Akita dogs
Symbol of loyalty turned into a sign of the times, but Tokyo authorities ask people to stop.
The iconic green train car that sits in front of Shibuya Station’s Hachiko statue is finding a new home.
When we recently came across an adorable Shiba Inu peering out of a wall of shrubbery and an Akita dog poking his nose out of a hole in the wall, we figured these were one-off, rare sightings, much like the sight of a hedgehog riding on the back of a rubber duck or a cat dressed in an elegant kimono.
But it turns out we were just scratching the surface of a well-known pastime in the canine world, which involves dogs of all shapes and sizes squeezing themselves into holes in walls to catch a whiff of what’s going on outside. And no dog is immune to the trend, with bulldogs, collies and beagles getting in on the cute act too!
We tend to think of silly Internet and photo memes as being strictly a human pastime, but is it possible that our pets, in an attempt to further increase their influence over online culture, have decided to get in on the act? The answer may be yes, since after a pair of Shiba Inu captured our hearts by squeezing themselves into narrow garden spaces, this member of the breed’s domestic rival, the Akita dog, is getting in on the trend with a bit of Tetris-style contortionism as he pops out from a garden wall.
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