at night when we’re relaxing in our chairs, 90% of the time he’s laying right alongside my chair right where I need to step to get up to get anything or do anything. I think he just really wants to make sure if anyone is going anywhere, he wants to not miss his chance to go too. Especially if where you’re going is to the fridge for a snack! 

She moves unless she's distracted. But then I make it a point to nudge her with my knee if she's in the way, so she knows to move.

ETA she's a medium sized dog

In the kitchen, it’s not an issue. We’ve taught our dogs “zone” as a command. Generally, that means they aren’t allowed in the kitchen space beyond the island.

Otherwise, Emma is my shadow. Where I go, she goes. Luckily, she’s a big dog (Labrador), so i don’t step on her. Sometimes she will get a paw stepped on and she gets all butt hurt. But for the most part, she stays just out of the way except when she’s working as a therapy dog. Then she’s trained to touch me whenever possible. I find it’s easier to read her body language when I can feel if she’s becomes alert or tenses up.

No, neither 36 nor 48lb dog moved. Smaller one gets the word scootch, but you have to say it over and over. The other one will move...eventually.

We have a lab/boxer mix. She never understands that she is in the way. We nudge her gently with a knee and she moves pretty quickly.

I think she's afraid to go ahead of us in case we don't follow. She really needs to be at someone's side at all times.

Remi (a lab) seems to sense exactly where I want to go and be exactly there. It’s a real joy when unloading the dishwasher.....he just moves around to to lay in front of the cabinet I need to open 🙄. He does move when told to but looks at ya like “why are you yelling at me, I’m just laying here”.

It’s not too late to teach him “wait” for the stairs. That’s an important command for our dogs. They are never allowed to get ahead of us on the stairs for exactly this reason!

The shiba stays pretty much out of the way of your feet except she has to lie across the stairs and will not get up unless you threaten to pet her. My oldest DD's daughters are staying with us this week. One is a loveable large pit mix and the other a medium mutt. I think part Blue Heeler, but not entirely sure. My DD's dogs are both highly trained by commands (like sit, stay, play dead, speak...all the stuff), and they are good about moving when you tell them to, but they do like to get underfoot. Especially the medium dog.