From "stranger danger" to best friends?

Happy Friday dog lovers! Pence hopes you’ve had a great week. It’s been a rainy one around here, so this is our mood going into the weekend…

If you follow along with our newsletter closely, you probably realized that this was the first week we didn’t send one on Tuesday.

As Hannah mentioned last week, during the warmer months when we aren’t training with the dogs, not as much happens around the the Urban Mushers camp. So we are transitioning to a once-weekly newsletter until training ramps back up.

Read more about this decision in the last newsletter, linked below.

We asked which days you all would prefer receiving the newsletter, and here are the results:

• Monday: 7%

• Tuesday: 7%

• Wednesday: 29%

• Friday: 50%

• Saturday: 7%

As you can see, Friday was the most popular, so that’s what we’re going to run with for now.

If you didn’t get a chance to vote, you can still do so on the poll below!

Okay so let’s get into this week’s story…

Those of you who’ve been following us since the very first Meteorology Camp know that Boo has had his ups and downs with Riley. Boo is very skeptical in general, but with males, it’s a whole other story.

When we (Boo and Riley) first met, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. He almost even seemed very protective of Hannah and her house. I kid you not, I couldn’t even get close enough to pet him. Not even food would get him to let me pet him.

One of the very first times I met him, I brought chicken nuggets with me. While he got a little closer, he still had strong feelings about what I was up to..

No matter what I did, Boo was reluctant to trust me for the longest time. No amount of food or sweet talking could convince him that I was a “okay.” I even tried sitting on the ground so that he was standing over me and felt more confident. But that didn’t work either. He even growled at me a few times!

If I’m being honest, it was frustrating for me. I’ve always been a dog person and can’t recall any other dog that has acted that way with me. Of course there are some dogs that aren’t the friendliest. But those dogs are that way with everyone, not just me.

So I felt singled out with Boo. This dog that was “so sweet and loving” from what everyone said wouldn’t even let me pet him. This went on the entire first summer with Boo.

Fast forward to Doty 2020…

I had my first breakthrough with Boo! Aside from this being my first trip to Doty, it was also the first time I really felt like Boo started to open up to me.

After a long day at the course, Boo was EXHAUSTED when we got back to the hotel. He was literally falling asleep sitting up. He was so exhausted that he let his guard down around me. To this point, it was still a miracle when I got to pet him. He’d never let me get this close, and stay this close.

But as you can see above, he was laying in bed, right next to me! I not only was petting him, but we were laying less than a foot away from each other. I was in utter disbelief! The one and only Boo finally opened up to me (or just forgot I was there because he was too tired… lol).

Here’s the X/Twitter thread from that evening: https://twitter.com/rileyharden/status/1317655563086516224

I was SO excited! I thought maybe we would finally start being on good terms and he’d open up to me even more.

I was mistaken…

While he did let me pet him with a little less apprehension after that night at Doty, he was still very skeptical. Things between him and I didn’t really improve the next year at Meteorology Camp either. Same ole Boo, being frantic and scared any time I would reach my hand out to pet him.

This is how things were for us. Boo would sort of let me pet him during the summers at Meteorology Camp, but by the time he came back the next year, it was like we started back at square one.

Things between Boo and I didn’t really start to change until Boo officially “retired” and came to live in Indiana full time. I think he finally realized “oh crap, I’m stuck with this guy…” When I had to start letting him out and giving him food and water, he gave in and started opening up to me a little more.

Was he snuggling with me right away? Absolutely not, but he let his guard down a lot. Ever since, we’ve been slowly improving our relationship.

Fast forward to this week…

Boo and I are best buds! Freaking look at that guy. Head on my stomach, leg draped over mine…

He’s the biggest cuddle bug with me now! If you would’ve told me 3.5 years ago that Boo and I would be cuddling like this now, I would’ve bet all the money I had that it wouldn’t happen. And this picture is with Hannah not even home! He doesn’t need Hannah around to trust me anymore.

Our whole relationship has been a rollercoaster, but I’m so happy he finally opened up to me. We’ve never been able to figure out exactly what it is with Boo and males. And at the same time, I only have my guesses at what made him finally start trusting me after 3 years.

It’s something I’ve never experienced with any other dog. But I guess Boo is one of a kind after all… While I wish it didn’t take 3 years, I’m glad we’re best buds now!

What are your thoughts? Have you experienced this with any other dogs/breeds before?

Let us know in the comments/replies!