The story of DogDaze, the Chemdog strain that never was

I. Love. Gassy. Weed. So much so that I’d trade an extremely distant family member for an unlimited supply of it. Gassy strains always kick my ass, in a good way. They have that potency that hits my head, shoulders, knees, and toes with hours of the “Lol, fam… ya boy is OUTTA there” type of high that made me fall in love with smoking weed in the first place.

So you can imagine how I felt while on the phone with Greg Krzanowski—better known as Chemdog—learning about DogDaze, the first-ever Chemdog hybrid that was actually bred by the man himself. Answer: About as sick to my stomach as Greg felt when he left those seeds in a Vegas hotel room.

Who and what is Chemdog?

Chemdog is a legendary strain in the history of cannabis. It’s world famous for having an incredibly potent high, and unmistakable pungent, diesel, chemical-like flavors. Chemdog’s genetics have helped pioneer a world of gassy hybrids including Sour Diesel, GMO Cookies, and Motorbreath.

The Chemdog story dates back all the way to the early 1990s when a young Deadhead named Greg ran into a couple fellas named P Bud and Joe Brand in the parking lot of a Grateful Dead concert in Deep Creek, Indiana. Hearing the two say “Kind bud nearby,” Greg pulled up like “Yup, I need that.”

He grabbed an ounce of their flower, called “Dogbud,” and it was so unlike any weed he’d ever smoked that he linked back up with P Bud and Joe B. to get more Dogbud mailed back home to Massachusetts. 

Inside one of those bags of flower were 13 seeds that Greg grew, which became three magical strains later named Chem 91, Chem’s Sister, and Chem Dog B. They had a unique diesel-like aroma and flavor that Joe B. described as “chemmy”—Greg took the flower’s previous name, combined it with the flower’s new description, and Chemdog was born. In time, two more Chemdog phenotypes came out: Chem #4 and Chem D. This rest is weed history. 

Though Chemdog, P Bud, and Joe Brand are credited as the fathers of the gassy-flavored strain, it’s important to remember they didn’t breed Chemdog or any of its phenotypes—they found them as random seeds in bags of weed. However, there is one single strain that Chemdog himself did breed: DogDaze.

What was DogDaze?

DogDaze is the first and only strain that Greg Krzanowski, aka Chemdog, ever bred himself. The hybrid strain’s genetics came from a Northern Lights #5 x Haze father crossed with a Chem D mother. Chemdog told me it had a unique hazy smell to it with gassy undertones, unlike any of the other Chemdog strains he had been working with. 

The high? Stoney. Heavy. Cerebral. Everything I would hope to get from the type of weed strains I smoke in the afternoon after a long, productive morning of writing the best weed articles of all time.

See, Chemdog is an indica-dominant strain known for a potent head high that hits so hard, so fast, and so long-lasting that you might as well wrap up the day within 20 minutes of smoking it. Northern Lights #5 x Haze, on the other hand, one of DogDaze’s parents, is a sativa-dominant strain known for a spicy Haze flavor followed by a strong head-rush type of high that Haze genetics bring out of any strain. 

I can only imagine that DogDaze represented the perfect blend of high potency, unique flavors, and invigorating heady effects. It was probably the type of strain that, after getting off of work, you’re suddenly no longer bothered by how much your boss and company undervalue your contributions. That “Everything’s trash, but I feel AMAZING right now” type of mood-boosting high that slowly seeps into your body as you decompress from the everyday difficulties of being alive. 

“It smoked great. Very cerebral high to it, couchlock kind of stuff. It was one that I wish I didn’t let slip away like that,” said Chemdog.

So what happened to DogDaze? Why have you never smoked such a perfect cannabis strain?

Why DogDaze does not exists

Back in 2005, Chemdog went on a trip from Massachusetts out to Las Vegas, the starting point of a road trip out to the Pacific Coast, where he would connect with weed breeder Subcool (can you imagine the Jack The Ripper and Vortex crosses Sub would’ve made with DogDaze?!) and some other weed-breeding and weed-growing friends from online cannabis forums. Chemdog brought about 600 DogDaze seeds that he planned to spread amongst the cannabis community. 

See, back in those days, weed was still illegal everywhere and underground, and without the capitalist exploitation and commercialization of the cannabis plant, breeders would exchange their work—seeds—with others to grow and find the best versions possible of their favorite cannabis strains. 

Unfortunately for us consumers, and even more unfortunately for Chemdog as a breeder, a Vegas hotel room (Chem doesn’t remember which) would become DogDaze’s place of death. 

After checking out in the morning and a few hours down the road, Chemdog had that “Oh no…” moment of realization that the parcel of 600 seeds was not in his car. “About six hours after I left Vegas, I’m like ‘fuck, I left the box of seeds back at the hotel,’” said Chemdog. “I called the hotel and they said they didn’t find anything, so I’m sure the housekeeper just threw the box away without even looking. That was the last of that.” 

Without his beloved seeds, the only hope for DogDaze were clones Chemdog had back home in Massachusetts. Double unfortunately, those were lost when Chemdog was busted by the DEA and IRS in 2011. 

And just like that, DogDaze, the long lost Chemdog strain, was completely erased from existence and any of the potential popularity that Chem #4, Chem D, Chem’s Sister, and Chem 91 have achieved over the past three decades.

Damn.