Mars is the true meaning of the word "gentle giant." At ~2 years old, you can't even tell that he's just left his puppy phase. He is relaxed and content. He is happy to snuggle on the couch as close as possible to you with his head on your lap or chest (if you'll allow it). He loves his humans SO MUCH. He is the biggest sweetheart, and you can see in his eyes how much he wants to be with his people. Clearly a pet before, he understands the commands: no, sit, stay, lay down, paw, off. He is fully house-trained and has had 0 accidents.
Contrary to his loving nature, he is also good for long periods alone. One of the perks of being a big dog is that he is a docile, big chiller most of the time! He will go outside or for walks whenever, but he's not pushy about it at all! He came to his foster family from a two-day bus ride and was happy just to lay around and cuddle. They walked him anyway, and he was good with that too! He is genuinely a very easy-to-please guy.
He is easygoing and happy to go on a few short walks a day or go out back in the yard to relieve himself. He LOVES walkies whenever it's time to go and may jump on the door, but his current foster family is working on some light correcting with "no" and having him sit before going outside. Keeping up with these boundaries should fix that. He is a bit of a puller on a walk and, since he's a 100lb boy, should have some kind of no-pull harness like an Easy Walk that will gently correct him as he walks, as well as some treats to learn to come back to you and stay by your side through walks. He gets excited about other dogs on walks and will need some treat-correcting positive reinforcement to get him to ignore those distractions so he doesn't pull you around! He doesn't care about children or other people besides wanting to sniff them as they pass.
He is not food-aggressive and has sat with other dogs while his foster parents doled out dinner and breakfast. He listens to "Go to crate" and walks right in for his feedings. He even sleeps in his crate at night and is a waggy, happy boy in the morning. He even likes to go into his crate on his own—it's his safe space, so his forever home should consider getting a crate with a comfy bed to keep up these good habits!
He's not huge on play - he occasionally jumps with excitement, but telling him "No!" firmly stops him. He doesn't care about toys - but if a new dog comes over and wants to play with them, be mindful that Mars may growl and be a little annoyed that another dog is playing with "his" toys. He loves pets, ear rubs, belly rubs, you name it. He lets us brush him and touch him wherever—teeth and paws included!
His foster family knows he is going to make whoever adopts him so happy. He is easy as pie in the right environment. He would do best in a home without any dogs or in a home with female and/or submissive dogs around. He likes to protect his people from big dogs like himself, and if he is going to be in a home with another male dog, slow introductions would need to be made, and firm boundaries around who is the boss (the answer: you are)!
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