Hey all!
Today's post was from my Brooklyn trip—to McCarren Park again. His name his Herman, (LOVE people dog names) and he's a Shepherd/Collie mix—amongst a few other breeds.
Jessica, his owner, has been with Herman for about a year and a half now, and he will be turning two soon!
**Quick side note about Jessica—when I explained to her that my aim for my blog was Humans of New York but for dogs—she told me she was actually a featured post for Humans of New York! She met Brandon on the streets of SOHO, when she was sporting very pink hair at the time. She told me he was incredibly nice (I don't expect anything less) and I will say I'm infinitely jealous of her experience! Brandon is one of my favorite photographers.**
ANYHOW—back to Herman (haha) he was rescued all the way from Arkansas by a rescue group in New York (who she sill donates to!). I found Herman's rescue story to be very touching! Jessica explains:
"He was abandoned. I guess down in Arkansas, any Australian Shepherd mix that doesn't show promise as a herding dog—they kind of just toss them out. They have a lot of strays down there. But then he was put in a kill shelter—and a rescue group in New York called In Our Hands came and rescued him and a bunch of other dogs. I saw his puppy photo on the rescue website—he had a very pronounced widow's peak and a little heart shaped face. And when I looked at him, I just knew."
Herman LOVES toys, but hates anything that squeaks. He is terrified of squeaky noises, but thankfully wasn't afraid of my camera.
As you can see here, he LOVED the Dog Park Diaries tennis ball we gave him, and got quickly to work trying to put it in a little hole he dug up in the mulch and then laid in it with such cute froggy legs!
Herman also loves sticks. Fall is his favorite season, because of the mountains of leaves. Jessica explained, "If you throw them up in the air, he tries to catch them all with his mouth!"
His favorite treats are the pig ears Jessica's boyfriend buys for him—he brings home really expensive cuts of meat! (I'm jealous)
When I asked Jessica if this cutie had a life motto, she explained: "His motto would be, 'Cuddles for life'. All he wants to do is cuddle! Every morning he wakes up, and his head is on my pillow, and he's just staring at me. He sticks his nose against my nose—just to say hello—and then he basically just wants to be held until we get up. His jam is just to cuddle."
As she explained this, I was able to see it in action when he ran right up to me while I was taking pictures.
"He gives cuddles to anybody—he will lean against your leg to give you a hug. That's his version of a hug—he's a leaner!"
Name: Herman (was originally named, "Merlin"—but had a name change.)
Tricks: Knows sit, paw, and he's a great jumper—as you can see where he jumped for the tennis ball a few times.
Blanket Monster: "He's also, if you're underneath the blankets and he's laying on top, if you move your hand around underneath the blankets and and like pop it up near his tummy, he freaks out! We call it the, 'blanket monster' and we are constantly, 'scaring' him with it. He starts barking at it and pouncing on it. He's completely intrigued and terrified by it at the same time—he has no idea its me."
No wood floors here!: "He's terrified of wood floors, so he has to wear socks in the house…he slips and hates the sound. First thing when we get home, we take off his leash and put his little socks on. And if he doesn't have them on, he will just stay in one spot all day—and its really sad. So he has to wear them because of how afraid he is."
