It all started at the Arrow Apartments in Bozeman, Montana. River was a student at Montana State University studying Computer Science. Gabrielle moved out west with her cousin Amelia and dog Jimmy. It just so happened that these two ended up moving in right down the street from one another.

The day began like any other day. Wake up, a dog walk. Lunchtime, a dog walk. After dinner, a dog walk. But this evening's dog walk was different, this time something intriguing caught my eye. A girl I had never seen before entered my gaze. She was walking her dog up the sidewalk towards me. I had trained Rawki, my Siberian Husky, his whole life for this moment. We continued to walk towards each other. As we got closer, I purposely let the dog leash loose. This is where Rawki's training came in. He leaned in to sniff the approaching dog causing the cute girl holding the leash to slow down and stop; A perfect opportunity to introduce myself.

After speaking to Gabrielle for the first time, I knew I had to see her again. On my daily walks, it became my objective to have another encounter with this beautiful girl once more. I even increased the frequency of going on walks to improve my chances of seeing her. Rawki liked the additional time outside. It was only a matter of time before I figured out which apartment she lived in. I saw her one-day unloading groceries from the car. This new knowledge directly influenced the route of all future dog walks. Every day, every dog walk, 3 or 4 times a day, I would walk past her place in hopes that I would catch her in passing.

I had just moved out west with my Black Lab Jimmy and cousin Amelia to join my other cousin Ava in Bozeman, Montana. We were new to the area and we were looking to make new friends. Of course, we were also looking to meet new boys. Ava would invite Amelia and I to join her friends at social gatherings. Or we would go downtown to the local bar scene and mingle with the other patrons. After a few weeks, I was starting to get into my routine. Getting used to my new job and which local grocery stores I liked to go to. But there was something else that became routine.

I noticed that a certain boy and his dog would walk past my apartment. While I would sit on the porch and read, I would see this boy and his Husky; Making sure not to be obvious that I was staring. Amelia would be sitting on the couch and notice that he was coming down the street. She would yell, "Hey! Here he comes again!", and we would both stare at him through the window. Amelia and I did not know his name, so we began to joke that he was my "Dog Boyfriend".

Gabrielle:

I worked from home and would leave the doors and windows open to let the breeze through the house. To ensure that my puppy Jimmy did not escape, I would put a wooden doggy gate in the opening of the front door.

River:

I was on my daily mission, I mean dog walk, walking past Gabrielle's apartment. As I approached her apartment this time, I noticed that the door was open. This indicated that someone was home. When I got closer, the head of a Black Lab puppy poked over the top of the barrier. This was my chance. As the dogs greeted each other over the wooden barrier, I walked up to the open front door and looked into the apartment where I made eye contact with Gabrielle. She stopped making lunch in the kitchen and greeted me at the door.

Seeing that Jimmy, her Black lab, wanted to come outside and play with Rawki, my Husky, I knew exactly what I should say next. I made a comment, something along the lines of, "You know, it's not good to keep him locked up in here all day. You two should come on a walk with me." She said yes and off we went.