For her sitters & friends
Maizy is a sweet, gentle soul who just needs a little patience to come out of her shell â once she does, she's the best playmate around.
Maizy has come a very long way, but she started out as a fearful pup and still has a vigilant, sometimes shy temperament at first. She's meek, gentle, and reads situations carefully â she wears her emotions clearly in her body language. She's also very curious: expect her to sniff around and investigate any new environment thoroughly. Once she feels safe, she is an incredibly sweet, loving, and playful dog â that's her true default, and it doesn't take long to get there.
She's often friendly with strangers right away, especially when her owner is present. In unfamiliar settings she may be a little shy at first, but she warms up reliably.
She either gets immediately curious or a little reclusive, but fairly quickly warms up and wants to play. Dogs â especially male dogs â that come on strong will make her nervous. Watch for a tucked tail and cautious body language as signals to give her space.
She may get visibly upset when first dropped off â this means withdrawn and a little afraid, not aggressive or destructive. The best thing you can do is give her space and let her decompress without pressure. She will come around on her own timeline.
When left alone, Maizy likes to settle onto something soft â a loveseat, beanbag, or couch. She knows she's not allowed on her owner's bed at home, but may hop onto beds in unfamiliar places. Set expectations early with a firm "No" if that matters to you.
A firm, stern "No" works well with her. She understands it and responds to it.
Sundays for Dogs (dry) â two heaping scoops per day. I'll send her food with her.
Maizy self-regulates well â you could put a full day's food out and she'll space it out on her own. She's not overweight and polices her intake, so don't stress about overfeeding from her bowl. If it's empty, go ahead and top it up with at least one serving so she has it when she's ready.
She most reliably eats between 5â9 PM, and often has a few bites after her first morning walk too. When stressed or in a new environment, she may eat less at first â that's normal.
At night, mix in half a pouch of Nulo chicken wet food with her dry kibble. This also works well as an incentive if she hasn't eaten much that day â the smell tends to get her going.
Maizy will absolutely park herself next to you if you're eating meat or fish. You can give her a small piece (roughly grape-sized) only if:
Please keep this occasional and sparing â she gets used to tasty human food quickly and will start neglecting her own food if it becomes a habit. If you cook salmon, she loves the skin.
I'll include treats with her things:
Maizy would prefer to sleep in the same room as you â she's a companion sleeper. She usually sleeps on her dog bed. She's also comfortable in a kennel with a bed inside if that works better. I'll bring her bed and a familiar blanket.
She'll nap throughout the day and will naturally gravitate to whatever room you're in. I'll bring a second dog bed â just place it in the room you'll spend the most time in and she'll use it.
Fully house-trained. She needs to go out at least every 7 hours. A typical schedule looks like:
She knows "go pee" and "go poop" â use these once you're outside. She'll sniff around and explore a bit first, which is normal. If she hasn't gone in 3+ hours she will eventually go, but you may need to repeat the command a few times to get her moving. Just be patient and stay out with her until she does her thing.
Maizy walks great on leash â no issues there. I'll bring 2 leashes of varied lengths.
If you're taking Maizy anywhere in the car, please put her harness on and attach it to the seatbelt clip I'll provide. I'll also include a seat cover to protect your seats.
Maizy has a knee condition that causes her back legs to buckle when she runs hard. If you see her running fast and her back legs start dragging or giving out, please calm things down and give her a chance to rest â especially if another dog is chasing her. She loves to run and play, but she needs help knowing her limits.
None currently.
None known. Her snout swelled up once but the cause was never identified â just worth noting as a baseline.
She loves a good tug-of-war with a toy or rope â that's her favorite one-on-one game. She'll also chase after anything that's moving, and I'll send some of her favorite squeaky rubber balls. Fair warning: she generally won't bring the toy back to you. Sometimes the command "get your toy!" will prompt her to retrieve it, but don't count on a full game of fetch â it's more of a chase-and-possess situation.
She also loves destroying her fluffy toys â mostly by extracting all the stuffing, which she'll leave scattered around (sorry in advance). That's totally fine and normal for her. Just watch for when she gets down to the squeaky part in the center â take it away at that point so she doesn't swallow any of it. She usually doesn't try to eat it, but better safe than sorry.
She loves playing with other dogs, especially ones her size or smaller. She can get nervous around larger dogs that are aggressive or come on strong â same rules apply as in the temperament section.
Maizy loves to run and enjoys being chased, but her rear knees have a condition that causes them to buckle under hard exertion. When you see her back legs intermittently collapsing or dragging as she runs, please step in and help her take a rest. She won't always know when to stop herself.
Yes, Maizy can go to the park â just keep the above in mind. Watch her legs if she's running hard with bigger/faster dogs, and make sure she has space from dominant dogs.
She'd love to join you on a hike â as long as the terrain is fairly flat or has modest inclines. Trails with large steps (roughly 1 ft or bigger) will cause her rear knees to give out, so avoid those. I'll include her portable water cup and water bottle for longer outings.
Maizy is well-trained. Here's what she reliably understands:
Scottsdale Animal Healthcare
ð 18291 N Pima Rd, Suite A100, Scottsdale, AZ 85255
ð (480) 538-9000
She can go to whatever vet is available soonest â no need to wait for a specific person or location.
Use your judgment, but the main things to watch for:
Maizy occasionally vomits yellow bile â roughly once a month or so, often after eating grass or leaves outside. This is normal for her and not a cause for concern on its own. Try to discourage her from eating grass or leaves on walks to reduce the frequency.
Matt will be traveling in Botswana (safari) during this stay, so he won't always be reachable in real time. He will have wifi at certain points during the day. Text/iMessage is the best way to reach him â if iMessage isn't delivering, try WhatsApp as a backup. For non-urgent updates, a daily message is totally fine. For anything urgent involving Maizy's health or safety, keep trying and also contact the vet directly if needed.