Newest addition

In a quirky twist of fate, we added a new member to our Mini Mountain Menagerie.

While getting my hair cut a week or so back, my hair dresser mentioned she and her husband are fostering an adorable 10 mo old German Shepherd and wondered if we knew anyone who might want to adopt him.

She showed us the pictures and.....

Not THE picture she showed me, but still a cute photo of this awesome pup.

I.... Fell..... In..... Love!

This precious guy is a dreamboat.

Kuno is his name.

He was purchased by a family with children when he was a young pup.

He was a GREAT dog.

Loving and loyal to his owners and home.

He adored the children.  Was gentle with them.  Protective of them and their dwelling.

HIS home.

Apparently too much so for the grown-ups preferences.

He would bark and posture when anyone would come to the door.

Well - that IS what guard dogs do, after all.

The family was uncomfortable with his protectiveness so they relinquished him to the Front Range GSD Rescue.

My hair dresser and her husband are fosters for this group as well as raising 5 of their own german shepherds.

I half jokingly told Techno I wanted him.

He was THAT cute.

I love how he tilts his head when he's curious.  Which is often.

As we left, I nudged him more about the desire to get this dog.

We know Apollos is 'on his last legs' so to speak due to his age.  He's dwindling before our very eyes.  

(Granted we thought the same thing 2 years ago when he began having seizures and we got Titus, but....
 he's now 11 and losing weight despite eating and I don't foresee him making it another 2 years.  

Watch him prove us wrong.  Ha.)

Much to my surprise, Techno wasn't AGAINST the idea of another dog.  I won't go so far as to say he was FOR it, but.... NOT being against it is quite a stride forward.

German Shepherds are one of Elijah's favorite breeds of dogs so that was a huge 'advantage' toward Kuno.  Plus, it would be another dog for 4H dog training.  Not to mention, german shepherds are highly intelligent dogs so we could potentially train Kuno to be a D.A.D - Diabetic Alert Dog!!!

Bonus.... Bonus.... and... Bonus!

I contacted my hairdresser and she put me in touch with her husband

We went to their house and visited Kuno last weekend.

He's just so stinking cute.

We told the kids we were taking Titus to meet a new trainer - as it would be difficult to explain why we were taking Titus to Fort Collins -- that's not something we've EVER done.

They bought it..... hook, line, and sinker.

Little did they know, we were going to determine if this beautiful dog was a good match for our family.
Fortunately.... he was a PERFECT fit.

Once we were there, it initially seemed as though the 'trainer' was just showing us his training style.  Demonstrating with his own dogs to show what he was capable of doing with our dog. Then, he began talking about what to expect once Kuno was in our home.  I overheard Bethany whisper to Elijah, "Are we buying this dog?"

I believe Kuno knows he COULD take Titus out if he wanted to.... fortunately he doesn't seem to WANT to.
Titus holds his own, though.  He's just at a bit of a disadvantage size wise and breed wise.  LOL!

We talked more; answered questions; learned Kuno is already crate trained, housebroken, does well on a lead, has never run off even off-leash, and demonstrated he understands the commands for sit and down; we assured the foster family we were committed to raising Kuno for the long haul; that we were prepared for his guard dog nature as Titus is very similar; then we asked the kids if they wanted to bring Kuno home and welcome him into our 'pack'?

Without hesitation, they all bellowed, "YES!"

Even Bethany had a HUGE smile on her face, answering brightly and predominately in the affirmative.  (For any who know Bethany well at all, realize she is a CAT person all. the. way!  For her to enthusiastically root for getting this pup..... well, that spoke volumes.)

Titus also approved.

This was taken after Kuno came home and joined our pack, but they got along fine at Kuno's foster home as well.

The two dogs got along and played tentatively together.  Both were a bit timid with each other, but there was NO aggression between them.

Phew!

Now that they are home - they rough house quite often, but still... no knock-down-drag-out fights.

Techno and I headed back to For Collins the next day to bring him home.  We needed to prep the house for his crate and belongings.

He's officially 'OURS'.

The kids are ecstatic.

He's already attended his first 4H dog training class.
He did quite well after some initial 'barking' at all the other dogs
to show his protectiveness of our family when we walked in the door.

Now.... introducing him to our current 9 year old cat and our new 3 mo old kitten.... well.... that's proving to be a bit more interesting as he's never even SEEN a cat before now.

His crate is set up in our living room so he has a 'safe space' to go as he adapts to being part of the Williams' Mini-Mountain-Menagerie.