The Duke Dog is the official mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 for the James Madison University

James Madison University

James Madison University is a public coeducational research university located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the university has undergone four name changes before settling with James Madison University...

 Dukes. 'Dukes' was made the official nickname in 1947, and was named after the University's president from 1919-1949, Samuel Page Duke. However, the bulldog

Bulldog

Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose...

 was not chosen to represent the Dukes until the 1972-1973 school year.

After a decade of the original costume, Dr. Ray V. Sonner revamped the appearance of the Duke Dog in 1982-83 school year. On November 28, 1982, Duke Dog appeared in JMU's first home game of the men's basketball season, against The Virginia Military Institute

Virginia Military Institute

The Virginia Military Institute , located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state-supported military college and one of six senior military colleges in the United States. Unlike any other military college in the United States—and in keeping with its founding principles—all VMI students are...

.

In 2004, Duke Dog was named a finalist for the Capital One

Capital One

Capital One Financial Corp. is a U.S.-based bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking and savings products...

 Mascot Bowl. After eleven weeks of voting, Duke Dog won its matchup each week to finish a perfect 11-0. The next closest mascot finish with a record of 6-5. Although Duke Dog overwhelmingly won in polling, the contest was based also on scores from a panel of judges, and Monte from the University of Montana ended up winning the contest overall (ironically, JMU had just defeated Montana in the I-AA football championship less than a month prior). Since this incident, Capital One has changed the contest so that the popular vote is the sole determinant of the winner of the Mascot Bowl.

On September 22, 2007, Duke Dog was tackled by Chanticleer, a chicken mascot from Coastal Carolina University

Coastal Carolina University

Coastal Carolina University is an independent, state-supported, liberal arts university in Conway, South Carolina, USA, located eight miles west of Myrtle Beach. Founded in 1954, Coastal became an independent university in 1993. The University enrolls approximately 8,300 students on its campus...

. A fight between the mascots ensued, and the Duke Dog inadvertently struck one of the police officers who was trying to end the confrontation.

External links

• Duke Dog Pounding WHSV-TV