Kabosu, the famous dog behind the Doge meme, has died

Kabosu, the Japanese dog who inspired the Doge meme and influenced internet culture for over a decade, has died after a long illness, according to her owner. She was 18 years old.

Her owner, Atsuko Sato, said Kabosu died at 7:50 a.m. Friday when she fell into a “deep sleep” at home. “Kabosu is resting now,” she wrote in a blog post on her website.

“Soft light shone through the window. Outside, birds sang on a beautiful morning,” Sato wrote. “When I stroked her as if she were sleeping, she died peacefully.”

“To everyone who loved Kabosu, thank you. Kabosu was the happiest dog in the world. And I was the happiest dog owner in the world,” she said.

“Kabosu is still smiling and laughing, smiling and wagging her tail and snuggling up to me. I’m sure she’s still doing that. I’m sure she’ll be with me for a long time,” Sato said, adding that a farewell party will be held near Tokyo on Sunday afternoon.

Kabosu was a Shiba Inu dog adopted by Japanese kindergarten teacher Atsuko Sato in 2008. Photos of the dog went viral on Reddit in 2010 and have been shared as a meme called Doge over the years.

An image of Kabosu is also used as the logo for the cryptocurrency Dogecoin. And in April 2023, Elon Musk briefly changed the Twitter/X logo to an image of Kabosu, driving up the price of the cryptocurrency.

Kabosu had been in poor health for several years. In December 2022, her owner announced that Kabosu had been diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitis and chronic lymphoma leukemia after she stopped eating and drinking. Her condition later improved.