The Famous Dogs of the Internet: Where Are They Now?
This site went online in 2010 to follow one small Pomeranian who was taking over Facebook. Fifteen years later, Boo is gone, most of his generation of famous dogs is gone, and the fans who grew up sharing them are typing the same question into Google: what happened to that dog?
This page is the answer. The internet’s most famous dogs, who they were, and where they are now, kept by people who were there for it.
The ones we lost
Boo (2006–2019), the World’s Cutest Dog. The original. A teacup Pomeranian with a teddy bear haircut who became the first true dog celebrity of the social media age, with 16 million Facebook fans, four books, and a plush empire. He died of heart trouble a year after losing his brother Buddy. This whole site is his memorial; his full story is here.
Kabosu (~2005–2024), the Doge. A rescued Shiba Inu from Sakura, Japan whose sideways glance in a 2010 blog photo became Doge, the meme of the decade, and later the face of Dogecoin. She outlived her own meme era entirely, passing peacefully in May 2024 at around 18. What happened to Kabosu.
Balltze, “Cheems” (2011–2023). The round-faced Hong Kong Shiba behind the Cheems memes and a thousand “bonk” jokes. He died in August 2023, at 12, during treatment for cancer. Cheems’ story.
Gabe (d. 2017), the bork legend. A tiny white floof whose single bark got remixed into every song you can name. Heart failure took him in January 2017, and YouTube mourned him like a rock star. Remembering Gabe.
Marnie (2001–2020), the head-tilt queen. A senior Shih Tzu adopted from a shelter at age 11 who became proof that old rescue dogs make the best celebrities. Her tilted head and permanently out tongue charmed two million followers. She passed in March 2020 at 18.
Before the internet
Dog fame did not start with broadband, and the pre-internet legends are still the most searched famous dogs on earth. Hachiko (1923–1935) waited at a Tokyo train station for nine years after his owner’s death and became the permanent world standard for loyalty; his statue at Shibuya is one of the most visited monuments in Japan. Balto and Togo ran the 1925 serum relay that saved Nome, Alaska, and split dog history’s greatest credit dispute: Balto got the Central Park statue, Togo ran four times the miles, and it took Hollywood 94 years to settle the score. Laika (d. 1957), a Moscow street dog, became the first living creature to orbit the Earth and never came home; her story is the saddest and most consequential on this entire site. The internet dogs inherited their throne from these three stories, and all three pages are told the way they deserve.
Still with us
Jiffpom (b. 2010). A Pomeranian like Boo, and in many ways his successor: Guinness world records, a Katy Perry video, and one of the largest pet followings on earth. Jiffpom’s story.
Doug the Pug (b. 2012). Nashville’s most famous resident this side of country music, with books, merch, celebrity friends, and his own official day in the city. Doug’s story.
Tucker Budzyn, Crusoe, and Bunny. The professional generation: Tucker the Golden whose accounts are a full-time family business, Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund with his costumes and best-selling books, and Bunny, the Sheepadoodle whose word buttons got actual universities studying dog communication. We also keep the running list of the most followed dogs in the world, updated yearly.
And the rest of the family: Marnie, the senior shelter Shih Tzu who out-charmed the industry (d. 2020); Manny the Frenchie, the sink-sleeping philanthropist (d. 2023); Bodhi the Menswear Dog, fashion’s favorite Shiba (d. 2024); Maru, the smiling Shiba who was Japan’s most famous dog; Noodle, whose Bones Days briefly organized the entire internet’s mood (d. 2022); Norbert, the three-pound therapy dog who made hospital house calls for 13 years (d. Jan 2025); and Tika the Iggy, fashion’s most quotable dog (d. Nov 2025). Every one has a page, and every page is fact-checked, because these dogs deserve better than clickbait.
The current generation, thriving: Maxine the Fluffy Corgi, New York’s backpack commuter; Maya the Samoyed, the polar bear of the internet; Loki the Wolfdog, who invented adventure fame; Walter Geoffrey, the screaming Frenchie; and Nala, whose self-invented stomp dance is the happiest recurring event online.
Why they mattered
It is easy to be cynical about pet influencers now that brands manufacture them. But the first generation was different. Nobody planned Boo, or Doge, or Gabe. Somebody just loved their dog, posted it, and millions of strangers agreed. For a stretch of the 2010s, these dogs were the most reliably kind places on the internet.
Boo opened that door in 2009, and this site has been keeping his light on ever since. The others deserve the same. That is what these pages are for.
Editorial note (not published): Tuna, Walter/Nelson, and Doug-dedicated pages are bench items behind the GSC gate. Tuna requires status verification before ANY mention (owner posts suggest she died late 2025). Marnie’s dedicated page is also benched; her entry above is self-contained.