Boo's First Meteorology Camp

Piggy-backing off of last week’s newsletter about how Riley was introduced to sled dogs, “meteorology camp” began shortly after in April of 2020. At the time, I (Hannah) was working in the state emergency operations center (EOC) in logistics. I was working stressful 12 hour days to source and distribute PPE and medical equipment all over the state of Indiana for the COVID pandemic.

One day in the EOC, I received a message from musher friend Blair Braverman out of the blue. This is how it went…

Blair: Q and I started thinking…would you be interested in having Boo for the summer? He’d need to come back here in September to rejoin training with the team, but if you’d like to have some dog company for the next few months, we think he’d have a blast with you. It would probably take some special work/attention on your part because he is not used to house life yet, but I think he would adjust quickly and would love sharing some serious love-time with y’all.

Hannah: BLAIR ARE YOU BLEEPING SERIOUS OH MY GOD

Blair: I’m serious Hannah!!!

Hannah: I just checked my messages and yelled ARE YOU SH*TTING ME in front of the whole EOC 😂 Bler I wanna cry right now haha

Blair: 😭😭😁😁Oh that makes me so happy!!

Hannah: Ok so we do still live with our dad so we have to clear it with him first but I’m ALL IN

Blair: Of course! And you can sleep on it and see if it still seems like something you’re interested in tomorrow lol

Hannah: ITS A YES OH MY GOD

Blair: Seriously?! Omg I’m so excited for you!!!!!! Boo will have ALL THE FEELINGS!!!!!!!

Hannah: SERIOUSLY BLER OH MY GOD. I HAVE ALL THE FEELINGS

Hannah (next day): Slept on it…even more excited that Boo is coming!!

I could not believe that I was about to have a SLED DOG who completed the IDITAROD in my own home!

About a week later, Beth and I drove up to Wisconsin to meet Blair about half way to pick up Boo! The meeting went well, but you could tell Boo was a little nervous and didn’t know what was going on. Flame tagged along on the trip for moral support, but Boo was still anxious. He was not used to being singled out away from the pack, or used to riding in a car.

Before we jumped back in the car to head back to Indiana, Blair had warned us that one of the two dogs was gassy on the way to the meeting point lol.

About 20 minutes into the drive…

Hannah: Boo is the gassy one lol

Blair: Lmao flame is also the gassy one. They were just doubling up on the drive down lol

Boo was quite anxious in the car the rest of the drive home. Beth and I took turns driving, and when we weren’t driving, we sat in the back seat to comfort Boo. He sat on our laps the whole ride, fighting sleep, drooling and shedding everywhere. 

When we arrived home, he was VERY skeptical about going inside the house. Once inside, he paced around constantly for quite a while, very skittish, but it was obviously a big day for him. He did eat and drink right away, which was a good sign. Maybe he remembered us from Doty?

Everything freaked him out…any sudden movements, weird noises from the TV, the dishwasher, etc. He would not let my dad near him. 

Hannah: he’s super skittish around dad so far

Blair: Aww buddy. New people are hard sometimes

I vividly remember telling Riley, “oh my god, Boo’s freaking out, I don’t know if this is going to work.” I had no idea what to expect or how to try and comfort him. He did have a couple accidents in the house from nerves the first night. He wasn’t potty trained, but he wasn’t not potty trained either? He also ran into walls several times lol.

We had a crate in the house for him because he was used to having his own little “dog house”, or an area that he could call his own. We got him in the crate after a lot of coaxing and treats, and everyone went to sleep.

I had a couple days off in a row after that to spend time with Boo and help him acclimate. His personality really started shining during those couple days. The next couple nights when we put him in the crate for bed, he whined. It was so sad. I wanted to comfort him, but didn’t want to create bad habits and make him think that if he whines, we will come see him. Blair said he was probably just having a good time and didn’t want it to end. But he still disliked dad.

Hannah: Making progress. He’s coming out of his crate and allowing my dad to be in the same room as him now. He’s wanting butt scritches.

Blair: butt scritches are very important

Hannah: Omg current situation (sent photo of Boo on the couch next to dad)

Blair: So brave!!! Your dad must have the patience of a saint

Hannah: Haha he’s trying so hard to be Boo’s friend! He still won’t let him take him outside tho

We also gave Boo his first bath ever, because he smelled like the dead animals he had rolled in and had dirt in his fur. A bath is the first step of a dog living inside our house lol. He hated every minute of it. 

Several days went by and Boo was adjusting to pet life very well and bonded with us quickly. He developed a love for couches right away. Soon after, Blair made the announcement on Twitter that Boo had gone to Meteorology Camp for the summer! Meteorology camp was named so because Beth and I are both meteorologists. Of course, Twitter blew up about this announcement and Beth and I had hundreds of new online friends immediately. 

Much of the summer was spent cuddling on the couch, going on adventures at different parks, learning how to live in a house, learning how to be more social (as much as we were able to with COVID precautions), and of course - learning meteorology. 

At this point, Boo had never been bikejoring before, and of course neither had I. But, I had a bike and Blair sent a harness with him, so we gave it a shot! He wasn’t a lead dog, and I had no idea what I was doing, but we did it and it was so fun! Unfortunately we only were able to bikejor a couple times before it got too hot outside. 

A fan on Twitter made Boo some BOO TIES, which were absolutely adorable.

As Riley mentioned last week, he came over to my house a few times during Meteorology Camp to see Boo (and me). Boo did not like Riley…like, at all. Their first meeting was several minutes of Boo barking, growling, and huffing at Riley.

The next time Riley came over, he brought chicken nuggets with him. Boo actually stood in the same room as Riley this time, interested in the nuggies. Eventually, Boo laid on the couch next to Riley and let him pet him a few times. Whenever Riley got too close, Boo would run off into another room though.

One point over the summer, Boo seemed to have developed some sort of an allergy, and licked between his toes on one paw raw. We tried putting Neosporin on it and taping a sock around his foot to force him to leave it alone. You would think he wouldn’t mind it, because it fit just like a bootie he would wear mushing, but no. It was a big deal. Everything is a big deal with Boo lol. He hopped around on three legs for a while and kept trying to take it off. Eventually, he wouldn’t leave the sock on so we were forced to put a cone on him for a few days to let his foot heal. He also hated the cone, to no one’s surprise. He ran into walls and furniture almost every time he stood up. 

When Meteorology Camp came to an end and it was time for Boo to rejoin his team in Wisconsin, Boo was awarded a certificate of completion for his summer studies. 

We made the trek back to Wisconsin to meet Blair and Flame again. Boo was sooo excited to see Blair! When they arrived back home in Mountain, Boo ran into their house and made himself right at home on the couch lol.

Blair: (sends video of Boo jumping on the couch)

Hannah: HAHAHA OMG oops that’s our bad 😂

Blair: I can’t stop laughing

Hannah: We have officially ruined him lol

Blair: He went looking all over the house! I think he was looking for you two ❤️

It would only be one short month until we would be reunited again, but I’ll save that story for next week!

If you’re interested in checking out more of our adventures together throughout Meteorology Camp during the summers of 2020, 2021, and 2022, check out some of our Twitter posts with the hashtag #BooGoesToMeteorologyCamp.