Tesla CEO Elon Musk does not shy away from setting trends, and a special Japan-originated breed of dogs is now one of them. Musk tweeted on Friday, announcing that his Shiba Inu is going to be called Floki. This excited both cryptocurrency and dog lovers amidst increased interest around dogecoin that famously features a meme of the Shiba Inu dog.
Strangely enough, Tom & Sandie Rolenaitis, who happen to be popular dog breeders, initially discovered the craze from none other than Musk himself. Tom, when being interviewed by Yahoo Finance revealed that he is a fan of Elon Musk, however, he has not taken a liking to the cryptocurrency Musk so adoringly promotes. Musk’s influence for good or bad on the crypto markets continues to be a subject for debate.
For more than three decades, the pair has been breeding dogs at Rodel Shibas in the town of Aspers, Pennsylvania. They revealed that it was the meme-originated virtual coin that caught the attention of dog lovers a few years ago.
According to what Sandie revealed, the rising popularity of Dogecoin amplified the already high demand for dogs during the pandemic.
They stated that Dogecoin popularized the demand for the Japanese dog breed, which was previously somewhat obscure. Typically, the couple breeds two litters (three puppies each) of Shiba Inu puppies per year. However, at the height of the pandemic, they found themselves receiving several applications a month for Shiba Inu dogs.
They ultimately decided not to breed dogs in the midst of the pandemic since CDC (or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) laws were disallowing them from visiting the vet with their dogs. Sandie was also apprehensive that inexperienced dog parents, particularly those having to return to work soon, are not thinking their decisions through. She advises future puppy parents to go through extensive research before coming to a decision.
