What could be better than having an iconic college football mascot? How about having two? The history of the Washington Huskies mascot is fascinating, not least because the program has had two mascots since 1995, and neither of them is the original mascot from the 1920s. You’d be barking to not read on.
Who (or What) Is the Washington Huskies Mascot?
Since 2018, Dubs II has been the Huskies’ mascot, the latest in a long line of Alaskan malamutes to fulfill the role. While they may look similar to the untrained eye, the dogs used for the Huskies’ mascot haven’t actually been huskies since 1961.
As a result, the Pac-12 team is the only NCAA program that uses a live animal mascot that is technically different from the official nickname. This hasn’t always been the case, however.
Between 1922 and 1961 — excluding a 10-year period from 1936 where the program was without a live mascot — Washington’s mascot came from a non-hereditary line of Siberian huskies.
Starting with Frosty I in 1922, there were seven different Siberians used as the Huskies’ mascot. The original Washington mascot had a penchant for heading out for a walk, leading a local taxi company to offer him free rides home.
The last of them, King Chinook, took on the role in 1959. He famously ran onto the field during a game with Illinois, forcing a timeout while he was removed from the huddle where he’d made his presence known with sniffs and licks.
Even when the Huskies mascot switched to the Alaskan malamutes, the character continued. King Redoubt — the name of the dog used between 1992 and 1997 — was known to howl along to the national anthem before every game.
MORE: List of College Football Mascots
Due to the size of the animals and other issues around logistics, the live animal Huskies mascot would traditionally only appear at games in Husky Stadium. However, a solution was found to this issue in 1995.
The Husky Dawg was born. A costume was commissioned that would be worn by a rotating trio of university students at games where the distinctive live animal Huskies mascot couldn’t be in attendance. The creator, Brad McDavid, offered a further explanation for the creation of a costumed mascot.
“The feeling was the live mascots were more associated with the football program,” McDavid told the University of Washington Magazine in 2006. “We wanted to create something that could be utilized at a lot of other department events.”
In 1997, the costume version of the Huskies mascot was renamed “Harry the Husky” after a public vote.
Lee Harris, one of the original trio to be the student behind the costume, estimated that he’d lose seven to 10 pounds of water weight during a football game and that it would take 30-45 minutes to wash the costume clean after each use.
Thirteen years later, the original costume was retired and replaced with a new one that is still used as the Huskies’ mascot to this day. However, neither animal nor costume was the original mascot of the University of Washington.
What Was the Original Washington Huskies Mascot?
Established in 1889, the early Washington college football teams weren’t even called the Huskies. Originally referred to as the Indians and Vikings, they were locally known as the “purple and gold” in deference to the uniform colors, as neither nickname was deemed suitable or appropriate.
In 1920, there was a vote to make an official mascot for the Washington program, and the “Sundodger” nickname was born. The mascot then was a three-foot-tall gold statue known as Sunny Boy.
However, that name wasn’t to last. Many people took umbrage with the “Sundodger” nickname, taking it to be a derogatory swipe at Washington’s rainy reputation. So, in 1922, the Associated Students of the University of Washington voted for change.
The Huskies — and their mascot — were born in February 1922. While reasons behind the use of a dog ranged from it being easy to make into a cartoon logo to it being easy to use in newspaper headlines. The committee believed that the husky represented Washington’s standing as the “Gateway to the Alaskan Frontier.”
What Are the Names of the Washington Huskies Mascot?
There have been 14 different Alaskan malamutes and Siberian huskies used as the Washington Huskies mascot, beginning with Frosty I in 1922 up to Dubs II, who has (purple) reigned since 2018. Below is the full list of 14 dogs that have been used.
- Frosty I (1922-1930)
- Frosty II (1930 – 1936)
- Wasky (1946-1947)
- Wasky II (1947-1953)
- Ski (1954-1957)
- Denali (1958)
- King Chinook (1959-1968)
- Regent Denali (1969-1980)
- Sundodger Denali (1981-1992)
- King Redoubt (1992-1997)
- Prince Redoubt (1998)
- Spirit (1999-2008)
- Dubs (2009-2018)
- Dubs II (2018-present)
