A question about my puppy again: How do I keep her from getting in our way?

Question

Whenever we're walking around, she tries to lay on her back right in front of our feet as if she wants us to rub her belly. She's a very small dog and a lot of times we don't see her doing this so we have a lot of close calls where we almost trip over her or step on her. So far we haven't but still it gets really annoying and we've never had this problem with our other dog when he was a puppy. Is there a way to train her to stay put until we come to her?

Answer 1

once she gets stepped on a few times she will learn to get out of the way. Not to sound harsh but sometimes the only way for a dog to learn is the hard way.

Answer 2

I remember when we'd do training at someone's house, in order to make sure that the dog stayed out of the way of the people walking in we would toss treats (very small pieces of food, but good things like hot dogs, sausage, and such.  For a dog that small, 1/4 of a pea-size.)  The treats tossed on the floor encourage the dog to move to where the treats are.  I would add something like "coming through" or something to tell the dog I'm walking through to this.

With time, the dog figures out the best place to be when people are walking are to the sides since that's where treats appear.  Then you can start giving fewer treats until you give none.  

When the dog does this in front of you, ignore her and walk past her or around her (trying of course not to hurt her.)  If you reward her by talking, touching, or even looking at her then you are encouraging her to do that for attention.  

After you have put things down and sit down, wait until she's calm for a few minutes (5 is a good number) and then call her over and love on her as much as you want.  

After a while the dog learns to move to the side when you say so, will stay back until you sit down, and then when you call over will come for the loves instead of begging for it at the door.

Answer 3

Maybe have someone hold her on a leash inside or just hold her.  Let a person walk by and if she doesn't try to go in front of you and pull give her a treat.  If she does try to, Say "No" and keep walking back and forth. I have a puppy of my own.

Answer 4

If you train her to heal she will know where she should be when you are walking.  Training will also give her more confidence and she will not be so submissive