Apple’s dogcow originated from Susan Kare’s Cairo font in 1984, became the Page Setup dialog icon, and spawned three named dogcows used as DTS hacker culture symbols.
Key Takeaways
Susan Kare was recruited by Andy Hertzfeld to draw Mac icons on graph paper; she created the happy/sad Mac, trash can, wristwatch, and fonts including Chicago, Geneva, and New York.
The dogcow’s official name is Clarus; Mark Harlan named her to mock Apple’s Claris software spin-off after a workplace dispute – documented in Tech Note 31.
Two lesser-known dogcows exist: Moofo (a Penn and Teller parody) and Lackey (a physical cut-out hung above new DTS hires’ cubicles).
DTS used “Moof!” folders on Developer CD-ROMs to flag untested or unapproved tools – an in-band signal that a program was risky but worth exploring.
The name Moof! is the dogcow’s sound (“Moo” plus “Woof”), not her name; the confusion spread partly because dogcow buttons printed both Clarus and “Moof!” together.