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August 5, 2023 | 9:03am
Toco would not stand a possibility versus the basic bearers of the breed at a dog program, according to professionals.
YouTube/I wish to be an animal
This may make him a bit melon-collie.
The country’s premier collie breeders and dog-show judges were ruff on the Japanese man who went viral for walking around Tokyo in a hyper-realistic dog outfit, informing The Post that he doesn’t stand a possibility versus the standard-bearers of the breed.
“A collie should look regal, and I don’t know that he does,” smelled American Kennel Club judge Jeffrey Presley, who panned Toco’s headpiece as being too large and coming throughout as being a “heavy head.”
“[He] should have an expression of real intelligence,” he said of Toco, who was moved to global popularity after sharing a video last month of himself walking on all fours in a collie match.
Watching Toco waddle around the streets of Tokyo or attempt to go up the stairs in his home, numerous professionals shouted over the pooch’s “choppy” and “cumbersome” gait — far from the simple and easy stride you’d anticipate from a leading dog in the Herding Group.
“Collies are meant to be working with the sheep and in the field, and he’s very stiff,” Katie Skilton-Rendina, Collie Club of America district director for Ohio and Michigan, said of Toco. “Maybe he needs a lot of room to roam and work on that muscle tone.”
AKC judge and collie breeder Erin Blaisure said Toco requires to lay off the chow — and make an appointment with the groomer too.
“My first impression of him . . . is that he’s overweight. I can tell that he’s not just all coat,” she said.
“I do think he needs to work on clipping his nails, they’re quite a bit long and he has this odd way of rotating his front paws.”
Still, some were charmed by his friendly behavior with complete strangers and other animals, which they kept in mind is spot-on for the breed.
“They’re very much a family dog, but they also are not aloof to strangers, so they welcome people, they welcome other dogs,” said AKC judge Robette Johns. “That’s the way the dog was playing it.”
Toco, a veteran collie fan who dreamed for years of ending up being a human Lassie, spent a remarkable 2 million yen ($14,099) for the life-like outfit, which was personalized by Zeppet, a business that produces outfits for television commercials and programs.
The end product took 40 days to make and followed several modifications.
Over the previous year, he has actually published videos of his dog days on YouTube, where his almost 50,000 customers can view him snack on phony dog treats from a bowl and vibrate into his wire cage.
Biting back at giants who called his way of life a weird fetish, Toco said, “I’m simply sad that individuals can believe that. I like animals and delight in play-acting like a collie.
“This is my hobby, so I will carry on,” he said. “It makes me happy and other people happy, too.”
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