Hi & welcome! Poor Goliath, what a rotten start to life that sweet boy has had.
I'm so glad that he's safe & loved with your family now. We adopted Sammy from Pyr Rescue last year. Sam was 68# and shaved when he joined our family, so your Goliath looks very familiar to me. Sammy had been seized by Animal Control from an extremely abusive "family" where he was being starved and had been physically abused, so my poor boy also worries about when his next meal is coming. In fact, we laugh that we can tell the time of day by Sammy. Our pups eat at 11am & 7pm and by 6:30pm Sam is following me around and giving me big, sweet, begging eyes. So, we jokingly tell time as "quarter to Sammy" (10:45am or 6:45pm). LOL! He really *is* that accurate!
Poor babies, once they've suffered so badly from starvation, I don't know if they ever get past the fear of being hungry again. So, food anywhere that Goliath can reach it is going to be hard to keep him out of. For now anyway, it's kind of beyond training (IMHO), it's more like survival for him. I'd just concentrate on keeping your food out of his clever paw range, as everyone's suggested with locks, etc. In time, as he gets to feeling more secure and gains his weight back, you should be able to work more on his kitchen manners, but personally I'd probably not worry too much about that for the next few months. He has a lot of healing, both physically & emotionally, to do right now. I'd definitely 2nd Tina's suggestion of some basic training though. We started "sit" & "down" with Sammy & Cassie right away with yummy treats. They both loved all the praise & treats and it's a good way to help establish the pack order that will help you later with more training (like keeping out of the kitchen or off counters, etc.) once he's feeling better.
Cats & kids? Yep, that's a Pyr for 'ya.
Miss Cassie has been seen quite a few times sacked out on the sofa with our cat Blackberry napping on top of her all snuggled down in her fur. It's very cute & pretty funny, but don't tell any other dogs though, she might be embarrassed to have everyone know what a softy she is.
If you don't mind adding another furry person to the family, I'm sure that it would make Goliath very happy to have a kitty to love. Guarding a cat (plus your kids) will also give him a job to do. Just a thought.
My pups sleep at night either in our bedrooms, in the hall outside the kids' rooms, or guarding just inside the front door. That's very typical of Pyrs as they love to be near us & guard us, especially at night. One of my sons will only go to sleep if Cassie is in his room. After he's asleep, she often moves to the hall or another bedroom. They really are amazingly sweet & intuitive about who needs them.
Welcome again & personally, I'd dearly love to see pics of Goliath in the crib. That must be priceless!
He does know though not to hop up there when the baby's in there, right?
Ha, ha!