Georgetown's mascot bulldogs meet Butler's bulldogs

This is why we need more live mascots in college sports.

On Friday morning, Butler's bulldogs -- Blue II and Blue III (nicknamed "Trip") -- met Georgetown's bulldogs -- Jack and Jack Jr. (JJ).

The Butler bulldogs are visiting Washington, D.C., as part of their Big Dawgs Tour. The roadtrip was planned to celebrate Butler's first season in the Atlantic 10, and it serves as a way to introduce the mascots to A-10 fan bases and new cities.

Of course, the bulldogs' stop in the nation's capital had to involve their Georgetown mascot counterparts. The four dogs hung out for about three and a half hours Friday morning, and they got along for the most part, according to Blue and Trip's owner, Michael Kaltenmark.

"They're bulldogs, and we were creeping on Jack and JJ's turf, so it got a little tense at moments," Kaltenmark said. "Most of that was indoors. Once they got outside, nobody was really territorial. They really got along OK. You have to remember Jack is almost 10, and Blue is almost nine. They're pretty old bulldogs who are set in their ways. We just kind of let them keep their distance. JJ and Trip are very close -- like a month apart -- and of course, they were pretty rowdy and rambunctious. ... For the most part, no casualties. Everybody got along fine."

Kaltenmark said he and the dogs got a campus tour of Georgetown, which they enjoyed. It also allowed them to take photos in some of the iconic parts of campus, as shown in the pictures.

"It was really cool, and they were really well-received," Kaltenmark said. "You could tell there were some Georgetown students who had been on Twitter and knew what was going on and knew Blue and Trip by name. There were others who were like, 'Oh my gosh, are we quadrupling our bulldog presence?' "

The meeting was initially arranged after Kaltenmark reached out to Father Steck, Jack and J.J.'s caretaker at Georgetown. Both sides were enthusiastic about the idea and had been looking forward to Friday.

"When word spread that the Butler bulldog pair would be joining our own, we were ecstatic," said Adam Ramadan, a junior at Georgetown who is on the Jack Crew, group of 20 or so students that walk the bulldogs. "The puppy overload on campus was great. Jack and JJ prepared bulldog goodie bags for their friends from Indiana."

While they're in D.C., Blue and Trip will also visit the national mall to see the monuments, and they'll stop by the NPR headquarters, where NPR is wrapping up a dog photo contest. The dogs will also attend Butler's game against George Washington Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Contributing: Kevin Joseph