I've thought about this for a while, but was motivated to post after getting my National Geographic in the mail and seeing the cover, which was a dog named Layka who served with the Army in Afghanistan.

I know there are lots of opinions on what kind of dog Reveille should be, but personally I'd love to see a dog like this, who saved lives abroad in war, be the mascot. It meshes well with our military heritage and many have put their lives on the line to save Americans, which undoubtedly includes some Ags who served.

Link to the article (on a mobile and I'm sure I've messed it up):

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/06/war-dogs/paterniti-text

Ones for killing, ones for greeting

Actually the OP has an excellent suggestion.

None of the pure bred high strung recent Collie Reveille's have worked out too well in spite of being very selective and people giving them away to A&M.

Granted, to choose a former military working dog would also require being very selective, but I have no doubt this could be done successfully and with great support from a great many Aggies.

To follow, IF there are enough distractors and those who question the feasibility, it is probably not a good idea, in spite of the fact that these dogs are often adopted by caring families and become great household pets.

Last time I checked the Military Working Dog training unit at Lackland AFB in San Antonio (which trains dogs for all branches of the DoD) has far more applicants than dogs to give away - but if you are interested, please feel free to adopt one of these patriots for your very own.

Whether a retired military working dog or not, I too would like to see something besides a purebred collie as the A&M mascot. A relatively large (?) mixed breed with a good/happy personality is really all that is required...

Reveille 7 was terrible. Rev 8 was good, at least when I was there

quote:

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Reveille 7 was terrible. Rev 8 was good, at least when I was there

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Rev VII was disturbed. I saw her try to commit suicide - I was a zip in the band standing on the ledge of the YMCA building at victory yell. She ran up the stairs, behind us, and leaped off the ledge.

[This message has been edited by Ark03 (edited 6/12/2014 9:25a).]

Squirrill - the mixed breed point had to do more with the original Rev being a short haired mutt than focusing on pure bred or collies for that matter - I have no idea why a collie ended up being the Aggie mascot ? - Lassie era?

A thought I did not interject but believe was that collies are long haired and high maintenance especially in hot, humid, sultry College Station and most buildings were not air conditioned until the 70's/&0's. For that reason I would personally have selected another type of dog (other type of animal?) without so much hair to deal with. I presume it was some good hearted donor that started the collie thing?? Personally I have fond memories of Tripod (a medium to large short haired mutt) and Prez Rudder's English Bulldog Ranger roaming freely on campus during my time(s) at A&M. I personally learned my hot climate lesson on long haired dogs with a Newfie and a couple of Afghans when I lived in Austin during the 80's and 90's - and we had A/C...

With those caveats i agree completely with your remarks. Your remarks certainly coincide with your picture in your bio

First time the cannon went off with a "war dog" might be the last time you see her. She'd be in Navasota before she slowed down!





Barry Soetoro, running the most transparent administration since Joseph Stalin......