NC State welcomed Tuffy II June 19 as the newest nonhuman member of the Wolfpack family.

Tuffy II, a Tamaskan puppy, will be trained to take the place of Tuffy, the current Wolfpack mascot.

The university announced the new mascot in a video released on YouTube June 19 showing the puppy running through Carter-Finley Stadium.

If all goes according to plan, students will see Tuffy II cheering on the Wolfpack from the sidelines this fall, according to the video. 

Although the university has had good luck with live mascots recently, NC State has had many ups and downs with live mascots in the past.

From the 1940s until 1970, NC State commissioned a number of wolves to serve as live mascots, according to The New York Times.

From the cheerleaders bringing timber wolves to football games to one of the official mascots, Lobo II, being traumatized by the screams of fans and running away, the athletics department went through much trial and error in deciding whether to keep the tradition alive.

After 1970, when the live mascot Lobo III was determined to be a coyote, NC State did not pursue any plan to have another until 2010. 

Students and fans rallied for a revival of the old tradition and asked the athletics director, Debbie Yow, to approve the installment of a new live mascot, according to The New York Times.

“It was pretty much dead in the water from the start to try and get a live wolf,” said Dick Christy, the former assistant athletics director. 

University officials settled on a new breed of dog called Tamaskan, a mix of German shepherd, Alaskan malamute and Siberian husky. There happened to be a Tamaskan breeding club in North Carolina, and after visiting the club, athletic officials decided on adopting a 110-pound dog named Wave, stage name Tuffy.

The university does not own Tuffy but has an agreement with the owners that Tuffy may be borrowed for game days. 

Tuffy II will take over this fall, relieving Tuffy of his official duties and bringing an abundance of cuteness for years to come.