Kobasu, Dog Behind The Famous Doge Meme Dies (image@ownthedoge)

The Japanese dog, Kabosu, who inspired the Doge meme and influenced internet culture for more than a decade died. The dog died after grappling with illness for long. Kabosu was 18 years old at the time of death, said the owner.

Owner of the dog, Atsuko Sato, wrote in her blog posted on her website that, the lovely dog fell into a “deep sleep”. She said Kobosu is at rest now. “Through the window, the soft light was shining in. Outside the window, birds were singing on a beautiful morning, as I caressed her, as if she was sleeping, she passed away quietly”, wrote Sato.

The owner thanked everyone who loved the dog, and added that she was the happiest owner and Kabosu was the happiest dog in the world. The owner said that a farewell party will be arranged near Tokyo on Sunday afternoon.

Kabosu was a female dog from Shiba Inu breed. She was adopted by Sato, who was a kindergarten teacher, in 2008. The pictures of the dog went viral after it was posted on Reddit, in 2013. The Kabosu”s pictures kicked off a popular meme called Doge in which a photo is overlaid with inner monologue in broken English.

A photo of Kabosu is also used as the logo for the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. In April last year, Elon Musk briefly changed the Twitter/X logo to an image of Kabosu, causing the price of the cryptocurrency to surge higher.

Recently, the dog was in poor health. In 2022, December, the owner announced that the dog was diagnosed with acute cholangiohepatitis and chronic lymphoma leukemia after she stopped eating and drinking. Though her conditions improved later, she left the world Friday at 7:50 am.