Ande Edlund (’94 Hotel & Rest. Admin.) doesn’t often post photos of himself on social media. But, he says, “I have this really cute dog.” And, whenever he would post pics of his beloved golden retriever on his Facebook page, “they’d get a really good response.”
Edlund really had no plans to do anything else with the dog’s popularity. In fact, when a college classmate suggested creating an Instagram account for the animal, he asked, “What’s that?”
Today, Dash the dog has an Instagram account with more than 36,000 followers. He’s done social media account take-overs for the Washington State University Alumni Association and The Coug, where he’s the only canine member of the Mug Club. And he gets recognized on walks and at coffee shops and taprooms from Redmond to Pullman and points in between.
“I’m under the radar, but he’s recognizable. He’s become an unofficial mascot for WSU,” says Edlund, who created the dash.dog Instagram account in 2015. It’s written in the dog’s voice about things a dog might talk about if dogs could talk: squirrels, cats, hot dogs, dog treats, the dog park, and — because his human’s a Coug — palling around with WSU’s official mascot Butch T. Cougar.
Although Dash and Edlund live in Redmond, the pup is popular in Pullman. Dash was adopted as an honorary Coug by the WSUAA. He’s been featured in the Daily Evergreen student newspaper and Chinook yearbook. He’s also partnered with Cosmic Crisp® apples and Butch’s Britches on social media posts. He’s even helped fill the stands at Martin Stadium during the pandemic with his own cardboard cutout.
Ten-year-old Dash also has his own wall calendar benefitting charity. He has his paws on Facebook and Twitter, too. “Social media allows me to be creative and to share Dash with the world,” Edlund says, noting he and Dash can’t wait for their next visit to Pullman. “Being famous in Pullman is the best kind of famous.”