Toco the Dog (Sort of)

This story had me scratching my head a little, and not because of fleas. Star of the show is Toco, a Japanese man who spent the equivalent of $20,000 to become a dog. So yeah, okay, it was a costume, but as you have already seen the picture, you could pardon me for thinking he had one hell of a surgeon. Or a mad scientist, whatever. He wanted to be a dog, ever since he was a kid. And I wanted to be a veterinarian, then a war correspondent. But unlike me, not stitching up sheep on the front lines, Toco actually did it.

I really thought he’s turned himself into a dog. I’m not high, I swear. The costume is that good. To pull it off, he has to walk on all fours, which he said was tough, but he’s a trooper. He goes outside, does tricks, eats snacks (no clue if they’re Scooby snacks.)

He says he’s not actually trying to be a dog, that he’s trying to be a human being a dog. And he plans on being other animals, as evidenced by his YouTube channel, “I want to be an animal.” And of course, he has millions of views.

What’s really cool about this is not the spectacle of a man transforming himself into a dog. That’s cool, and props to him for chasing his dream. It’s that he’s looking for a girl dog (presumably just as good a costume) to meet and star in movies with. They cannot make this movie fast enough.

It’s easy to make fun of stuff like this, but I did have a dream of becoming a writer, and I have books published. I can tell you the first time I heard back from a publisher that they wanted my books, I felt the feeling Toco does right now. That accomplishment. And even though maybe I had a more mainstream dream, Toco’s killing YouTube. So who’s got who beat?

I’m not sure if Toco qualifies as a Furry, i.e., people who dress up in animal costume for fun and games. He might be seen by that community as a demigod. Or maybe just a guy with twenty-grand to blow.

Seriously, watch this video.

Story by Liam Sweeny.