Hemi gets a new brother...much to his disgust...

It is a Monday evening...August 12th.  Wyoming and I are at the parking lot at the Conservation Area when something gets Wy's attention.  I turn around and there is a dog crouching low to the ground like he is in trouble.  I always call out to dogs I see on the trail to feel out the mood.  I called out to him and he got closer to the ground and tucked his tail between his legs even more if that was possible.  Poor guy was scared to death!  I talked baby talk to him and he finally came up to me.  He did not have a collar and he was a little thin.  His coat was not all matted up and gross, so that was a nice surprise. 

I started out on my ride and Wyoming was not so sure about having someone he doesn't know behind him...then it disappeared into the woods!  It was quite a challenge to get Wy moving forward.  The dog finally came out of the woods and started to follow us at a respectable distance.

The dog passed us at one point then came back as if to say "Are ya coming or not?"

The dog followed us part of the way and Wyoming relaxed, and he led the way part of the way which Wyoming liked better.  Easier to keep an eye on the interloper.  Before we made it back to the parking lot I had him named.  Since I am riding Wyoming when we met, I have named him Laramie.  :-)

Laramie and Hemi at the gate to the barn lot...this is one Hemi's "I will show you the ropes kid" moments.

I got home from work the next day and he was sitting in the yard waiting for me to get out of the truck.  He is very athletic and if he wanted to leave he could...parts of the fence are low.

This looks like he is snarling, but he isn't.  He is in mid smile.  This dog smiles when he gets excited.  It is almost like his is trying to mimic humans.  He will be sitting across the yard and I call out to him, he will start to do the body wiggle and he grins great big!  I am still trying to get that in a picture.

Some of the flowers (a.k.a. weeds) at the conservation area.

On our ride the day we met Laramie, Wyoming found a 'puddle' to sniff on the trail.  She must have been cute!
He used to feel the need to sniff every manure pile and puddle on the trail, then we started cutting back.  Now he will walk by most of them by choice.  But every once in a while there is that one special one....this was one of those!  :-)

A random picture of one of the Rose of Sharon flowes.

Laramie is very insecure, and one day I used tone when he ran by me out of the yard.  He cowered down like he thought he was in trouble, when all I was doing was trying to get his attention.  It broke my heart....so I am going to have to watch how I talk to him until he becomes more secure with his new family, but at the same time be sure he knows what is acceptable and what isn't.  I don't know where he came from, but they didn't have toys or treats.  The first time I gave him a Scooby Snack he took it, set it down and sniffed it.  Now he will slowly eat it.  I took the frisbee out to see if he wanted to chew on something....nope, he just looked at it.

At first he and the dogs all got along great with no drama.  Now he and Hemi are adding a bit of drama to the mix.  They have gotten into a couple of fights and I let them work it out.  Laramie would slowly let go, back up and walk away.  Hemi would then charge him (which he does with other things too).  I got a hold of Hemi, told him "NO!" and now we are back down to growling and Laramie moving cautiously around Hemi.  Laramie fought back, which surprised me, but I can tell he would rather just hang out. 

Yep, this is just what Laramie would love to do.....hang out!

We have an appointment at the vet this Friday to get him neutered and his shots.  I will have them check for a chip too altho I don't expect him to have one.

Here is another part of the story....Brian and I have been up and down over our dogs.  Nakita is 13 and Misty is 10.  Nakita is hobbling along and we really don't think she will be able to be pain free another winter.  So yeah, we are at that point of her life when we need to make decisions.  In the meantime we have been talking about another dog or two and loved the idea of bringing someone new into the family, but we dreaded trying to go thru the process of finding someone compatible with Hemi and Thomas the indoor/outdoor cat that is a little off in the head.

It is simple....sometimes they pick you!

Laramie is very different from what I was looking at on the shelter sites, but who am I to question?  Were Wyoming and I there to help Laramie, or was he there to help all of us?  Yes, and yes!

Until later...Karen and Tripp who says they are not tears in his eyes after this story...it is allergies and dust...