Alaskan malamute and former UW canine mascot Dubs I died April 3, generating a storm of posts on social media as fans remembered the dog who brought smiles and woo-woos to Husky Stadium from 2009 to 2019.
“You don't see him all the time in these last years, and especially with the pandemic and everything, but just knowing that he isn't there is always hard,” Anne-Lise Nilsen, former student handler for Dubs I, said.
The UW athletics department began taking online submissions for the name of the new dog mascot in 2008, eventually narrowing the list to Admiral, Dubs, King, Koda, Legend, Reign, Spirit, and Sundodger. More than 20,000 votes were cast online before Dubs was announced as the new mascot name.
Dubs I followed in the pawprints of 12 live mascots, including 10 other Alaskan Malamutes. While he wasn’t the first UW dog, the furry malamute began a new era of “Dubs” mascots, with Dubs II taking on mascot duties after Dubs I’s retirement in 2019.
“He's the OG Dubs,” Nilsen, who is now the trainer for Dubs II, said. “And he got to really kind of set, ‘This is what we are looking for with our mascot,’ and it was because of his personality, because of his temperament. His owners gave him the full package of making sure he's living a full, healthy, happy life at home so that he can do his job on campus.”
Fredy Esquivel, a student handler for Dubs I from 2016 to 2017, said the dog even got along with Esquivel’s two youngest daughters, who would occasionally visit.
“He would just hang out with them and sit with them,” Esquivel said. “He was part of their family, and he was part of ours.”
Nilsen graduated from the UW in 2014, but would make surprise appearances at football games to see Dubs I.
“He would see me from a distance and he would just get the zoomies and just full spin,” Nilsen said. “It's really special for a dog that's loved by so many to have that personal connection.”
Esquivel also felt the love when his family would attend football games after he graduated and Dubs would recognize them, spinning and shaking in excitement.
Anne-Lise Nilsen fist bumps Dubs I at her graduation in 2014. Courtesy of Anne-Lise Nilsen
“I get kind of emotional thinking about him,” Esquivel said. “He is just such an awesome, awesome dog.”
Student handlers go through a process involving a mixture of applications, interviews, and a one-on-one meeting with the dog himself. When Esquivel met Dubs I during his interview, he was tasked with walking the dog across the Hec Ed Bridge. Midway through the bridge crossing, Dubs I stopped.
“He looked up at me, and I looked down at him. And I know we're kind of at this point where he's saying, ‘Am I going to be able to trust you?’”
Esquivel reassured him and the two made it back across the bridge with ease, solidifying their trust in each other, he said.
Nilsen had the opportunity to walk across the graduation stage with Dubs I in 2014, graduating with a psychology degree and specializing in animal behavior.
With an obvious love for his job — and for armpit scratches — Dubs I was a fan favorite, attending photo ops, running onto the field at Husky Stadium during football games, and meeting thousands of adoring fans.
“My favorite part, probably, of all of the different events, was always entering a room with Dubs,” Nilsen said. “He would literally walk in and just give the big ‘woo’ and just announce his presence.”
Dubs I was 12 at the time of his death, living from Nov. 15, 2008, to April 3, 2021. He spent the last two years of his life retired from his UW duties and living with his Seattle family.
“He had a true love of what he did,” Esquivel said. “He loved it, and you could tell that he loved it. It was never a burden to him.”