Day 1 – Xana gets to know her name

Since we got home very late, we couldn't spend much time with the little Border Collie lady. But she loved her comfy box. She couldn't believe that there was something so cozy to sleep in. Woken up in the middle of the night, I got up at three o'clock at night when I heard little Xana crying and went with her into the garden.

She really had to go to the toilet, but she didn't like going back to the box afterwards and she resisted a lot. Sorry little Xana - Mum is your boss and I really needed some more sleep! After that, she accepted her fate relatively quickly and let us sleep until six o'clock.

The dogkid takes care of Xana

At six o'clock we had to get up again. I was relieved to hear the dog kid getup. So I stayed happily in bed for two more hours until it was time for action again.

"Mom, Xana doesn't want to listen that well," the dog-kid grumbled directly when I went downstairs. Sighing, I caressed the little dog which was really happy to see me. "How is Xana supposed to listen to you if she has never had to listen to any human?" I replied as our new family member calmed down a bit. “First of all, we'll teach her her name. That's… ”
“No, Xana! ”, yelled the dog-kid as she tried to bite into a dangerous cable. She let go of it, shocked by the loud voice and immediately there was a portion of pats. "She shouldn't learn her name in a negative tone," I reminded the dog-kid. "Everything is new to her and she has to learn her what's right and what's wrong."

Xana and her tasty name

I am in favor of education that uses positive triggers as much as possible. I didn't want the border collie lady to be afraid of us, I wanted her to listen well to us. So there were delicious rewards as soon as she looked at us when we called her name. During the day we practiced her name again and again for five minutes. After three 5-minute-units she immediately looked into our direction with cute puppy eyes waiting for a treat.

But of course... She was looking at us because she fell in love with her name and not because of the treat we were offering... :P

Dog food – The tastiest on a hand

After calculating her weight, I explained to the dog-kid how much food the little Border Collie lady was allowed to have every day. On arrival we let her eat a lot, because she had thrown up during the car ride. But now it was important to have an idea of how much she eats everyday. She was very thin and it was important to see if she ate enough.

During the day she fell in love with treats and as they were giving from the hand, she did not care about the food bowl anymore. She also had to be encouraged to drink again and again. With so many new impressions, it's probably normal. If someone from a kennel on a huge mountain suddenly took me to a family house with no sheep in the garden, I would be totally confused, too. She also had to have a terrible love sickness without her siblings by her side.

Rough and bitty games

It was clear from the start that Xana would go crazy with wild games. The famous ball was therefore quickly put away, but she loved to bite EVERYTHING close to her. The dog-kid screamed in horror the first time Xana tried to bite her hand.

No, a biting puppy was not what the dog-kid had wished for! She was sad. Tomorrow more about that topic!