Border Collie Kix
May 30, 2021 2021-06-14 11:19I enjoyed Fusion so much that I wanted another Border Collie in my life. I looked for a puppy from a working line, preferably female, to join my family.
This puppy was born May 22, 2015. Because there are many surprises in life, Kix turned out to be the polar opposite of Fusion. Fast, furious and full of herself, with no consideration for her own safety; needy, loud and skeptical of strangers.
Kix was the most intense puppy I have met. She would not sleep and seemingly could keep going for 20hrs a day. She loved to bite everything, be wild and bark a lot.
Border Collies are usually known for being a rather quiet breed, but Kix was not to adhere to any restricting breed standards. Her signature piercing bark was there from the beginning and she likes to use it for communicating a variety of emotions: her joy for training, her excitement before doing something she loves (such as swimming, running, biking or agility) or just because.
She came to me not being very fond of other people. In fact, when I met her the first time she did not even want to come out of the crate to greet me. After her first two days with me she changed her opinion though and decided that I was exactly who she had been looking for, and that I was her person and we would always be together.
Kix was born being a serious workaholic. While I had to use a lot of finesse with Fusion and shower him with praise even if he did not do something correctly, Kix wanted to work and train so much that she did not actually care about being coddled and encouraged when things went wrong.
She will try until she gets it right and then remember forever. She likes to do things fast.
This is a dog who truly cannot be over-trained and will keep on going until she passes out.
This is a dog whose heart explodes with joy every single time I ask her “Do you want to play?”
She is endless fun. She taught me to go big. She taught me to work through the high arousal of high drive dogs and that sometimes, you are not training a behavior but a state of mind.
As loud and wild and bold as she is, Kix is the sweetest dog with other dogs. When she was a little puppy, she would lay flat on the ground and wiggle her tail as a greeting to every dog she came across. I naturally assumed that this puppy behavior would eventually disappear, but she still says hi to other dogs exactly like this – low to the ground, ears pinned back, low wagging tail. She loves small dogs and puppies (well, except for Party perhaps) and is endlessly gentle and patient with them.
Kix is a dog who makes sure I never get bored. She has enough energy, enough enthusiasm and enough volume for five other dogs. She is unapologetically herself and does exactly what she wants.
The fun never ends with Kix.