Puppy walking into my legs

[Robyn Basman]

Just some training ideas required for a six month old mini snauzer that has no previous training is walking into an elderly lady’s legs as she walks around the house. I’ve started with a relaxation protocol to teach the dog to self settle because the moment she gets up the puppy gets up to and walks into her legs also in between her feet etc. almost tripping her up as she’s walking. A trainer suggested shuffle walking and marking and rewarding when the dog is not doing it so essentially blocking the puppy but eventually gradually opening up to a normal gait. Any ideas appreciated. I’ll try to video it tomorrow 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there, welcome to the forums!

Six-month-old Miniature Schnauzer puppies are social followers. Add excitement and poor spatial awareness and you get a mobile trip hazard. Of course, this can be particularly concerning, especially when around an elderly lady. 

What's going on in this puppy's mind? Let's take a look at some possible mechanics before digging deeper into solutions. 

-Mobile Reinforcement

Movement is one of the strongest triggers for puppies. A standing person is boring; a moving person is a stimulus.

-Attention-Seeking

Puppies enjoy any form of attention. In the case of a puppy following around and becoming a tripping hazard, it's inevitable looking at them, telling them to move or even bumping in them. These can be all perceived as forms of attention. 

-Lack of Training

As you correctly mentioned, lack of previous training may play a role. The puppy simply does not yet know where to go when the person stands up.

The solution may involve several approaches. 

-Teach a default stationing behavior
Train the puppy to go to a mat or bed whenever the person stands up. Start by heavily reinforcing the puppy for relaxing on a designated mat. Then add a predictable cue: person stands → puppy runs to mat → reward appears. Over time the stand-up itself becomes the cue. This converts the trigger from “follow legs” to “go park yourself.”

-Build spatial awareness around legs
Practice slow walking drills where the puppy is rewarded for maintaining a small buffer zone around the person. Some trainers use a treat magnet at knee height to guide the dog into position beside the leg rather than between the feet. Think of it as teaching “walk with” rather than “walk under.”

Another option is keeping a treat at eye level so the pup can focus on making eye contact in what's known as attention heeling. Bother forms of heeling can be found here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

Another option is tossing kibble or treats at a distance so that the puppy steers clear from her. A sit prior to tossing a treat can add some structure to the game. 

Baby gates can  create safe walking lanes for the elderly owner while training is in progress.

-Increase structured enrichment
Six-month-old mini schnauzers often shadow people because they are under-stimulated. Short training games, sniffing work, scatter feeding, and food puzzles reduce the “follow the human entertainment channel” effect.

I hope this helps, happy training!