{"id":210042,"date":"2024-02-26T07:30:46","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T12:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=210042"},"modified":"2024-04-01T10:16:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T14:16:28","slug":"with-the-changing-of-the-collar-jonathan-xv-becoming-uconns-top-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/02\/with-the-changing-of-the-collar-jonathan-xv-becoming-uconns-top-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"With the ‘Changing of the Collar,’ Jonathan XV Becoming UConn\u2019s Top Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"

He\u2019s surveyed his vast kingdom, one campus sidewalk at a time. He\u2019s accepted treats from his loyal subjects, sniffed out the scents of Storrs, and (mostly) aced the protocol expected of the heir to a distinguished legacy.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time. Jonathan XV is ready to become UConn\u2019s top dog.<\/p>\n

The 10-month-old Siberian husky will officially take over as UConn\u2019s mascot in a \u201cChanging of the Collar\u201d ceremony Sunday at halftime on Gampel Pavilion\u2019s center court during the men\u2019s basketball game.<\/p>\n

While starting the next era of the UConn mascot tradition, it also marks the transition of Jonathan XV\u2019s de facto big brother, Jonathan XIV, to a more relaxed \u201cemeritus\u201d status as he approaches his 11th birthday this fall.<\/p>\n

In the time since Jonathan XV was publicly introduced<\/a> last June, he has been going through regular training and reinforcement of appropriate behaviors, and learning to follow the lead of the older Jonathan and his handlers from the Alpha Phi Omega<\/a> service fraternity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis training will never \u2018end,\u2019 but week by week we\u2019ve watched him grow, learn, and adjust to our expectations,\u201d says Laura Centanni \u201925 (CAHNR), a co-chair of APO\u2019s Husky Committee, which leads the fraternity\u2019s work to care for the dogs along with a local host family.<\/p>\n

Jonathan XV has been quickly adapting to life in the limelight, becoming more confident every day as he\u2019s approached by adoring fans during his walks around campus with Jonathan XIV. That confidence also shines in crowds, which will come in handy as he visits Gampel Pavilion, Rentschler Field, and other UConn Athletics venues.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s truly a natural when it comes to games,\u201d Centanni says. \u201cThe first time I took him to a game, it was like I could see him absorbing the energy of the crowd, and he immediately stood up straighter and had this intense light in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen him more focused than when he\u2019s courtside at a basketball game \u2013 except maybe when he\u2019s waiting for his dinner,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan
Jonathan XV sits on a table in front of Andy Bessette ’75 (CLAS), President Radenka Maric and Chair Dan Toscano ’87 (BUS), after being introduced to the University community at a meeting of the Board of Trustees at the Wilbur Cross Building on June 28, 2023. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jonathan XV was born April 19, 2023, and was publicly introduced two months later at a UConn Board of Trustees meeting as a ball of fluffy charm, with brilliant blue eyes in a face with markings that mirror the Husky logo.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also grown more gangly as he continues toward his anticipated final weight of about 55 to 60 lbs. That\u2019s about the size of the all-white Jonathan XIII who\u2019d preceded the current Jonathan XIV, who weighs in at a muscular 77 lbs.<\/p>\n

Much of Jonathan XV\u2019s progress in his training seems to come from emulating his big brother, just as that Jonathan did when learning as a puppy from Jonathan XIII.<\/p>\n

\u201cJonathan XV looks up to his brother. He follows XIV around constantly and always vies for his attention,\u201d says Jenna Epstein \u201924 (CLAS), who is co-chair with Centanni of the APO Husky Committee. \u201cJonathan XIV is such a role model for XV, and XV will have big paws to fill, but he\u2019ll have the best teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huskies named Jonathan have represented UConn dating back about 90 years. The name was picked in honor of Jonathan Trumbull, the last colonial governor and first state governor of Connecticut, and Alpha Phi Omega has helped to care for the Jonathans since the 1970s.<\/p>\n

The 14th and 15th Jonathans quickly developed a strong brotherly love when the younger dog arrived on campus last spring as a puppy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is truly unbelievable how quickly he is growing up. He loves his walks on campus and meeting all his fellow Huskies at events,\u201d Epstein says. \u201cHe gets so excited when he’s around other people’s energy and just adores being around people and getting lots of attention. XV truly loves to be the star of the show and he knows when it’s time to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Jonathan XIV, retirement promises a slower pace as he eases into a quieter life as UConn\u2019s elder statesdog.<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan
Jonathan XIV and UConn Police K9 Officer Tildy share a heart-shaped ice cream cake for Valentine’s Day in the Dairy Bar on Feb. 14, 2024. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He\u2019ll still accompany Jonathan XV on daily walks, though, along with attending many campus events — and, of course, going on ice cream dates with his special gal pal, K9 Tildy of the UConn Police Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll get to do all of the things he loves the most,\u201d Centanni says. \u201cHe\u2019ll enjoy watching his little brother take the reins on basketball games and other big, loud events \u2013 but don\u2019t worry, he\u2019ll still get plenty of excitement and playtime from his handlers and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Centanni, Epstein, and other APO members also say that being part of two mascots\u2019 careers has been a special part of their own college experiences, just as generations of previous handlers experienced with earlier Jonathans.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to work with these boys and see XV grow up is the most rewarding experience and such a massive privilege,\u201d Epstein says, describing how Jonathan fell asleep in her arms for hours as a little puppy when he first came home to campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cXIV and XV are magnificent dogs and to know and love them is one of the greatest honors,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 10-month-old Siberian husky will officially take over as UConn\u2019s mascot in a \u201cChanging of the Collar\u201d ceremony Sunday at halftime on Gampel Pavilion\u2019s center court during the men\u2019s basketball game<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":210034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2298,1712,2224,99,2235,2227,2234,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1932],"class_list":["post-210042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animal-science","category-athletics","category-cahnr","category-student-life","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-university-life","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-06 15:41:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210042"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211881,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210042\/revisions\/211881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/210034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210042"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=210042"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=210042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}