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  1. #1
    Puppy
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    Ahhhhh! We constantly trip over him!

    Okay so we are new puppy owners. Boomer is 14wo LR and weighs 31 pounds as of last weekend.

    He is very well behaved. Despite what everyone warned us about he doesn't chew everything in sight and is very calm. Because we are first time dog owners, the breeder selected a pretty docile, or 'soft' dog, for us and it has made his transition into our family a wonderful experience.

    He is a kitchen hound. Always wanting to be where the family is and of course where the food is. My issue is he is always underfoot. If we are preparing food (our food) he is right there. We open the fridge, his head goes inside. We open the dishwasher his starts licking the plates. We open the trash compactor, his nose goes in deep and he starts sniffing away. We have learned to be careful not to catch the little guy's head in any of the doors.

    We seem to constantly trip over him. He is like ninja dog that sneaks up behind us and gets bumped into.

    Today I was getting a plate out of the microwave and I backed up, tripped over him, stumbled and stutter stepped, and luckily made it to the counter without dropping the plate. I barked out at him in spontaneous frustration and he went cowering into the den.

    I guess I could use a gate to keep him out the kitchen but I dont really want to.
    I assume he is just kinda oblivious, and I realize he is still so young.
    Will he learn or grow out of being under foot as an adult? Or just mind/predict where we are a bit more?

  2. #2
    Senior Dog beth101509's Avatar
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    I taught Oliver to stay out of the kitchen while we cook and eat because he always had to be underneath my feet too. He still does but at least I have my space in the kitchen! Except for the kitchen, he will follow me everywhere I go or try to be in front of me and stop abruptly to see where I am going to make sure he doesn't lose me. I am working on this as I am tired of running into the back of a 60 pound dog. Lol.
    “Don't allow your happiness to be interrupted by overly judgmental people. The problem is not you, because even if you do good all the time, they would still find a way to judge you wrongly.”
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  3. #3
    Real Retriever Archie's Avatar
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    Glad you have such a good puppy! I had to laugh at your description, such a typical lab

    The way I see it, you have 2 choices. Either train the dog to stay out of the kitchen/gate it off and then the dog is out from underfoot, or embrace it.

    I chose to embrace it. As Archie got bigger, and I got used to him underfoot, thinking before I took a step became like second nature, and he also tends to just plunk down in one place now rather than putting his face in everything.

    Some of my favourite moments are cooking in the evenings with Archie laying on the floor keeping me company, or wedged in between me and the counter (his personal favourite position).
    Laura, Archie & Quinn
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  4. #4
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    That's dangerous for him and you. It's OUT of the kitchen when I'm cooking. We gated him away from food preparation and eating. Now he knows to stay away when we eat. Preparation, I'm not so good at, I tend to give little tidbits but I didn't when he was little. Now he's full grown a good shove gets the message across.

    Just think, what if you spilled boiling water? A little tough love now could prevent a hospital or Vet emergency visit.

  5. #5
    Real Retriever Archie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Snowshoe View Post
    That's dangerous for him and you. It's OUT of the kitchen when I'm cooking. We gated him away from food preparation and eating. Now he knows to stay away when we eat. Preparation, I'm not so good at, I tend to give little tidbits but I didn't when he was little. Now he's full grown a good shove gets the message across.

    Just think, what if you spilled boiling water? A little tough love now could prevent a hospital or Vet emergency visit.
    Very true

    Ignore the softie over here.
    Laura, Archie & Quinn
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  6. #6
    House Broken AlexS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Archie View Post
    Glad you have such a good puppy! I had to laugh at your description, such a typical lab

    The way I see it, you have 2 choices. Either train the dog to stay out of the kitchen/gate it off and then the dog is out from underfoot, or embrace it.

    I chose to embrace it. As Archie got bigger, and I got used to him underfoot, thinking before I took a step became like second nature, and he also tends to just plunk down in one place now rather than putting his face in everything.

    Some of my favourite moments are cooking in the evenings with Archie laying on the floor keeping me company, or wedged in between me and the counter (his personal favourite position).
    I agree with this.

    In some ways its something your going to have to get used be aware of around the house. Gus still sneaks up on me and i back into him at times. As far as kitchen when he was little my wife or I would distract him in the other room playing with him, and then when we moved he just got used to laying in dining area while we cook and eat. He can still see us and is close by but we dont let him stay under foot. Lucy just wanders in at times and sees what is going on. My dogs are not beggars, but they will lay next to the table while my wife and I are eating.

  7. #7
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    It's either out of the kitchen or teach the down stay on a mat or similar.

    Why don't you want to baby-gate him out of the kitchen? What's wrong with that? He'll probably just stand, sit, or lay there staring at you and when he is being good (quiet, not climbing on the gate, give him a treat). If your kitchen opening is very wide, this can be difficult. But if you have a galley kitchen, it's probably the only way as there is not room for a dog in that type of a kitchen. Both are easy to teach.

    Mine lay down in the kitchen, which is quite wide, but small enough that they don't feel the need to follow. They do know "out" which was, when they were in, telling them "out" and leading them to the other room. As soon as all four paws were outside of the kitchen, I tossed a treat to them. This is important -- do not give a treat in the kitchen; only when the are exactly where you want them. A clicker makes it easier. All four paws outside of the kitchen, click, toss a treat either for him to catch or BEHIND him, NOT inside the kitchen. Now, when I say out, the put it in reverse, often getting "stuck" in the doorway together (quite funny, actually). The same rules apply to teaching him to lay on a mat outside of the high-traffic area. In both cases, you can give him something to chew on to keep him busy and out of your way.

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  9. #8
    Senior Dog CraftHer's Avatar
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    Go out to eat. Preferrably to a dog friendly restaurant! Just kidding.

    When Mocha was that small, one of us was playing in the other room with him or his usual naptime was around dinner time, so I don't remember it being a problem. The kennel was in the kitchen and there just wasn't room for all of us. Now, we have moved to a bigger house and bigger kitchen (and a bigger kennel) and he gets underfoot sometimes, especially in the dishwasher or fridge. I've gotten used to him being right there and it's not much of a problem. (He's trained me well). We use the "move dog" command and he'll step away a couple of steps. He'll sometimes lay down just out of the way and watch for droppings. I do put him in a sit/stay whenever the oven door is open.

    In retrospec, we should have made this a more formal training issue for him to lay in a certain spot. So, that's what I would recommend. Deciding where you want him to be while you're in the kitchen and training him to do it.

    Oh, and the "move dog" command was one of those impromtu sayings we said so many times he learned what it meant. I think there was a thread on this a while back.

  10. #9
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    agree either keep him out or teach a stay in a spot.
    my two are speed bumps in the kitchen sometimes, especially when my mom is over and we are doing more interesting things But they generally don't stick their head everywhere - just act as speed bumps. we learn to manoeuvre. Thanskfully being UNDER the table is a favourite spot so that helps

  11. #10
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    I call it the "don't step on the dog dance" when one appears out of nowhere in my way.

    Mardi and Archie are allowed in the kitchen during cooking and eating meals. But, they do know to stay out of the way. During dinner Mardi is under the table, Archie at the other end of the table or he will even go to the living room on his own. The time they are gated out of the kitchen is when little GS is here since he thinks it's fun to feed from the high chair. Just to much of a temptation for Archie.

    You can train him to sit/lay down on a particular spot, maybe a rug set down for this purpose. He is fairly young and this may take some time. Safety first for both of you.

 



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