Horse-chasing dog of good fortune named George was once BMOC

by Bill Carey

It was, in the opinion of many who saw it, one of the most glorious moments in Vanderbilt sports history. On Nov. 28, 1964, during the Vanderbilt-Tennessee football game at Dudley Field, a dog named George didn't like the looks of the walking horse that at that time served as the UT mascot. George took off after the horse, charging it with all the intimidating noise and perpetual motion that a basset hound can muster. The walking horse did what all well-bred walking horses would do. It ran clear out of the stadium, to the delight of the Vanderbilt fans in attendance that day.

That afternoon, Vanderbilt defeated Tennessee 7-0.

"I don't really know what George was thinking," said Toby Wilt, the Vanderbilt halfback and George's master, whose 40-yard run set up the winning touchdown that day. "My guess is that he had never seen a horse before and thought it was a big dog."

It was the defining moment in the life of George. A few weeks later, a student booster organization elected George the school's official mascot in honor of his courageous charge. For the next two years, George was the most revered animal on campus, loved by all and fed by many.

The story of George the mascot started in the fall of 1961, when Wilt arrived at Vanderbilt. As the youngest of four children, Wilt was the last to go to college. And as many parents do when the last bird flees the nest, Wilt's parent's weren't enamored with the idea of having to take care of the family pet anymore. "So I took him with me," said Wilt.

During his first years at Vanderbilt, George lived in the Sigma Chi house and attended most of the football practices. By September 1964, he had become such an ubiquitous presence that he was the subject of a Hustler article. Wilt's girlfriend brought George to all the home Vanderbilt games that fall. After George chased the UT walking horse out of the stadium, he became a VIP of the athletic department, with a ringside seat for every football and basketball game.

A few months later, the Metropolitan Health Department inspected the Sigma Chi house and didn't approve of George's presence there. (In an interview 36 years later, Wilt insisted that his dog was unfairly blamed for the unsanitary condition of the house.) In any case, George had to live somewhere else, at least officially. The idea of having a homeless mascot didn't sit well with the Vanderbilt student body. So in the spring of 1965, the Council of Student Athletic Activities voted to build George a doghouse. Thus began one of the great Vanderbilt campus controversies of the mid-1960s.

The debate was not over whether to build George a house, but how nice a house to build him. By the time George's house made it to blueprint, it had become a split-level structure (after all, this was the 1960s) containing wall-to-wall carpet and a central heating system. The doghouse was to be located on the north side of Rand Hall, where students could see and pet him every day. It would also serve as a stand for cheerleaders and a rally for pep meetings. Estimated cost: $2,000. "This is not just a doghouse," said student Joe Brewer, who headed up the George Doghouse Committee. "School spirit is lagging and lagging badly. We need a boost that will be long lasting; the dog house can do it."

During the next few months, the Intrafraternity Council obtained pledges of about $1,000 toward George's house. Another $600 was raised through special events and the sale of so-called "paw graphs." In the excitement of the moment, some suggested a permanent lineage of horse-chasing mascots. Toby Wilt, George's master, has been investigating the possibility of breeding the basset hound so that Vanderbilt will always have a direct descendant of George as a mascot," the Nov. 5, 1965, Hustler reported.

But the opulence of George's house, coming at a time when students were beginning to notice such things as the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War, didn't sit well with the school newspaper. "The Hustler is not anti-George," The Hustler said in one of many articles that confused the cost of the doghouse. "We're not even anti-George doghouse. It's just that $1,500 is far too much to spend on such a project."

With many on campus criticizing the expensive nature of George's planned abode, Nashville general contractor Bobby Mathews agreed to provide the labor for George's doghouse, bringing the actual price of the house down to a far more manageable $300. But the enthusiasm toward building George an expensive home faded in the summer and fall of 1966. One reason was that George stopped bringing luck; the Vanderbilt football team went 2-7-1 in 1965 and 1-9 in 1966. The other reason was George's own apathy. For some reason, the animal began losing interest in Vanderbilt sports. "He's been hard to find," the Hustler reported in February 1966. Finally, an anonymous trustee donated a standard-issue wooden doghouse for George to sleep in.

In early November 1966, George was wandering across campus when he spotted an ice delivery truck heading toward Kirkland Hall. It was the last thing he ever chased. The hound received a hero's funeral; he was embalmed and given a coffin by a local funeral home. George was buried in a small plot just north of Dudley Field, where he still lies.