The Washington Huskies is the athletic team name for the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. The team's mascot is a Siberian husky dog. However, the official mascot name for the Washington Huskies has undergone some changes throughout the years. Originally, the Washington Huskies' mascot was named "Victory." Victory was introduced as the school's official mascot in the early 1930s. However, this name did not stick, and the mascot became simply known as the "Husky" for a period of time.
From College Mascot to the Show Ring, Dubs’ Comfort Zone Has No Limits
He’s almost 1½ years old but you should see his social calendar already. And managing it resembles a command central operation.
Dubs is a 75-pound Alaskan Malamute who just happens to be the University of Washington’s mascot and a conformation show dog in the Pacific Northwest.
The university explains why it chose an Alaskan Malamute as opposed to a Siberian Husky on its website.
The point person on Dubs’ incredibly busy schedule is Anne-Lise Nilsen, his trainer, who works closely with Dubs’ family. Davina Gruenstein and her husband, Brent Knudson, have raised Dubs since he was nearly three months old in their Sammamish, Washington (a Seattle suburb), home.
Representing The University of Washington
The coordinated ownership agreement also includes the University of Washington and breeders Dorrit and Mike Evensen (Akaila Alaskan Malamutes), of nearby Snohomish, Washington.
“Coordinating Dubs’ schedule is very much a team effort,” emphasizes Nilsen. “When someone requests Dubs they go to a UW website and complete an appearance request form, which then goes to a form in which we coordinate availability of the humans in Dubs’ life. The first step is: Are Davina and Brent available to transport Dubs to the event for which he was requested? The next element is: Do we have student handlers available (fulltime UW students) to attend the event with him? And while he is still in the training phase I am available to attend, as well.”
Baby Dubs – he was born Jan. 4, 2018 – poses for photographers a couple of months later. He is the University of Washington’s 14th live mascot. He and his Alaskan Malamute predecessor are distant relatives, having shared the same grandfather. Photo courtesy University of Washington.
While Dubs remains in training, Nilsen must be on-hand for every appearance.
Another key priority is maintaining a schedule for the young dog that does not overwork him. “We like to keep events less than 45 minutes, provide him adequate breaks, and avoid back-to-back or overly stressful appearances,” adds Nilsen. “Dubs loves to work and attend his mascot duties, but it is up to us to maintain a schedule that promotes him continuing to love his job while not overworking him. Once we determine we can do an event, I contact the event point of contact and let him/her know Dubs is confirmed or is unavailable, then we work out the finer details.”
Nilsen’s role is part-time – she is the manager of a dog daycare/boarding/grooming/training facility in nearby Mukilteo, Washington. Most weeks include about five hours of Dubs-related activities.
Front and Center
Dubs is front and center at all Husky home football games and at many other UW sports events throughout the school year. And this year, that included a Rose Bowl appearance in Pasadena, California, Jan. 1.
When it was decided that Dubs I would be retired, Nilsen played the lead role in finding his replacement. She found the Evensens, evaluated the litter, and was on the committee that selected the owners/caretakers and began training him at eight weeks of age.
The committee included Nilsen; the Evensens; Rachel Doyle, the University of Washington Department of Athletics director of marketing; and Brian Bowsher, the UW associate athletic director and chief marketing officer.
Early morning Dec. 28, 2018, Dubs stands in front of one of the University of Washington buses, which transported the Rose Bowl-bound Team Dubs, Husky Marching Band, and Cheer. Photo courtesy Davina Gruenstein.
Socializing Dubs
The early stages focused on socializing him to a variety of environments in which he would be eventually be navigating as the mascot. Next up was learning to sit/pose for photos with fans, interacting with boosters, learning fun UW-themed “party tricks” and his most public role of leading the football team out of the tunnel and onto the field on game days before 60,000-plus cheering fans.
“Aside from the dog-training element, I also work with his family to make certain they are supporting him in a fashion that sets him up for a fun, healthy career and following the same level of consistency in the home life that supports his training as a mascot,” adds Nilsen.
His UW duties take precedent, but Dubs will likely return to the show ring in June or July and will be handled by either Nilsen or Dorrit Evensen.
Evensen adds, “Davina and Brent do a great job with him. They will bathe him and trim his nails before each show. And the nice thing about our breed is that there is not much to do to get them show-ready. If they have the right type of coat like Dubs, it is easy.”
Dubs is a quick learner and if he has been out of the show ring for weeks, one of the handlers will take him to a handling class for a refresher a week before.
Rose Bowl Appearance
Between appearances and shows, Dubs lives with Gruenstein, Knudson, and their two children — Jack, 12, and Maggie, 10, in a residential neighborhood.
He loves hugs, walks, chasing Dasher — a 3-year-old Ragdoll cat, and playing with Lucy Belle — a 6-year-old Labrador Retriever/American Pitbull mix and his household canine partner-in-crime.
It’s playtime for Maggie, 10; Dubs; Jack, 12; and Lucy, a 6-year-old Labrador Retriever/American Pitbull mix, at their Sammamish, Washington, home. Photo courtesy YiLiPhotography.com.
He joins the family on outings whenever possible. Dogs are not usually allowed at the kids’ sporting events, but the perky Malamute joins the group on hikes, camping trips and road trips, and meals at pet-friendly restaurants.
But their most memorable – and Dubs’ first on-the-job road trip – was to the Rose Bowl last December.
He and his family (along with Nilsen and the Husky Marching Band) took a charter flight from Seattle to Los Angeles Dec. 28. They stayed at a downtown Los Angeles hotel room – Dubs and his family in one room and his trainer in the other – and attended numerous UW events the following days prior to the Jan. 1 game.
On game day, they bussed to the stadium, where Dubs assumed his popular on-the-field roles, this time in front of a crowd of 90,000-plus and a nationwide television audience. Following the game, Team Dubs bussed to the Burbank airport for its charter flight home. “It was a long day,” confesses Gruenstein, “but Dubs was a trooper with all of the challenges. It’s obvious, he’s loving his job.”
UW’s first mascot was a hunk of wood that got around
Sunny Boy greets visitors in the lobby of the Alumni House.
One of the welcome sights of football season will be watching King Redoubt, the UW football team’s Alaskan Malamute mascot, prancing and howling along the Husky Stadium sidelines.
But cute, furry Husky dogs haven’t always held the mascot job. For three years (1920-23), the UW’s mascot wasn’t furry, didn’t prance or howl. Heck, it wasn’t even alive. It was Sunny Boy, a 3 1/2-foot, gold-painted wooden statue. And despite being a 70-pound still object, he sure got around.
A sculptured replica of the happy-faced character Sunny, who appeared in the University’s lusty humor magazine Sun Dodger, in 1919, Sunny Boy was whittled into being by Ballard artist Maurice S. Holcomb to be a symbol of “Joe College,” dressed in a bow tie, holding books under one arm and a football under the other. Behind him are the four columns originally part of the first University building (located in downtown Seattle).
He represented the “ideal Washingtonian—happy, jovial, confident, powerful and above all, a good sport”—according to one 1920s press report.
But let’s get real. As a mascot, Sunny was a dud. The public never warmed up to the hunk of wood, and the name Sun Dodger fell out of favor as Northwesterners no longer wanted a name that maligned their climate. So in 1923, the name Sun Dodgers was junked in favor of Huskies. And Sunny Boy was dispatched to a fraternity trophy case.
Then, for some reason, he became popular. His most popular episode appears to be somewhat disputed. According to one story, he was discovered in the basement of a Laurelhurst rooming house before the 1929 UW-Chicago game and was taken by Husky rooters to Chicago, but he never returned. Some said he was simply abandoned in the Heartland.
Another story says fraternity pranksters boxed and shipped the little guy to the Midwest. In any event, he somehow ended up in South Bend, Ind., in the hands of Mr. and Mrs. W.G. Ponader. Not sure what to do with their new visitor, they put him in the back yard, where he spent the next 23 years. It wasn’t always a peaceful coexistence. “Believe me, there were several times when he almost landed in our fireplace,” Mrs. Ponader told the press.
A cover from an issue of the campus humor magazine Sun Dodger has an early rendition of the original Sunny Boy.
When R. Bronsdon “Curly” Harris, then executive director of the UW Alumni Association, mentioned the legend of Sunny Boy to a sportswriter before the 1948 UW-Notre Dame game, the story received a lot of play in the papers. Turns out a curious gardener found Sunny in the Ponader yard, did a little research and discovered Sunny’s rich link to UW history. In ceremonies prior to the Notre Dame game, Sunny was returned to Harris, UW President Raymond B. Allen and Athletic Director Harvey Cassill. The UW was thrilled to get him back and the farmer was thrilled to get rid of him. “I used him for a scarecrow for awhile,” Ponader told Harris.
The former mascot came back to his new home in the alumni association offices, where he enjoyed a quiet life for the next four and a half decades. Then, in June 1994, he was stolen by fraternity ne’er-do-wells. An anonymous tip led authorities to find Sunny in Issaquah a few days later, but not before the school received calls demanding a ransom, calls blaming the theft on Washington State University, and one call reporting the statue to be in Hawaii.
For the past three years, though, Sunny has been safe and sound, chained to a railing in the Alumni House, where he stands guard in the lobby. Some who enter the alumni offices never notice the smiling, gold, short little man in the bow tie who once was the victim of pranks and once served as the University’s mascot.
University of Washington Mascot
University of Washington is a public research university situated in Seattle, USA. Founded in 1861, this learning institution is considered one of the oldest in the West Coast. It features a highly regarded medical school and provides quality of education which is comparable to an Ivy League.
Below are the latest University of Washington mascot info:
However, this name did not stick, and the mascot became simply known as the "Husky" for a period of time. In the mid-1950s, the Washington Huskies' mascot underwent another name change. This time, the mascot was named "Prince Alaskan," a nod to the breed of the Siberian husky.
Dubs and Harry the Husky
Social Campus Site
UW has 3 campuses: the largest primary university in the Seattle District and two in Bothell and Tacoma. University of Washington occupies more than 500 buildings, with approximately 20 million gross square feet of space. This area included the UW Plaza, conference center and university tower.
This university’s research budget has already passed the $1.0 billion milestone in 2006. The funds came from several peer-reviewed research proposals. Studies show that UW’s research budget constantly ranks among the top five in both private and public universities in the country.
UW is the largest beneficiary of federal research funds among public universities. It’s the second in the list of all private and public universities. This position was held by UW each year ever since 1974.
Prince Alaskan became the beloved face of the Washington Huskies for many years. However, in 1995, the university decided to change the mascot name once again. This time, the mascot was named "Harry the Husky." Harry the Husky is a playful and spirited representation of the Washington Huskies' athletic program. He can be seen at various sporting events, supporting and encouraging the team and its fans. Harry the Husky has become an integral part of the Washington Huskies' identity. He represents the strength, loyalty, and determination of the university and its athletes. The mascot's name reflects the strong connection between the university and the community, as "Harry" is a common name for male Siberian huskies in the Pacific Northwest. Overall, the Washington Huskies' mascot has evolved over time, but its current representation, Harry the Husky, has become a beloved figure for fans and athletes alike. The name Harry captures the essence of the university's spirit and tradition, making it an iconic symbol for the Washington Huskies' athletic program..
Reviews for "The Pride of the Pacific Northwest: What the Washington Huskies Mascot Name Means to Fans"
1. Linda - 2 stars
I really didn't like the Washington Huskies mascot name. I think it's unoriginal and overused. There are so many other unique and creative names that could have been chosen. The Huskies just seem like a generic choice. Also, considering their location in Washington, a state known for its beautiful scenery, the name doesn't really reflect that. Overall, I think the mascot name could have been much better.
2. Ryan - 1 star
I cannot understand why they chose the name Washington Huskies for their mascot. It's such a basic and common name. It lacks any creativity or originality. Additionally, as a fan of Washington sports teams, I feel like they missed an opportunity to promote a stronger sense of state pride. The name doesn't represent the unique culture and heritage of Washington. I would have preferred a mascot name that truly reflects the spirit and values of the state.
3. Samantha - 3 stars
The Washington Huskies as a mascot name is decent, but it doesn't really resonate with me. It feels like a safe and predictable choice. I wish they had chosen something more exciting and memorable. While I understand that huskies are associated with strength and resilience, it's just not a name that gets me excited to support the team. I think they could have done better in selecting a mascot name that truly captures the characteristics and essence of Washington.