In December 2013, shortly after the breakout of "Doge," the tech news site The Verge published an article identifying Sato's Kabosu as the original Shiba Inu depicted in the meme. In addition to Kabosu, The Verge also identified "Suki," a Shiba Inu who lives with San Francisco-based photographer Jonathan Fleming, as the scarfed dog portrayed in another popular instance of the meme.