Us Shiba Inus are one of the Internet’s favorite breeds. One of our own is the star of one of the world’s most recognizable memes – the “doge” meme. This iconic photo is of a Japanese rescue Shiba named Kabosu, who is giving some serious side-eye to her mom behind the camera. The Internet couldn’t get enough of Kabosu, Shibas went viral, and now the whole world knows how pawesome we are!

We Shiba Inus are one of six dog breeds native to Japan. People all around the world love us, but we are the #1 most popular breed in our home country! Some humans believe that our ancient ancestors came to Japan with their humans as early as 7000 B.C.E. Shibas were originally bred as hunting dogs and lived in the mountains of Japan’s Chūbu Region. Because we are so agile and alert to our surroundings, my Japanese ancestors were great retrievers who helped their humans find small game like birds and rabbits in the brush of the mountainous terrain. We even helped them hunt wild boar! Not all humans agree on how we got the name Shiba Inu. The Japanese word inu means “dog” (so that’s a no-brainer!) but humans can’t agree on where the Shiba part comes from. Some say that our name comes from the Japanese shiba meaning “brushwood,” which is where my ancestors would hunt with their humans. Other people think that the name refers to our fire-red coat color, which is the same color as brushwood