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This International Dog Day, we look back on our live mascots, including Wasky, a fraternity member and very good boy.

By Caitlin Klask | August 26, 2025

You might have heard about Kingston, the Yorkshire Terrier who was lost in a hurricane in Louisiana in 2020 and turned up just a few months ago at a fraternity house in Mississippi. Kingston happily reunited with his owner after fraternity members scanned him for a microchip, but for one week, the Kappa Sigmas adopted him as one of their own.

But did you know that five Alaskan huskies were fraternity members here at the UW?

Let’s rewind to 1920s Seattle. The University of Washington didn’t have a mascot, and this very magazine (then called the Washington Alumnus) championed the name Sundodgers, running an illustration of a little man named Sonny holding an umbrella. The name was meant to poke fun at the rainy weather of our Pacific Northwest home. It lasted two seasons.

Enter: Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a fraternity at the UW. After a mascot committee formed by the ASUW decided on the Huskies, SAE adopted the very first live mascot in UW history, an Alaskan husky puppy named Frosty. He wandered Seattle making friends, occasionally hitching a ride from a local taxi to get back home to the SAE house. His successor, Frosty II, took over as live mascot from 1930–1936, also living with the SAE men.

Frosty I, the UW’s very first live mascot, strikes a pose. Photo from the UW Magazine archives, circa 1923.

The Wasky Dynasty

In 1946, an Alaskan malamute named Ricky and a Siberian husky named Psyche had a litter of eight puppies in Fairbanks, Alaska. Psyche was a famous wheel-dog on a racing team. The two traveled with their litter to the UW for the selection of the next live mascot. The eventual inductee was named Wasky, a portmanteau of Washington and husky. The name was submitted by a student named Marie L. Vanderspek, who won a yearbook and football tickets for her contribution to Husky history.

Much like Dubs I and Dubs II, Wasky I and Wasky II were both called “Wasky” interchangeably, and to add to the confusion, both were nicknamed “Ski,” which was the name of Wasky II’s successor in 1954. As a dog admirer, not a dog detective, I will avoid confusing the three dogs and instead refer to the period of 1946–1957 as the Wasky Dynasty.

Once again, Sigma Alpha Epsilon adopted Wasky as its own. He became a staple around campus, even meeting the Oregon duck mascot in 1951, which caused a stir with local animal rights advocates. (Both Wasky and Puddles are said to have escaped unharmed.)

Wasky poses regally for a photo in the 1940s.
Wasky poses regally for a photo in the 1940s.

Wasky captivated fans with his bright blue eyes.

Wasky, a big fluffy white dog, rolls in the grass.
Wasky and his trainer walking through a gate.

Wasky was selected from a litter of eight puppies born to an Alaskan malamute and Siberian husky.

Wasky jumps over a hurdle with a trainer.
Wasky jumps over a hurdle with a trainer.

We’re sometimes asked about the verbiage of our live mascot. Why are we called the Huskies when Dubs II is obviously a malamute? It’s not a simple answer.

The husky was chosen as a metaphor for Seattle’s reputation as the gateway to Alaska, but all UW mascots for the past 66 years have been Alaskan malamutes. To be clear, a malamute is not a husky. They’re both arctic dogs, but huskies (both Alaskan and Siberian) tend to be smaller than their malamute “cousins.” And both breeds have represented the University of Washington on the football field, but we haven’t had a husky mascot since 1959, the final Alaskan Husky of a 30-year reign.

That was Denali, gifted to the UW by the University of Alaska.

Denali, our last Alaskan husky

If you’re wondering why Denali doesn’t quite look like a husky, that’s because Alaskan huskies are not bred for their looks. Breeders often mix Siberian huskies with other dog breeds for optimized sled racing, like greyhounds for speed, border collies for intelligence or labradors for friendliness. Perhaps Denali was better suited to pull a sled than represent the UW because after one year of service (without attending a single football game), he retired in 1959.

A husky puppy tugs on a bone.
A husky puppy, with brown floppy ears like a terrier, takes a nap.
A husky puppy, with brown floppy ears like a terrier, prowls near a suspicious cat.

Denali was the first mascot to move away from Sigma Alpha Epsilon with an official handler, UW professor Harry Cross, who’d continue to care for UW mascots with his family until 2008. Today, Dubs II lives with his two human siblings, a feline brother and a canine sister in Sammamish.

We won’t imply it was Denali’s fault the UW Huskies are actually malamutes, but from 1959 until today, Alaskan malamutes have ruled the school as live mascots. Perhaps it was a wise decision: easy-going and energetic Dubs II was recently named one of the top “good boys” in college sports by U.S. News and World Report.

UW’s 14 live mascots

  • Frosty I (1922–30)
  • Frosty II (1930–36)
  • Wasky (1946–47)
  • Wasky II (1947-53)
  • Ski (1954–57)
  • Denali (1958)
  • King Chinook (1959–68)
  • Regent Denali (1969–80)
  • Sundodger Denali (1981–92)
  • King Redoubt (1992–97)
  • Prince Redoubt (1998)
  • Spirit (1999–2008)
  • Dubs (2009–2018)
  • Dubs II (2018– )

Photos appear courtesy of UW Magazine and UW Libraries archives.