Butler’s adorable mascot dog road trip included visits with some similarly very good mascot pups

Butler University’s live mascot, Blue IV, is on the road trip of his young pup life.

Thanks to men’s basketball games against Georgetown, Villanova, and UConn, Butler Blue hopped a flight from Indianapolis to the east coast for an adventure. Aptly dubbed the “Big Dawg Tour,” this trip serves multiple purposes.

First, there’s basketball! The obvious benefit is having a super cute dog mascot on hand for the men’s games, but it also serves to introduce Butler University to more regions and to connect alumni and future Bulldogs to their school.

“Big Dawgs Tour began during the 2013-14 season when Butler joined the Atlantic 10 as a way to introduce the university to new markets,” Blue’s handler Evan Krauss told For the Win.

“Now Big Dawgs Tour has evolved into a 4-level endeavor by visiting prospective Butler students who live in further away cities, spending time with alumni who have moved to other markets, sharing the away gameday experience, and taking advantage of the unique sights and sounds of each city,” he added.

Krauss — who arguably has the best job in the country — and Blue manage to do all of that, while also creating the most amazing social media content. They added a few bonus stops to meet both in-and-out-of-conference dog friends and pose with dog statues, in front of major monuments and more.

Blue met a grand total of three very good dogs, thanks in part to the robust live handler network. The handlers meet frequently over Zoom and met in person in 2018 when Colorado hosted the first live mascot conference in Boulder.

Let’s take a look at Blue IV’s journey.

Heading out for a #BusinessTrip pic.twitter.com/xJSSDM0qDf

— Butler Basketball (@ButlerMBB) January 12, 2022