Can an animal take a five-foot step?

[The Morphling]

So, in a semi-recent game, a PFS GM wanted to take an attack of opportunity on the cavalier's animal companion, which had just moved five feet. The players felt that the dog would just take a five foot step, avoiding the attack, but the GM said it wasn't smart enough to know it should use the five-foot-step option.

I think it's insane to think a creature must, in character, have read the Core Rulebook to know how to fight.

What do you think?

[SlimGauge]

There is no stated minimum INT required to use a five-foot step. Even an animal will instinctively approach a target it intends to attack cautiously.

EDIT: The search feature is your friend. Use it to find other threads on this subject, like this one, and especially this post.

[Karui Kage]

Of course a creature can take a 5 ft. step, regardless of intelligence. It's not some special tactic you need to activate in your brain, the idea is that you are moving so little that you aren't really dropping any of your defenses. Only when you dedicate effort to moving more do you open yourself up to attack.

An ooze can 5 ft. step. A skeleton can 5 ft step. A dog can 5 ft. step.

[Nefreet]

Circumstances can certainly vary. Does the Animal Companion possess the Flank trick?

[DM_Blake]

This isn't a matter of intelligent combat tactics. It's a matter of creatures, intelligent or otherwise, fighting (instinctively or with extensive battle training) in such a way as to maximize their attack and minimize their risk. Everything - EVERYTHING - in the real world fights like this: people, dogs, bugs, fish, everything.

Maybe zombies or constructs or some such might not care about defense, but everything else with a brain and natural instinct does.

So they all use 5'Steps, even if it's pure instinct to avoid danger while looking for an opening for the next attack.