UW looking for next Husky mascot as Dubs’ days almost done

If you are a University of Washington fan and didn’t know, Dubs, the school’s live Husky mascot, is retiring after football season.

Picking the next Dubs is more complex than going to a pet store. Members of UW’s athletic administration have worked for months on finding the next Dubs — who will be known as Dubs II.

UW has found a proper breeder and even identified a specific litter that has the future Dubs II – an Alaskan Malamute – in its midst. Around March or April, the school will bring on about six students who will help Dubs manage his various public appearances in his final season. A year later, UW will do it again for Dubs II.

If that’s not enough, the school is also interviewing several families who will take care of Dubs II for the rest of his life, which is around 10 to 12 years. Brian Bowsher, UW’s chief marketing officer, said Dubs II has already been born if not selected.

“It’s too early to tell the traits like fur color and certainly temperament will be a big deciding factor,” Bowsher said. “The goal to make a decision by early February.

“Dubs II will be far enough along in his or her development process and it will enable us to make a decision.”

Bowsher said the current Dubs is turning 10 years old which comes out to 70 in dog years. His handlers and owners have noticed he’s losing a little bit of stamina.

Dubs, on football game days, leads the team onto the field through the purple smoke during pregame introductions.

From there, he goes around different parts of Husky Stadium to interact with alumni and fans.

“As he gets up there in age, that can be more of a challenge,” Bowsher said. “We thought about that even a couple of years ago, that this would be about the time we’d have to prepare for his successor.

“As we got deep into last year, we decided this upcoming season would be his last.”

To pick a successor, Bowsher enlisted the help of Anne-Lise Nilsen, a 2014 UW graduate who has a degree in animal behavior from the school’s psychology department.

Nilsen, a life-long Huskies fan, has more than a decade of experience training dogs. She is also a former student handler for Dubs.

She said Dubs’ responsibilities goes beyond football games. He’s often asked to appear at anything from community events to fundraisers and even weddings upon request.

In all, Dubs works around 60 events throughout a calendar year.

“We have a public figure of the dog and need a dog who is social and enjoys his or her role of greeting the fans,” she said. “It’s not every dog’s cup of tea. ... We want it to have that look of a mascot. That big Malamute coat and that personality that’s friendly and bold enough to handle a stadium of 70,000 people.”

Bowsher said UW’s athletics department interviews potential student handlers every spring.

Nilsen recalled what the process was like when she was a student. After filling out an application, she had to also submit a resume.

She then went before an interview panel who determined if she, or any student, were up for the task of handling Dubs.

“Alaskan Malamutes are not a typical working dog where you can throw the ball, like you see with labs or border collies,” Nielsen said. “They have to know there’s something it in it for them. They have to value that relationship.

“You have to deem your worthiness for them to do anything for you.”

Washington is one of several colleges and/or universities with a live animal mascot. All of them come with their own set of circumstances.

The Air Force Academy’s mascot is the falcon. But Air Force doesn’t have any old bird. It has a white phase Arctic gyrfalcon — Aurora — a type of breed that only makes up around five percent of the falcon population, according to The Academy.

And there’s Colorado. Any student who works with Ralphie The Buffalo, must be comfortable alongside a 1,200-pound animal who can reach speeds up to 25 mph.

“We joke in the office about things we learned in our sports marketing classes,” said Bowsher, who previously worked at Marquette and Miami. “There are things we encounter and the things not covered and this for sure ranks up there.”

Bowsher said UW is also in the process of finding a home and owners for Dubs II. He said the school is working with Tyee Club members and donors who’ve expressed interested in the past.

The families selected will meet with a panel who will evaluate certain criteria. They’ll be rated on if they have a large enough yard and if they have the proper fencing.

“They can be pretty big and shed and eat a lot of food,” Bowsher said. “It’s a lot more work than having a goldfish.”

The dog selected will be the 13th live mascot in school history.

UW’s previous mascots were the Indians and then, Vikings, but both names were dropped for not being appropriate, according to the school.

In 1922, the Associated Students of the University of Washington chose the Husky because of the animal’s associated with the Pacific Northwest and due to Seattle being the “Gateway to the Alaskan frontier.”

Washington has gone through several names ranging from “Frosty” to “Regent Denali” to “King Redoubt” to “Spirit” until it arrived on “Dubs.”

The university held a contest in 2008 and more than 1,400 nominations were entered. Eight names were considered and “Dubs” won after two rounds and more than 20,000 votes.

“They see him as that celebrity fixture but he’s also a dog too,” Nilsen said. “A dog with a pretty good job.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 12:27 PM with the headline "UW looking for next Husky mascot as Dubs’ days almost done."