Maisy
shepherd/black mouth cur Mix | Female | 2 years Old | 49 Lbs
QUICK FACTS: ✔️ Good with other dogs! ✔️ Crate trained! ✔️ Housebroken! ✔️ Good in car! ✔️ Good for beginner dog owner!
❌ Working on leash manners ❌ Vocal dog
Updates
Congrats to Maisy on her adoption September 22, 2020!
PUPDATE 2
As mentioned in the first pupdate, Maisy barks and growls when she hears (or thinks she hears) and sees people and people with dogs walking by or in her sight. Sometimes this can be a bit excessive and quite loud. She also runs through the house whining after barking sometimes.
I feel Maisy would do best in a place with a yard where she can roam and can get additional exercise running around. Because of this and the sometimes excessive and loud barking/growling, I don't think an apartment would be a good fit for her.
Maisy loves to keep a watch on the neighborhood. I think a fenced in yard would be a big plus for her. If not, she would for sure need to be tied out on a good strong tie out as she is super strong. When a dog was near who she really wanted to see she did attempt to crawl under the fence. Sometimes she will paw at it too. Usually she just hangs out though. I always keep an eye on her when she is in the yard, especially when she starts to bark, just to make sure she doesn't try to escape. She did get out the front door once and ran across the street to sniff around at my neighbors house. She would not listen to me telling her to come. When she has her mind on something it's hard to get her to listen. I am not sure that she would be a dog that can just hang out in the yard without being on a tie out or on a leash. I discovered that she has a strong prey drive towards squirrels and bunnies (or any other type of citter most likely) and will chase them or at least try to. She is strong so will need a firm handle on the leash, especially if she sees a critter.
I have been working on leash training. Sometimes she walks great and other times she pulls fairly hard, especially if she sees another dog.
Maisy is doing well learning and practicing various commands. She is very smart and learns fairly quickly.
PUPDATE 1
Maisy is a super sweet dog. She loves to snuggle up in bed, but also likes her independence. She is able to keep herself occupied by playing with various toys. We have a basket of toys in our office and she likes to stick her head in the basket, pull out a toy (or toys!) and carry it from room to room. If you are looking for a snuggle/lounge buddy, Maisy is a great pick! She loves lounging next to us in bed. If you are active and want a hiking/walking buddy, Maisy is also a great pick! She loves to get out and walk. She may even be a good running buddy, but I have not tested this as, well, my body repels running. She loves to hang out in the yard and watch for dogs and people passing by.
Typical Day:
During a typical weekday, Maisy’s day starts around 6:30/7 am. She is let out of her crate and goes outside to potty. She likes to first see what is going on around the neighborhood before finally going potty. She gets breakfast soon after coming inside. She eats really well and sometimes likes to have human company while she eats. She seemed to be a bit of a grazer when she first arrived, but after being introduced to our resident dogs, she quickly learned that she needs to eat all of her food otherwise my resident aussie will help her clean the bowl if any food is left. After a couple of weeks, Maisy did not like my aussie checking out her food dish anymore and would let her know that with a growl.
Maisy has gotten used to someone being home during the week so she spends her day out of the crate taking naps and playing with toys. She gets let out for some fresh air/potty break a few times during the day. Maisy east dinner around 5:30/6 pm. Soon after, we all go for a walk. She was on crate rest for a while from being treated for heartworm so initially our walks with her were very brief. After the walk, she would enjoy some play and lounging around. Before bed, around 10:30 pm, she would go out to potty, have a couple of treats and head to her crate for bedtime.
Crate Trained:
Maisy is a bit reluctant to go into her crate so I throw a few treats in there and scoot her butt in. She lies down and goes to sleep all night without any trouble.
Leash Walking:
Maisy does pull on a leash at times so she will need to work on that. It is mostly when she sees or smells something she is interested in. She is super strong so a harness is best for her and I would suggest the Easy Walk harness that has the leash attach in the front.
Cats/Dogs:
I don’t know how she is around cats but Fetch can cat test if needed. Maisy and our resident dogs get along pretty well. For the first couple of weeks, she would try to engage in play with them, but my dogs don’t seem to be interested in play anymore. Maisy has a little more of a rough style of play and may need to learn her boundaries with other dogs. I have been telling her to “leave it” if she doesn’t pick up on the “leave me alone cues” and she does then leave them alone. I think she would do fine with another dog(s), especially one that will play with her. Maisy met my parents foster puppy, who had a similar play style, and after they established their boundaries, they seemed to have gotten along fine. I think Maisy would really enjoy going to dog parks and doggy daycares to keep her active and social. She did show a little bit of food possessiveness if my aussie would sniff at her food bowl (if she left some food in it) or if either dog sniffed at a chewy treat that she was either eating or stashing away for later. That happened a couple of times. My aussie is used to my very tolerant golden retriever so she hasn’t been around a dog that is less tolerant of that (at least not since we have had her). I can feed them treats side by side without issue. If my aussie grabbed a toy to play with, Maisy would steal it from her so she will need to work on that. I have tried to distract Maisy with another toy when she would try to steal my aussie’s toy, but that didn’t always work. I got each dog the same antler chew and they were fine interchanging those. Overall though, they coexist well together.
Humans:
Maisy interacted with a kid while we were outside one day and did well, but I can’t speak to how she is overall. She is really strong and tends to jump up on people so she might be best with older children. Maisy has been fine with the few people that she has met while in our care. My parents sat for her for a few days while we were away and she seemed to have adapted very well to the new surroundings. The first day we had her, she seemed to take to us right away and settle in. We had a couple of people come into our home for home repairs and she did fine with them too.
Housebroken:
Maisy has not had any accidents in the house. She potties when let out. Sometimes she likes to roam the yard for a bit before doing her business. We do have a fenced in yard to let her roam around in. She will most likely need to be kept on a tie out if no fenced in yard. We have not left Maisy alone much, but the times that she has been, we have put her in her crate. She would probably be fine left out, but I can’t say for sure. She has not gotten into anything that she isn’t supposed to, not even open trash cans. We have not seen her attempt any counter surfing either.
Car Rides:
Maisy does great in the car. You may need to put a barrier up to keep her from coming to the front seat if you want to keep her in the back. For the most part, she does stay in the back seat.
Exercise:
Maisy would definitely benefit from yard play, long walks, dog parks and doggy daycare. I would say she is medium energy. She still has the puppy playfulness in her, but loves to lounge and nap too.
Commands/Tricks:
Maisy knows sit and come. We have been trying to teach her “off” since she does jump up on us at times. She will need more work on that along with other basic commands. We have tried to teach her to heel on walks, but that was difficult with only being able to take her on brief walks for a while, and with her being in heat she was very distracted when she saw other dogs.
Maisy loves to keep watch of the neighborhood. She loves to sit and watch out the patio door. She does tend to bark/growl at noises, people and dogs that she can hear/see. Her growl and bark are deep and loud and can be a bit startling. She would sure make for a good watch dog!
Whoever adopts sweet Maisy will be very lucky!