Definitely some boredom issues

I have started leaving Hermes outside for the day while I go to work. I haven't had any marking in the house since those initial couple of days when he was here and getting used to the house and perhaps smelling the old foster dogs. In the backyard, he has gotten into a little mischief by chewing up a frisbee, the bottom of one of his water dishes and some other stuff laying in the yard. I gave him some toys today to see if he will play with them and not get into other things. That was one of the reasons I brought home KD on Friday was to see how this would be, but I didn't end up having time to leave them home together and see how that goes.

Hermes is like Bubby in that he will follow me around the house and be in the room where I and will lay down on a dog bed. He wants to be with me, but he is still nervous about being approached. If I am sitting down, he will come over and if I don't approach him with a hand on top of the head, but instead put my hand down and start petting the side of his head or his neck, he is fine. If I stand over him and come over his head, he will stay away. He is doing better on his walks. We take about 3 a day, 1 in the morning and a couple at night. In the morning, he hasn't been fearful and just stopped and tried to turn around anywhere anymore. He is more confident when walking by fences with dogs barking though he still looks concerned. I have made some more attempts at running with him. I have seen him run in the backyard and he has a really nice stride when he gets going. He is quite fast. I take him on the retractable leash and after he does all his business and has marked a few places, I start a slow jog and he stays a bit behind me. If he gets in front, then he keeps looking back and is worried that I am running after him. If he is behind, he stays pretty close and doesn't stop too often. I tried to pickup the pace and he didn't lag behind anymore, but he never got his stride going, he just trotted a bit more. He isn't the ideal running dog, but he does come along.