The internet-famous dog behind the iconic "Doge" meme has died, according to an announcement shared Friday on the canine's official Instagram account, run by her owner Atsuko Sato.
Kabosu, a Shiba Inu, went viral in 2013 after a photo of the light golden brown dog and their inscrutable facial expression was shared on Sato's blog. Internet users quickly dubbed Kabosu as "Doge" and photos of Kabosu would get shared along with short phrases, often in broken English and reaction words, like "wow," meant to illustrate what a dog's internal monologue would hypothetically say.
Kabosu even inspired the launch of the cryptocurrency DogeCoin in December 2013.
According to Sato, Kabosu, whom she also referred to as Kabo-chan, was 18 years old and Sato cared for her for nearly 16 years. They lived in Chiba prefecture, southeast of Tokyo, in Japan.
