Is it time for fresh blood in UGA’s Dawghouse?
Does the early death of Uga VIII mean changes are needed in the mascot line? (Associated Press)
The second straight premature death of an Uga mascot, this one after serving just six games, has prompted a lot of discussion both inside and outside the Bulldog Nation about what’s wrong with Sonny Seiler’s proud line of all-white English bulldogs.
As Matt Hinton of Rivals.com put it, “even for a breed with notorious cardiac and respiratory problems and zero tolerance for heat, the Ugas are beginning to resemble the mascot version of the royal hemophiliacs of Europe: Blue-blooded, inbred and increasingly feeble beyond function.”
The two words I’ve heard most from Georgia fans since Uga VIII’s death last week are “fresh blood,” as in a belief that Seiler needs to either abandon the current line that links back in circuitous fashion to the original Uga, give up on restricting the mascot’s job to only pure white bulldogs (one reason substitute Russ isn’t deemed qualified to be the permanent mascot) or at least introduce some hardier stock into the breeding of the line.
So I put the question to JD, a UGA fan who’s also a breeder of English bulldogs: What’s the word on the breeding circuit about the Uga line? Two sickly ones in a row died young. Is it a matter of Sonny needing to freshen the bloodline?
“Definitely,” JD replied. “Sonny has some legitimate health problems in his line. It is not standard for a bulldog to die so young. Average age of a bulldog is 10.”
What would Seiler need to do to strengthen the line and yet still maintain the link to the original Uga?
“He needs to engage in a planned breeding program,” JD said. ” If necessary, buy a quality female or two and then breed to the reigning Uga. That would improve his line (healthwise). Problem is when you have serious health problems, there is an ethical issue on whether you should breed that line any further.”
Some fans have even suggested that UGA look elsewhere than Seiler’s line for a new mascot. One popular suggestion has been the all-white bulldog puppy held up last week by Isaiah Crowell on signing day. JD says the pup, named Magical Munson Woods, was bred by an Athens area fan, Glenn Lyles, with the sire being a dog owned by my high school classmate Mike “Big Dawg” Woods (the ominpresent fan who paints a bulldog on his bald head). The upside of naming that dog as Uga IX would be not only a fresh bloodline, but the school would have a mascot who lived close enough to Athens to attend many more UGA athletic events than the Savannah-based Seiler mascots.
But the chances of the university abandoning an arrangement of more than five decades with a high-profile alum like Seiler seems highly unlikely.
So what can be done? JD believes Seiler “probably has to get off his idea of an unbroken line. … Bring in some new blood from some quality show kennels.”
The situation is complicated, JD said, because many reputable breeders “won’t breed with Sonny because of the quality of his male and the in-line health problems (the first rule of breeding is always breed your female to the best available male) and his restrictive breeding agreement that the owner of the female must sign” about maintaining secrecy and forgoing any marketing rights.
The bottom line, JD says, is that Seiler has to “swallow his pride and accept some major changes.”
What do you think? Do we really need an unbroken line dating back to the original Uga or would it be better for Seiler to start the line over? Should UGA look to another breeder? What would you think of an Uga who wasn’t all-white?
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415 comments Add your comment
Top Dog
February 9th, 2011
9:22 pm
It’s Uga Not UGA!
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
9:23 pm
Wow. And I thought they shot Ole Yeller.
Russ
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
9:28 pm
Top Dog,
It’s OK. You can call me Russ I.
Russ I
oakwood dawg
February 9th, 2011
9:33 pm
Our dawg is named Hairy so we need a solid white bulldog with lots of hair. Give me a dog with hair, long wonderful hair, here baby, there mommy, everwhere daddy, daddy.
Ole Yeller Dawg
February 9th, 2011
9:34 pm
@Russ:
That was just in the movie…….you don’t believe everything you see in movies….do you?
burnin dawg
February 9th, 2011
9:36 pm
We keep the Seiler dawgs and they have to be white because it is tradition. We may have lost some games, but we cannot abandon our traditions. Damn good dawgs! Step up and play some football men! Go DAWGS!
shane
February 9th, 2011
9:36 pm
must stay all white
NENE - HOA
February 9th, 2011
9:39 pm
All black for a nice change
1962 DAWG
February 9th, 2011
9:45 pm
Hundreds of dogs die every year due to some form of cancer, just as they do from heart attacks. Why should we hold the family that’s supplied the University with bulldawgs for over 50 years responsible?
Cancer is what it is, has nothing to do with breeding.
I think we should trust Sonny and UGA to resolve this however they please.
I for one as a DAWG fan will support whatever bloodline they decide to put on the field.
Delta Flight Attendent
February 9th, 2011
9:55 pm
1962 DAWG Cancer has noting to do with breeding?
George Burns smoked his whole life and lived to be 100. He never got CANCER because he didn’t have the gene to help it grow.
bhamdawg
February 9th, 2011
9:57 pm
Uga should definitely be solid white! Introduce new blood to keep the line healthy!
NENE - HOA
February 9th, 2011
10:00 pm
Colonel Mengele……Can you help settle this?
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:03 pm
Yeller,
They don’t let dogs in movie theaters.
Russ I
Delta Flight Attendent
February 9th, 2011
10:04 pm
Uga VIII didn’t make it because the people at UGA Painted Russ’ Butt. Russ put a curse on Uga VIII.
Ole Yeller Dawg
February 9th, 2011
10:04 pm
@Russ:
If I were you, I would look into retaining an attorney……seems like a clear cut discrimination case if you ask me.
Delta Flight Attendent
February 9th, 2011
10:06 pm
Ole Yeller got the Hydraphobie. They had to shoot him.
Pitbull
February 9th, 2011
10:07 pm
I think we ought to get a poodle. The Prancing Poodles! What a great name. I mean, we have been in terrible physical condition the last several years. So why not!
1962 DAWG
February 9th, 2011
10:07 pm
Flight attendant
George burns chewed cigars more than he smoked. If he had of smoked 3 packs of short Camels a day he probably would have been dead at age 50 with lung cancer!!! Regardless of his genes!!
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:07 pm
Delta,
That was just part of the initiation.
All the UGA mascots have to go through it.
You wouldn’t understand.
Russ I
burnin dawg
February 9th, 2011
10:12 pm
Dave,
You sir, are a moron! If the dog had originally been all black….then we would want him to remain all black. It is about tradition, how dare you try to make it about race! Grow a friggin brain dummy. I wish you were within arms length, FOOL.
Delta Flight Attendent
February 9th, 2011
10:13 pm
We just make the new girls get a Brazilian. I am sure that hurts more than the Krylon over spray on your nads missing sack. LOL
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:13 pm
Pitbull,
Leave your sexual fantasies out of it.
This is serious.
Russ I
AltamahaDawg
February 9th, 2011
10:19 pm
So there is a mascot. He dies the very Day the new one is born. School is without a mascot for a year and change, then the process repeats 8 times in 55 years? 40 out of 55 yrs there was an Uga on the field.? That’s what you are saying. Are you sure about that?
Wouldn’t the actual math be, they SERVED an average of 6.87 yrs? That’s all you can determine from the numbers you know. And that the mode and median has been 9 yrs. (living well over 10 yrs by your assumptions)
Again, as if it’s fair to average in events with no relevance to your point you were trying to make with this exercise.
Delta Flight Attendent
February 9th, 2011
10:20 pm
Why do you think Sonny wanted an all white dog in the first place? His pride is in the fact it is SOLID WHITE for a reason for damn sure.
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:21 pm
Delta,
Good to hear some of the old traditions have survived the Northwest merger.
Hope those burns have healed up.
Russ I
AltamahaDawg
February 9th, 2011
10:23 pm
And perhaps one could speculate that cancer was in the breeding IF the 7 dogs before him had died from it. Or even one.
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:24 pm
Altamaha,
What do you mean the school was without a mascot for a year and change?
Russ I
Delta Flight Attendent
February 9th, 2011
10:27 pm
Altamaha
I am just saying the dogs don’t live very long and it just seems to be a little cruel. I think any bulldog that is white should be fine since that is a big issue with the UGA fans. I love the Brindle look myself.
burnin dawg
February 9th, 2011
10:30 pm
Why did he make a spotted dawg the temp then? Do you believe he did not have access to another “SOLID WHITE” dog? It is the tradition for UGA! He could have used a “SOLID WHITE” dog as the temp if he chose to. PUTZ
Delta Flight Attendent
February 9th, 2011
10:35 pm
burnin
He wanted to keep an Uga that was from the same bloodline and RUSS was ready to step in. If it didn’t matter if the dog was All WHITE, then why did they paint Russ’ butt? Russ is from Uga I that is why he got the job.
Bobdog
February 9th, 2011
10:35 pm
I’m surprised that Sonny isn’t replenishing the line by bringing in fresh females to breed to. I’ll bet he is.
I agree with the previous poster: lymphoma isn’t related to breeding.
AltamahaDawg
February 9th, 2011
10:35 pm
Uh NO, you were saying that something Sonny did in breeding was making the Uga line of dogs live a lot shorter than normal, referencing generations of very long lived Uga despite that making the opposite point.
Not picking on you, you were just dead wrong, logically and mathematically.
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:36 pm
Sonny had a solid white dog.
He was just too small to wear the collar so we redshirted him.
(Sniff)
Russ I
burnin dawg
February 9th, 2011
10:36 pm
You should move to Southwest where where slags fly for free, yuppy.
Delta Flight Attendent
February 9th, 2011
10:39 pm
Burin
Why? So I could get to see your slag butt fly for free? Do you think I would give you the time of day then?
akitadawg
February 9th, 2011
10:40 pm
Enter your comments here
Put up or shut up
February 9th, 2011
10:41 pm
Unless you are ready to foot the bill let UGA worry about the new Uga.
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:43 pm
Bobdog,
As I said before, us dogs here know what happens in Savannah stays in Savannah.
But I will say your bet is a pretty good one.
Russ I
AltamahaDawg
February 9th, 2011
10:45 pm
Every Uga, has had a new and different mother. Been saying that all day.
I would not be surprised if VIII wasn’t from an actual different Sire than UgaVII. The timing doesnt match up.
Does nobody understand that Sonny Seiler is not doing this all in his back yard. He is sending out “seed” to a variety of breeders (which means new genes all the time, every time) and then he surveys a multitude of puppies, picking out candidates. THEN if one becomes Uga, his family adopts it. And you can bet the final few get tested every way possible at the vet school before choosing.
akitadawg
February 9th, 2011
10:46 pm
We have one of the best Vet schools in the nation. Let real scientists breed the white bulldog and have the athletic department pay for it.
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:50 pm
Altamaha,
It’s a little too soon to go talking about Bruce that way.
Russ I
PHIL
February 9th, 2011
10:53 pm
This blog is no different than those about football. People who know zero about the topic pontificating as if they were experts. 1/2 ounce of logic would tell you that the whole premise of this article is flawed.
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burnin dawg
February 9th, 2011
10:54 pm
Good talk Delta. Do you really work for Delta?
UGA Alumna
February 9th, 2011
10:57 pm
The first Uga was NOT all white. He was white with light brown/tan patches/spots. So why is that a must? THAT was how the tradition started back in the 1950s.
AltamahaDawg
February 9th, 2011
10:57 pm
wasn’t saying that was a bad thing. It’s never been a requirement that the next Uga was the direct son. That’s probably the usual deal. But a female offspring from Uga VI giving birth to Bruce would have exactly the same % of ‘bloodline’. For certain Seiler was not prepared to pick the new Uga so soon after collaring VII.
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February 9th, 2011
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Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
10:58 pm
akita,
Real scientists don’t create real dogs.
Real dogs do.
Russ I
burnin dawg
February 9th, 2011
11:00 pm
I would like to see Sonny get another of the dawgs that tried to bite the AU player. We could use some more of his spirit. I will never forget it. Go DAWGS!
Russ The Temporary Mascot
February 9th, 2011
11:03 pm
burnin,
I agree. Wish I was there for Fairley. Things would have turned out much differently.
Russ I