Greatest Doge History of All-Time
Learn about the origins and rise of Kabosu, the internet's most famous dog.
Kabosu's Internet Debut
As Kabosu became more energetic by the day, @kabosumama decided to document their life together in her blog, “Taking A Walk With Kabosu-chan”, and made her first blog post on 13 June 2009. Through her blog, she showcased her daily life with Kabosu using the pictures she had captured and regularly posted highlights about their walks, routine life, and her playful antics.
This blog was the birthplace of the Doge image, a word still meaningless and unknown to the Dogemama Atsuko.
Tucked within a blog post celebrating quality time that Kabosu spent with her dad - “What’s for dinner tonight?” (posted on February 13, 2010), lay a series of eight pictures.
Amongst these pictures was the one that would alter the course of the internet forever! Kabosu’s head tilted to the side, a mischievous yet innocent side-eye, a subtle smirk, and legs crossed regally embodied a meme that would reign over the internet for two decades and counting.
Although there is nothing like an uncute picture when it comes to dogs, Atsuko still had initial hesitations about posting THE picture that eventually captured the world’s attention. She even considered deleting it but ultimately chose not to; God is SO real for that!
First Appearance on a Social Media Platform
The Doge photo surfaced on the internet in October 2010 in a Reddit photo submission titled “LMBO LOOK @ THIS FUKKEN DOGE” by John Monarch. Although the photo did not contain the memetic attributes we associate with Doge today, it was the first to draw a relation between Doge and Kabosu, which were, until now, unassociated.
Speculations say that the first use of broken English to accompany dog memes was seen on Tumblr in 2011. This comical photo of a Samoyed with the incorrect use of modifiers and fractured English set a precedent for the dog memes to follow. People gravitated to this humor, finding it both endearing and entertaining.
Increasing Audience of Atsuko's Blog
2012 was the year Atsuko’s blog gained traction. Kabosu soon became one of the first dog influencers in Japan and was popularized by dog lovers like you and me. As of December 31, 2013, the website ranked as the fourth most popular pet blog in Japan, receiving approximately 75,000 monthly visits, according to With, the country's largest blog-ranking website.
In May of 2012, "A Walk with Kabosu" offered a way through which people who adored Kabosu could take her on a stroll. Their first meetup was planned for May 5th at the Hitachi Seaside Park in Hitachinaka City, and the pictures from the walk with a scenic background were later shared by Atsuko on her blog.
Reddit Threads and Tumblr Blogs
On one end, Kabosu was now cherished by a larger audience in Japan, while on the other, the Doge phenomenon permeated through the internet. This was seen by the surge in the number of searches, threads, and subreddits for Doge, though these were not specifically centered on Kabosu's images YET.
The greater internet familiarity with Doge was after threads featuring Doge emerged on 4chan boards, where users shared a plethora of photos showcasing dogs adorned in various attires.
In August 2012, the first single-topic blog, Fuck Yeah Doge, was launched on Tumblr, contributing to the growing popularity of Doge memes.
This year also saw the post where the colorful Comic Sans captioned dog image was posted on Tumblr.
Alongside such popularity came Shiba Confessions in July 2012, a single-topic Tumblr blog, and people began referring to the dogs in the picture as ‘shibes’. This blog combined all the three aspects associated with Doge memes:
A (funny/adorable) picture of a Shiba Inu dog
Short sentences employing broken English and beginning with a modifier
Captioned with rainbow-coloured Comic Sans font
Owing to a growing fascination with captioned Shiba Inu posts, a subreddit dedicated to posting similar videos and pictures was created in 2013, /r/Doge. Multiple subreddits followed this creation, gradually cultivating a community united by a shared appreciation of humor and the beloved Doge.
A pivotal moment in Doge's rise to internet stardom occurred during the /r/Murica raid when users from 4chan's blog continuously spammed the platform with photoshopped images of Doge. This showcased that the character was not just popular among Tumblr users but was also welcomed by Reddit at large.
The hype around Doge slowly found its way into the mainstream media as YouTube, in November 2013, implemented a feature that transformed text into a vibrant Comic Sans font, echoing the ubiquitous Doge memes, whenever users searched the keywords relating to Doge memes.
Creation of Dogecoin
With the Doge community already bustling with activity and craze, Doge found its place in the Memeconomy through the creation of Dogecoin, a digital currency inspired by the viral meme and carried the face of Doge as its emblem, on 6 December 2013.
Dogecoin emerged through the collaborative effort of 2 software engineers, Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer, who worked at IBM and Adobe Systems. This decentralized currency was crafted by a fork of the cryptocurrency Luckycoin, which leverages the open-source code from Litecoin, which is itself a derivation of the Bitcoin blockchain.
Originally conceived as a light-hearted venture, Dogecoin was born from the belief of its two creators that the realm of cryptocurrency had become overly serious and to mock the industry because of the limited understanding many individuals had before engaging in trading.
Transactions involving DOGE occurred on a limited basis, primarily functioning as a currency for tipping content creators on social media platforms like Reddit. However, the currency had other plans because merely a month after its launch, the official Dogecoin website garnered over a million visits and swiftly amassed a significant following, highlighting its appeal to the people.
In just two weeks of trading, the coin's price soared up to 300% of its original trading price. But like any other cryptocurrency, Dogecoin experienced its fair share of ups and downs.
Save Dogemas Movement
The first significant Dogecoin theft occurred during Christmas of 2013. Hackers transferred 11 million DOGE (worth nearly $12,000 at the time) from the cryptocurrency wallet interface, Dogewallet, by “modifying their send/receive page to send to a static page.”
This crisis was a testament to the strong-knit community that Doge had slowly built. In such testing times, the users began the “Save Dogemas” movement to help their fellow community members recover from this breach.
Given the community's widespread reach and call to action, they raised enough coins in only one month to cover those previously compromised. This was a notable and defining moment of the newly formed ‘shibes’ community.
Is Kabosu the Doge?
Until 31 December 2013, Doge and Kabosu were famous in their separate worlds. While one appealed to internet users, the other resonated with the Japanese audience.
When Atsuko was made aware of the Doge meme, she was surprised and shaken to see multitudes of users posting and reposting memes with Kabosu’s picture. She recalled in an interview, “A friend found it (Kabosu’s picture) on an online news site and told me about it. When I first found out about the Kabosu memes, I was very surprised. I was terrified at the thought that just one photo I had casually posted on my blog could spread all over the world to places I didn’t know.”
She also told The Verge, “It felt very strange to see her face there. It was a Kabosu that I didn’t know.” The world of memes was very new to her, especially the world with Kabosu’s face plastered on the memes.
It wasn't until The Verge published the article "Wow, this is Doge" that people became aware that the face behind Dogecoin was our beloved Kabosu.
When these two worlds of Doge and Kabosu converged, their fame skyrocketed, thrusting Kabosu—aka the iconic Doge—into the limelight of the decentralized universe, where she became an instant celebrity!
Dogecoin’s Adoption and Early Success
As people entered the new year with hopes and aspirations, so did Dogecoin. In 2014, its trading volume witnessed a stark jump. It outperformed established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum as it touched its $0.0020 mark, a thousandfold increase in price!
In 2014,DogeTipBot, a third-party tipping service, was introduced and seamlessly integrated into Reddit. It enabled users to exchange Dogecoin microtransactions as tokens of appreciation for favorable content.
DogeTipBot facilitated the early adoption of Doge and served as a gateway for introducing digital tokens to individuals unfamiliar with cryptocurrency.
By August 2014, DogeTipBot had risen to prominence within the crypto industry, boasting over 70,000 registered users.
However, in 2017, the creator of DogeTipBot, Josh Mohland, announced on Reddit his bankruptcy, the closure of the service, and the unfortunate depletion of all Dogecoin reserves on the platform utilized to cover operational expenses and personal debts.
A Dogely Hype Video Competition
With the bustling community of meme-lovers, a Dogecoin Hype Video Competition was organized to award the best-curated video for Dogecoin. Of course, submissions came pouring in, ranging from imaginative and whimsical to creative and innovative. The one that stood out the most and was awarded the winner's title was “Ð is for Ðogecoin”. The video flaunts an upbeat and engaging soundtrack, “To The Moon” by Dunderpatrullen, and visually striking elements that underscore the remarkable production. The creator was able to bag 374,277 DOGE through his spectacular creation.
D.O.G.E — Do Only Good Everyday
Doge swiftly became synonymous with "Do Only Good Everyday" – a heartfelt acronym and motto that shaped the community’s future actions. Their benevolent actions have been lauded by many.
When the Jamaican Bobsled Team qualified for the 2014 Winter Olympics but could not afford to go, the Dogecoin community took matters into their own hands and organized a $50,000 fundraiser to help the team participate in the Olympics.
Their philanthropic endeavors continued further. "Doge4Kids" was a community effort to gather donations for the 4 Paws For Ability charity, an organization dedicated to training and providing service dogs to children with special needs. The initiative proved fruitful as it raised $30,000 for the charity. Such pawsomeness!
In February 2014, the community again came together after an article by The Washington Post was circulated on Reddit mentioning the Indian luger Shiva Keshavan's need for funds to participate in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Within 24 hours, the Reddit community raised DOGE, accumulating $7,500, an amount enough to help Shiva join the Olympics.
Despite raising the amount, it was yet to reach Shiva. The Indian Ministry of Sports, which had initially denied having enough money to spend on athletes, agreed to bear Keshavan’s travel expenses and returned the dogecoins collected to their donors.
To fuel their charitable efforts, the Dogecoin Foundation, a not-for-profit organization providing governance and support to the Dogecoin projects, was established in 2014.
In honor of World Water Day on March 22, 2014, the Foundation aimed to fund the construction of two water wells in a drought-stricken area of Kenya by raising $50,000 for the cause. Such thoughtful!
The Foundation had slowly waned its operations over the years but was reinvigorated in 2021 to support the cryptocurrency, guiding its future growth and preventing abuse and misuse.
After seeing the hardships faced by Josh Wise, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, who could not secure sponsors for the upcoming Talladega Superspeedway race, his dream of participating in the race appeared increasingly out of reach. Once again, the community stood united, and a post encouraging members to donate DOGE circulated on Reddit.
Ultimately, 67 million Dogecoins were able to fuel Josh’s car, an amount equivalent to $55,000. His car, “#98 Moonrocket,” was adorned with the renowned Shiba Inu meme. This event also marked the project's debut as a physical advertisement at a major sporting event.
Doge really is a joke that keeps on giving.
Rising Interest in Doge
Doge Trademark Attempt
People and companies craved Doge’s support to boost their operations. Ultra PRO, a California-based gaming company renowned for making protective and good quality card sleeves, card boxes, mousepads, and similar products, filed to trademark “Doge” after posting on their blog about launching a new line of accessories based on Kabosu. Their goal with this trademark was to launch apparel linking to Doge.
The filing seemed concerning since the company wanted to trademark “Doge” concerning clothes and not just any stylized version. Even though they reassured that they would allow "royalty-free use for any vendor who wishes to use the mark.", the trademark did not go through.
Camp Dogecoin
In August of 2014, Burning Man had planned Camp Bitcoin, but its organizers slowly began withdrawing from the event for various personal reasons. This transformed the camp from being Camp Bitcoin to Camp Dogecoin.
Gary Lachance, a Canadian Dogecoin and cryptocurrency enthusiast, led this new camp in the Nevada desert. They planned fun events like a Worthless Currency Exchange, a Bitcoin for Beginners class, and general discussions about cryptocurrency and decentralization. Kevin Roose, a burner or camp attendee, shares his experience here.
People 🤝Doge 🤝Kabosu
As Dogecoin became the talk of the crypto town, the word “Doge” was added to Dictionary.com in 2015, representing its acceptance and everyday use.
The light of the Doge never dulls. Such shine!
By then, Kabosu had gained considerable followership, and people demanded more of the cute Kabosu. She was seen as a model on multiple Japanese TV shows and was filming for AbemaTV and Nekozen in 2016. This was the beginning of the increased visibility of Kabosu and Atsuko.
The World Saw More of Kabosu
Like the Dogecoin community, Atsuko is sincerely dedicated to charitable endeavors. In light of Kabosu's background, she actively advocates against the detrimental practices of puppy mills and the importance of supporting rescued puppies and dogs.
Kabosu-chan's One-Day Flower Shop – A Huge Success
To continue her efforts towards the cause, Atsuko and Kabosu became the managers of a flower shop, but only for a day in January 2017. They agreed with the shop owner, Kaori, to contribute the earnings from the flower sales of the day to an animal protection organization.
Owing to the massive success of the one-day flower shop in January, “Kabosu-chan's One Day Flower Shop” opened again, this time filmed for television.
The proceeds from “Kabosu-chan's One Day Flower Shop”, a whopping 175,000 yen, were donated to J-Taz’s Animal Shelter. This gesture showcased Atsuko's love for Kabosu and other rescued dogs and her dedication to the cause.
In Atsuko’s interview with Know Your Meme, she says that she started contributing towards animal rights groups after “I donated the sales from the Doge goods that a company called UltraPro in America sent me.” with a gleaming hope that the saved dogs will be as happy as Kabosu!
As people continued to love Kabosu and her mama, Atsuko also appeared inIris Pet Doddo, a pet magazine, under their “Topical Pet Owners Appear” section.
Kabosu-chan's One-Day Flower Shop – A Huge Success
On 31 March 2017, @CCTV’s post stirred up a storm when it claimed that the beloved Shiba Inu Doge had passed away at the age of 16.
Following the disheartening news, Atsuko was overwhelmed with messages about Kabosu’s supposed demise. Confused by the flood of misinformation, she took to her blog to promptly address the news, reassuring everyone that Kabosu was alive and thriving. Woof, many thanks!
Surprisingly, what bothered her was not the false news of Kabosu passing away but how everyone referred to her as a “he”. She mentioned in the same blog that “I didn't like the fact that such a cute daughter of mine was being treated like a boy .”
@CCTV revealed later that it was all a clever April's Fool prank, and Kabosu was alive and well! Such scare!
The World Saw More of Kabosu
2017 was also when Atsuko became more active on her social media platforms and shared more about her and Kabosu’s lives.
In her blog post titled “It was an article about the dinner Kabo-dad made for me.”,
Atsuko recalls her thoughts about the iconic photo of Kabosu as the Doge. She thought, “It's not cute, so maybe I should scrap it".
In anotherblog post, Kabosu was seen donning her royal crossed paw pose again on a foggy morning.
Her blog was the direct connection between the world and Kabosu. In 2017, she not only celebrated a commendable milestone: the 9th year of her blog, "Walk with Kabosu-chan", but was also honored with the prestigious President’s Award by Mr. Idezawa of Line Corporation in recognition of her captivating daily content coupled with cute furry pictures of not just Kabosu but also her cat siblings.
As Atsuko became increasingly familiar with the online space, she held her first-ever livestream on Instagram. In June 2017, Atsuko (@kabosumama) posted a video of Kabosu on Instagram with a melancholy and lonely background music, making netizens think that Kabosu passed away.
As well-wishes came pouring in from around the world, she again posted on her blog to let people know of the misunderstanding.
Kabosu Merchandise, Television Features, and Magazine Posts
Kabosu and even her family witnessed Doge’s fame that spread like wildfire. While Atsuko’s sister was traveling to Yufuin, a souvenir shop caught her eye at the Oita Airport as it was full of “Kabosu products”. She was amazed by Kabosu's recognition and bought a keepsake for Atsuko from the shop. Such fame. Much popular.
With the stardom that was now associated with Kabosu, there was a rise in publishers and directors wanting to cover her story. She was featured in Masaharu-kun on BS Japan, broadcast on 15 August 2017. Our beloved also appeared on Pochitama for its “Shiba-Inu Special” episode and was featured in the "Pochitama Love Story" corner.
Kabosu and her cat siblings were also covered in the Inu no Kimochi Web Magazine’s “Heartwarming daily life with three siblings with tails: Kabosu the Shiba Inu, Tsutsuji the queen cat, and Ginnan the cuddly cat.”
The magazine also updated a post titled “Kabosu-chan, how did you celebrate your birthday?” covering all the birthdays Kabosu had celebrated with her loved family.
The magazine’s keen interest in Kabosu continued and was reflected in their new articles. On November 14, 2017, the web magazine published an article, “Kabosu, the Shiba Inu, didn't know how to be affectionate. Until she became part of the family and became a cuddler.”, talking about the change in Kabosu’s behavior after she had just been adopted.
They also covered the mischief that unfolds in the Sato house in their “The mischievous children of the Kabosu family. What are the pranks that Kabosu, Tsutsuji, and Ginnan are good at?” article, which talked about how aloof each of their children act when the parents catch their playful mess.
In her final blog with the magazine for the year, “Under the sunset sky, knowing that one day this walk will come to an end.”, she emotionally talks about the profound comfort her daily walks with Kabosu bring to her and the inevitable thought that these walks with Kabosu will someday end.
The Doge Family Expanded
Out of the many Reddit channels dedicated to Doge, today’s most prominent subreddit - Dogelore, was founded in 2018. It is a channel devoted to memes centered around Doge and multiple equally memetic dog characters like Walter, Perro, and Karen.
By 2019, the subreddit Dogelore had welcomed another member into its family, Cheems — a Shiba Inu meme dog with a distinct usage of the character “m” in its speech.
The origin the character Cheems comes from an Instagram post showing a Shiba Inu dog sitting relaxingly on a stairway. Cheems became a viral meme in 2020 but, unfortunately, passed away in August 2023 due to complications from thoracentesis surgery, bidding all the shibes his last goodbye. We miss you, Cheems!
One pivotal moment for the history book was when Vitalik Buterin, the visionary behind Ethereum (ETH) and a co-founding member of blockchain in 2014, visited Sakura with his team to meet precious Kabosu in 2018.
His attire, sporting a T-shirt adorned with photoshopped images of dogs, clearly indicated his affection for animals.
We’re a Silly, Wholesome, and Fun Community
After a few bumps, our favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, was finally listed on the Robinhood Exchange on 16 July 2018.
A year after the successful listing on Robinhood Exchange, the cryptocurrency was listed onBinancein 2019, and it is now one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of its daily trading volume.
Dogecon Vancouver
Dogecon Vancouver saw boundless energy throughout their electrifying four-day event!
It is an event that celebrates everyone’s interest: from the high-spirited Crypto Speed Debates to the calm Healing Moon Ceremonies, from the agile Cryptokitties Workshops to the adorable Puppy Parades Dogecon. I bet you can’t get bored with so much in store!
Dogecon also saw enthusiasts from Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party (DDP) spread the contagious vigor of Dogecon fever throughout the city’s entertainment district and beyond. Their resounding and attractive belief that “partying can and will save the world” made the crowd believe in their mission statement. DDP united people of all ages, cultures, and social groups to spread wholesomeness and silliness!
Devcon5
Held in Osaka, Japan, from October 8th to 11th, 2019, was the fifth annual Ethereum Devcon, Devcon5. This event saw several sessions, lectures, and keynotes with the community partners and developers at the forefront.
The event was graced by the presence of Atsuko and Kabosu, who were invited as special guests! Atsuko recalls the contagious energy of the event and says, “There, we were able to meet participants from abroad, and many people called out Kabosu's name with their voices shaking. Seeing them so moved to pet her; I started to feel grateful towards all of the fans of Kabosu as Doge in the world.”
Overpowered by emotions, love, prospects of the future, and nostalgia, Devcon was the first crypto-public appearance of Kabosu as Doge, where she also met John Monarch. Remember him? He’s the one who started the butterfly effect of Doge with his post “LMBO LOOK @ THIS FUKKEN DOGE” on Reddit. Such wonder!
To The Moon
The internet is not just influential—it’s a force to reckon with. Don't believe me? In July 2020, a viral TikTok video urged people to buy Dogecoin in an attempt to surge its price to $1. The creators of the video suggested that users invest $25 in the coin and wait for its value to rise from its trading price, which was around $0.0023 to $1.
If this unlikely event were to unfold, it would make each person better off by roughly $10,000. Although reaching $1 was a long shot, Dogecoin did experience a surge in its price by 35% in only two days, with an increase in its trading volume by 1,900%.
The power the internet wields is like no other! Indeed, it is a treat to remember for all Doge lovers!
Kabosu’s Legacy of Wholesomeness Continues
Atsuko was deeply moved after learning the heart-touching story of an older man who had been rescuing abandoned dogs in the mountains for ten years until he could no longer.
After Animal Smile Kagawa took the dogs under their care in 2019, Atsuko sent 13 cages and dry food for the dogs along with 171,165 yen that she could gather from the people she had met on her trip to Kansai.
Doge is loved by its people, but don’t get me wrong—Doge loves its people, too! This was confirmed when Know Your Meme—a website dedicated to documenting internet memes and viral phenomena —awarded Doge the ‘Meme of the Decade’ title, beating all the other immensely famous memes! Cheers!
Celebrities Love Doge, We Hope You Do Too!💗
The growing attention that Doge received from celebrities spoke volumes about its rising appeal!
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors and one of the most influential people in the world (as regarded by TIME magazine), created a frenzy in the crypto world by showcasing his enthusiastic interest and belief in meme currency.
His first mention of the coin was on April 2, 2019, in response to a polling tweet that saw Musk as the winner of the hypothetical title of CEO of Dogecoin. He replied,“Dogecoin might be my favorite cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool.”
In July 2020, the CEO again showed his support for the currency by posting a meme about Dogecoin bypassing the global financial system and captioning it with “It’s inevitable”.
Throughout 2020, Musk made multiple mentions of Dogecoin on his Twitter account, out of which the most prominent was his one-liner tweet: “One word: Doge”, which currently has nearly 200k likes and 23k reposts! Much wow!
Celebrities Part II
Seeing Musk's active involvement in Dogecoin and its trends, people started to perceive Dogecoin as a worthwhile investment. In January 2021, the value of Dogecoin increased tremendously, touching $0.07! This price spike was encouraged by the Game Stop short squeeze coupled with Elon’s tweet of a dog on the cover of Dogue magazine, a spinoff of the renowned Vogue magazine.
On February 4, 2021, Musk again showed his unequivocal support for Dogecoin by consecutively tweeting, “Dogecoin is the people’s crypto” and “No highs, no lows, only Doge”!
Not just Elon Musk, but Gene Simmons, an American musician, who goes by the stage name “The Demon”, showered Dogecoin with his support by tweeting a picture captioned “God of Dogecoin.”.
Joining Musk and Simmons was our all-time favorite rapper, Snoop Dogg. After his tweet starring Snoop “Doge”, the coin's value boosted by 55% and rose to $0.0872, surpassing the record peak of $0.078! Such wow!