Hercules Boss

It is difficult to know exactly what a dog is thinking at any moment, because they obviously cannot tell you directly. Instead, a dog tells you how he feels and what he is thinking about in more sublime ways, like the wagging of a tail or the way they run to greet you. Hercules was a dog who communicated his happiness in the comfortable way that he slept on the couch, and the aloof way in which he would tromp through the woods sniffing and scratching at the ground. He lived a life that dogs should live, one of peace and enjoyment. Enough toys with squeakers to remove. Enough food to eat until he started to look a little heavy as he matured. Enough sunshine to bask and warm himself in as he lay in the grass, adrift in his own dog world. And enough love from his family to go through the day as happy as he was the previous one.

Hercules was the epitome of a dog. He was gentle and patient with everyone, and never hurt anyone in the slightest. He was loving and loyal, always ready to spend time with his mom and his dad when they returned home. He was playful when he wanted to be and he was always ready for a game of tug-of-rope. He was adventurous and friendly and made friends with all of the neighborhood dogs and roamed all over the neighborhood as if the entire area had no boundaries and no laws that contained him. He was nurturing to Clover, a dog that came to join us as a small puppy and grew to be a joy in her own right, thanks in large part to Hercules’s example.

Hercules is a dog that can have no replacement, not that any dog can ever replace another. His quirks were his own, the way that he would bark was distinctly his sound, even the way he snuffled and pawed through the dirt searching for treasures was distinct in his own way. There was a relaxed regal nature to Hercules when he rested on his spot on the couch, as if he was merely waiting for the world to come to him. There was a shine in his eyes when he saw you that showed the love from within his doggy soul. And there was a warmth to his presence and a feeling that the world was better just because he was near.