Yesterday marked our first month with Moby. We’ve been going through about two pounds of dog food a day… and picking up maybe half that much.
I’m really happy to say that Moby figured out potty training in about a week. When he had accidents he knew he had to hide it. There were only a handful and it has been at least two weeks since the last one. Paying attention to the cues, having a very predictable schedule, and rewarding him with lots of praise and food were very effective.
Happily we have also done a good job with food. We feed twice a day after a good walk or potty trip. The food vanishes immediately! Gotta love Sammy Snacks and the whatever else is mixed in (cheese and olive oil this morning).
Annabelle eats first since she cares less about food. Moby knows right where to go and sits down immediately. I have taken his food away while eating a handful of times and he sits right down to get his food back. We never feed him from the counter or the table and have zero problems with begging. We also make sure that the kids take turns feeding him.
His mouth is pretty soft for a food-oriented dog. We intentionally give him treats between pinched fingers to discourage snapping or impatience. Lots of treats — feeding him breakfast on the morning walk has been a good thing.
Moby seems to like people quite a bit. We sat outside during Halloween and he was happy to see large groups of strange people in the dark. He likes meeting kids at the bus stop.
We have some things to work on. Lately he has started barking quite a bit at Annabelle. She gets tired of playing and ignores him to chew on a bone. Dealing with this means taking him into the basement and playing soccer or some other game he loves.
Socializing him with smaller dogs is a big need. He tries to play with them the way he plays with giant dogs… which is okay sometimes I guess but some more experience would be a good thing.
The biggest problem is his leash manners. He wants to be in front, all the time. Out of all the possible problems, I’m glad this is the worst thing. It’s not so bad.
So, 4 weeks and 5 pounds later we have expanded our family. Welcome Moby 