Hello everyone. I'm sorry, but I have to cry for help again. I did a search for "under foot" and nothing relevant came up. Please let me know if I missed something.

So I thought I knew what pain was before, but I was wrong. Loki tripped me while we were on the deck and a splinter went up under my toenail. Toenail is ripped halfway through now. Long story short, I'm going to probably need some liquor to get to sleep tonight.

Anyway, the tripping happens a lot. Loki is always crowding my feet whenever I try to walk. I don't mind being followed, but if he could follow behind me or at a walkable distance, life would be good. How do you keep them from getting underfoot? Is there a way to teach them to give me some space? At first I could just gently push him to the side with my leg, but now he's started pushing back. When I do manage to move his fluffy butt, he worms his way right on back.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Is this only when you're out for a walk, or is he always underfoot around the house too?

It's around the house, mostly.

Okay, do you have a way of sending him away from you, something like, "go lay down, or go to bed?" Meaning if you snapped, pointed and said, "go lay down" would he walk away?

We've been working on "park it" (pretty much the same thing). Should I be doing that every time I move around?

I would for a while, but to make it easier for him to learn, you should designate a spot, or get a dog bed and use that. Also, think of "park it" as a command that includes a stay. As in, when you tell him to park it, he stays in his designated area until you release him. Here's a video on how to train this command.

For Diz, once he knew the command, I used dinner time to increase the duration. I'd put him in 'place' then set his bowl down on the floor next to him and make him wait for my release to eat. I got him up to an hour. I'm sure he would have waited much longer, but I figured if he could do it that long I didn't need to push it further. Once I actually put it down, made myself dinner, ate, and did dishes. I completely forgot about the poor guy and noticed he was giving me the sad eyes, and then it hit me!

Great thank you! I will definitely do that. I was at such a loss lol. I couldn't figure out how to keep him from hovering but it is getting to the point where it's become dangerous. Do you think if I keep at it it will get to the point where he will not even try to hover?

I really appreciate your help!

Yes, absolutely. He will get to the point where he is content to be relaxing in the same room as you, vs. constantly under your feet. Good luck!