Dogs have become popular subjects for memes, and new dog memes appear on the internet every day. Most dog meme trends fizzle out quickly, but the Doge meme has stood the test of time. Doge is a Shiba Inu, and her image has reached many corners of the internet, including the Bitcoin world. Her owner didn’t have any intentions of making her dog go viral, but this Shiba Inu is now one of the most recognizable dogs in the world. Here’s the story of how this unassuming dog became a famous and beloved internet star.

Who Is Doge From Dogecoin?

While the internet knows this Shiba Inu as Doge, her family, friends, and original fanbase know her as Kabosu. Kabosu was rescued from a kill shelter and lives with her owner Atsuko Sato, in Japan.

Sato ran a personal blog and would upload photos of Kabosu from time to time. On February 13, 2010, Sato posted a series of photos that also contained the photo that would eventually become the infamous meme.

Kabosu seemed to be at the right place at the right time to rise to internet fame. Several years before her iconic photo was posted, the term “doge” was circulating due to it being used in a Homestar Runner sketch. Threads with “doge” content became popular on the internet, and the subreddit /r/Doge was created on January 8, 2013.

Photos of Shiba Inus also became popular around this time, and an internet user found Kabosu’s picture and posted it on a doge thread. The picture caught many people’s attention, and it was only a matter of time before it became a meme format that was reused and shared numerous times. No one really knew the origin of the picture, and Kabosu became known as Doge.

How Was Dogecoin Created?

As with many memes, the Doge meme was reuploaded, imitated, and modified numerous times. It isn’t easy to keep track of all the other memes that stem from the original Doge meme.

When it comes to the story of Dogecoin, this cryptocurrency actually started as a joke. It was created in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer and was meant to make fun of the cryptocurrency craze that was building up at the time. However, things got serious pretty quickly after Palmer purchased the domain Dogecoin.com. The website had over 1 million visitors within the first 30 days of launching. Dogecoin jumped to almost 300% in value within 72 hours, and its peak market capitalization reached over $85 billion on May 5, 2021.

Dogecoin is still in use today, and any merchant can choose to accept it. For example, both SpaceX and the Dallas Mavericks accept Dogecoin. It’s also commonly used to “tip” content creators on social media platforms like Reddit and X (Twitter).

What Is Kabosu Doing Today?

About 10 years have passed since her rise to stardom, and Kabosu is enjoying her life as an 18-year-old senior dog. She lives in Japan with her owner, and her owner updates her Instagram account @kabosumama pretty regularly with photos and videos of her daily life.  Kabosu had a health scare in 2022 but has recovered since.

On November 2, 2023, Kabosu and her fans celebrated Doge Day. A bronze Statue of Kabosu was installed in Sakura Furusato Square in the Chiba Prefecture, which is Kabosu’s hometown.

Conclusion

It’s amazing that a dog that almost died in a kill shelter ended up becoming one of the most beloved internet icons of our time. A cute and silly photo of Kabosu got caught up in an internet storm that resulted in memes and a cryptocurrency that made a significant cultural and economic impact.

Despite the fame, Kabosu lives a fairly quiet life with the occasional public appearance. She’s certainly earned the peaceful life, and her loyal fanbase couldn’t wish anything but the best for this sweet and special dog.

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Featured Image Credit: OlesyaNickolaeva, Shutterstock