I Love Newfs (original) (raw)

Hello all!
I just joined today, after getting my first dog(as an adult, I had a few as a kid) yesterday. Her name is Hannah, and she's a six year old Newfoundland mix(probably with either lab or golden retriever). And oh, my god, I love her already. We got her from Blue Moon Meadows a rescue group that works with dogs who've been "widowed" from their owners. We also have a 3 year old cat and a 5 year old rabbit, both with free run of the house.
So far, she's settling in relatively well. She ignores the cat and sniffs at the rabbit, is perfectly housebroken, eating and drinking fine, etc. We're having a little trouble with separation anxiety, but she's getting better--went 20 minutes alone today! Her manners are alright: she sits and downs perfectly, and is pretty reliable with come if she isn't too distracted. She's very food-motivated, so training her is a breeze. Loves her tennis ball, rawhide bones, and playing tug of war with a tea towel.

I do, however, have a few concerns. One is that her stools are getting looser and looser. Now, granted, she's only gone 4 times since coming home, but it's gone from solid to complete mush in 36 hours. She's on the same food, same treats that she was eating in her foster home, so is this just stress? We're calling the vet for an appt in the morning, so I'm sure we'll find something out there, but...
My second concerns are regarding training. My husband is not a huge dog person, and Hannah is big into giving kisses--which grosses us both out. Other than telling her "no" every time, is there any way to stop this behavior?
Third, how does one teach a dog to heel? I think she's been trained on this in the past because she naturally walks there most of the time. The problem is when we come across another person or dog on our walks, and then she pulls so hard that I can't control her. It's partly a size issue: she nearly outweighs me, so if she wants to go somewhere, we're going. But surely I can train her to heel when we're approaching someone, right? I just have no idea how to go about it, and my google searches aren't helping. We were using a martingale collar, but I felt like it was just getting her hair tangled up.

And, just so this isn't all text: