Dog of the Month

Submitted by Tara Baggerman, proud owner of Hermes
	Though the details concerning the start of Hermes life are sketchy, it is clear that my little doggie had a rough start. Hermes mother, along with her ten puppies, were abandoned. A kind woman was fostering the eleven dogs. However, she became overwhelmed and was forced to make plans to bring the dogs to an animal shelter. I decided to go look at the puppies before they were taken away. Most of the puppies were terrified of me and fled the moment I walked in the door. However, Hermes didn’t budge. He seemed far more curious about me than fearful. After a short moment he must have concluded that I was okay, for he ran right into my arms. I picked him up and cuddled with him. Hermes was whining softly at first, but was soon fast asleep in my arms. Needless to say, I took Hermes home with me that night.
Hermes grew very quickly and proved to be a clever little doggie. He spent his mornings at a local dog park in Ballston Spa. When I first started taking Hermes to the dog park he was terrified of every new dog and person. But no matter how much he protested, I insisted that we visit the park everyday. It didn't take long before Hermes decided that other dogs were pretty fun to be around! Unfortunately, his confidence regarding many other things was still shaky. I decided it would be a good idea for us to attended obedience classes. This was exciting for us both, for I had never trained a dog before. Hermes excelled in learning commands, but he was still painfully shy towards people. When Hermes was just 6 months old we started training at JAZZ Agility. I had originally planned on just taking one beginners class. . . however, the agility bug bit us both VERY hard! And 3 ½ years later we are still regular JAZZ students! Hermes confidence in himself, and trust in others seems to grow with every agility obstacle he tackles. Hermes and I have only been to a handful of agility trails. But so far we have earned a few titles. We have our CPE CL1-R, CL1-F, CL2-R, as well as our NADAC NAC. We also have several miscellaneous legs towards other titles which we are currently working on. At home Hermes enjoys playing wrestling games with his sister (my Malamute) Athena, and sleeping with his two cats, Echo and Clio. Even though he is not a puppy anymore, once in a while he will still climb into my arms and fall asleep just like he did the first time I met him. I love him more every moment of every day. I don’t doubt that the feeling is mutual.