Not every college mascot gets to go home at the end of the day and be someone’s dog. Rocky did.

In 2009, a rescued Bulldog became the University of North Carolina Asheville’s fifth live mascot. The first was Puck, who arrived in 1948 and was named for the character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Another Puck followed, then Chug-a-lug and, finally, Winston, whose brief tenure came in the mid-to-late 1980s. After years without a live mascot, a student group proposed bringing back the tradition. To its credit, the university wanted to be sure the arrangement would benefit both the campus and the dog himself.

Enter Rocky.

Originally from Alabama, he had passed through rescue organizations before finding himself in foster care in Georgia. Ed Johnson, a mathematics lecturer at UNC Asheville, found him online. Johnson and his wife, Alexis, both university alumni, had initially worked with breeders before deciding to adopt a rescue instead. They widened their search across the Southeast and found a friendly dog with plenty of enthusiasm and very little training.

“He wasn’t poorly disciplined. He was completely undisciplined,” Johnson told The Blue Banner in 2009.

Rocky belonged to the Johnsons, not the university. Other than free admission to sporting events, they received no compensation for his mascot duties. As Johnson put it, Rocky would be “a family dog with a day job.”

And what a day job! Rocky attended homecomings, convocation, sporting events, orientations and graduations. Johnson took him to basketball games and sat with him beneath the bleachers. By March 2014, The Blue Banner was picturing Rocky enjoying the sunshine and attention at a Homecoming tailgate, five years into his mascot role.

There was a “human” Rocky, of course—someone wearing the Bulldog suit—but the living dog had his own place in campus life. He was beloved, and his death in March 2016 was a blow to the people who knew him. A dogwood tree was planted in his honor that April. What could have been more appropriate?

Rocky was part of a much larger Bulldog tradition. In a 2019 article, the AKC noted that Bulldogs served as mascots for 15 NCAA Division I schools.

What is it with Bulldogs as mascots?

For starters, they look the part. Strength, courage and tenacity are qualities any team would like to claim, and a Bulldog puts a recognizable face on all three. That determined expression practically says, “We’re not backing down. So there.”

But looking formidable is only half the appeal. A live mascot also needs to be comfortable with people and attention. The contrast between a tough appearance and a friendly disposition helps explain why Bulldogs can be so well suited to the job.

And Rocky? A family dog with a day job, Johnson had called him. It was a simple description for a dog who belonged to the Johnsons but meant something to an entire campus.

Image at the top appear courtesy of UNC Asheville from Spring Commencement May 2026 by Jensen McDonald