Princess Tiger Lily Lexie!

Introducing Princess Tiger Lily Lexie

We were worried that it would take a while for Lexie to settle in with us but from the first few moments she seemed perfectly at ease.  I was unfortunately in bed with tonsillitis so her introduction to me was cuddling up on my bed with me.  This set the president for cuddles!

Of course the most important part of getting a new puppy is choosing a name!  We had spent the ride travelling to and from viewing her discussing names.  We came up with a few options and decided to set up a vote on Facebook to help us decide!  The options were

Lily, in keeping with her official name on the breeder's register

Lexie, just a cute name we thought of

Penny, from our favorite comedy, Big bang theory 

River, from our favorite show, Firefly 

The overwhelming vote was for Lexie, which was also the one name that all of us liked so Lexie it is! 

(Saying hi to Phoebe from behind the safety of the sliding door!

There was much debate among my friends as to whether to use a cage.  We go camping during the summer so I figured a cage would be good for her to travel in and use there.  One of our friends uses a cage and their dog loves going in there to escape from the children lol. I looked up roughly how tall she would be when she grows up and added an inch for good measure because I get claustrophobic just thinking about her being in a cage!  Of course it didn't arrive till the Tuesday after we got her so the first few nights she slept on our bed with us.  We put lots of puppy pads and newspapers down but the inevitable accidents abounded until she weed on our bed, which was the last straw.  I also decided that I didn't want her sleeping on our bed when she's grown up, taking up all the space.  I've just trained the children not to do it anymore! lol

As I was too poorly to supervise the potty training, she pretty much ruled the roost till I was up and about.  As soon as I felt up to it I took her outside every time she started snuffling around.  It's absolutely amazing how quickly they pick it up, in no time she was peeing and pooping outside.  The trick of course is to catch her in time.  We still had lots of accidents with me running around with carpet cleaner! 

When the cage arrived I was amazed at just how huge it was! I was glad though because there is plenty of room inside for her bed and blanket and I can put down a puppy training pad and newspaper at the back.  For the first two nights my hubby and I took turns sleeping on the couch with Lexie in the cage.  She cried a bit but quickly realised it wasn't getting her anywhere.  She woke up every two hours to go out.  We dragged the cage up to our room so I could at least sleep comfortably between potty runs! 

 Facebook is such a wonderful source of support, my friends advised me that she shouldn't be waking up every 2 hours, she's got me wrapped around her paw! I decided to make her go 4 hours and she did it by herself anyway! lol So we will persevere and hopefully have her sleeping through the night by next week!

I watched some You Tube videos about how to train your puppy.  I have a class booked  but she can't start till 11 November when she's had all her jabs.  I thought I'd get a head start and work on basics like sitting.  I got some puppy food and said sit! and pushed her bum down till she sat then praised her and gave her the food.  We did it a few times and she quickly got the hang of it!  I practice every day for about 5-10 minutes and have now added on jumping up onto an upended washing basket and following me when I call her.  The You Tube video also suggested the feeding from your hand as a way to teach them to take food from you with a soft mouth.

Every time she chews on something I say no! and give her something she can chew but I think that's going to take quite a while to sink in! My daughter is quite scared of her so I'm working with her to teach her how to be more dominant so Lexie will learn not to nip at her, even if it is only playfully, her teeth are so sharp she leaves a mark.  

The other good advise I got this week was, when you come home don't make a fuss of her or you'll teach her to jump all over you.  Another test was leaving her for an hour and a half while we went to Slimming World.  I decided to leave her in the kitchen rather than in her cage as I didn't want to create any negative associations with it.  I don't know how long she cried after we left but  she was quite relaxed when we got home but of course her usual happy self, wagging her tail and so pleased to see us!  There is such a big difference between cats and dogs! I do realise they're different species but I thought, they're both pets so won't be so very different but what a surprise!  Very difficult not to get attached quickly when you're so obviously adored! :-)