By Sara Barnes on May 31, 2022

It’s not cake…but it’s not actually a dog either.

You might be a dog lover, but have you ever adored a breed so much that you want to be it? A man named Toko does, and his dream became a reality thanks to the magic of costuming. Based in Japan, Toko spent 2 million yen—nearly $16K USD—to have a custom canine costume made of his favorite breed: the border collie. The result looks like money well spent; in a short, now-viral video, Toko wears the suit and moves around his room. The fur and expression look like a real dog, and the man has learned how to act like a collie (including walking on all fours). But, to show he’s a human inside the canine body, he waves at the camera like a person does.

Toko commissioned his costume from the Japanese company Zeppet, which specializes in sculptures and models for the entertainment industry and mascots. The outfit took 40 days to make and went through multiple rounds of revisions and fittings in order to make sure it looked just like a border collie. This involved a lot of research. “The point is that the skeleton of a dog can be reproduced on the skeleton of a human. Since the structure of the skeleton is very different, we spent a lot of time studying how to make it look like a ‘dog,’” a Zeppet employee explained. “In addition, we collect photographs taken from various angles so that the beautiful coat of the collie can be reproduced and devised so that the coat will flow naturally.”[…]

Source: Man Spends $16K on Lifelike Dog Costume to “Become an Animal”