Duke Dog is the official

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

for the

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public university, public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1908, the institution was renamed in 1938 in honor of the fourth president of the ...

Dukes Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

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

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

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 Duke Dog in the 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 The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

. In 2004, Duke Dog was named a finalist for the

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company founded on July 21, 1994, and specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, with operations primarily in the ...

Mascot Bowl. After eleven weeks of voting, Duke Dog won its matchup each week to finish a perfect 11–0. The next closest mascot finished 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 The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

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 (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

. A fight between the mascots ensued, and Duke Dog inadvertently struck one of the police officers who was trying to end the confrontation."Chicken cheapshots our beloved Duke Dog", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQY3xH6FNNY

References

External links

Duke Dog Pounding
WHSV-TV Dog mascots Mascots introduced in 1982 James Madison Dukes Sun Belt Conference mascots {{mascot-stub