Recently, a 6-year-old Shiba Inu from Huian County, Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, became an internet sensation: its owner dressed it up as a welcoming mannequin, wearing overalls and a red striped T-shirt, and used it to solicit business in its owner's clothing store by displaying signs such as "3 items for 100" and "Please come in." The related video garnered over 338,000 likes and 42,000 comments. Many netizens commented, "Every bite of dog food is earned by itself; it's so hard-earned."
A 6-year-old Shiba Inu serving as a welcoming model has attracted attention online. (Interviewee)
On April 2, an Upstream News reporter contacted Mr. Chen, the owner of the Shiba Inu, who described the dog: "Our dog is named 'Pipi'er'. It's a Shiba Inu and is 6 years old this year. We adopted it from a friend when it was about 1 year old."
Looking at Mr. Chen's Douyin account "Pipier Studio" for his dog, the bio is quite funny: "Reborn as a Shiba Inu. In my previous life, I was fired by my boss for not selling clothes properly. In this life, I must become the top salesperson." Since posting its first welcoming video on February 21, 2023, the Shiba Inu "Pipier" has been working as a greeter for over a year.
Mr. Chen's sister pays "Pipi'er's" "salary". (Interviewee)
How did you manage to turn a Shiba Inu into a welcoming model? Mr. Chen explained, "There was no training involved; it was purely an accident. My sister and I opened our clothing store over a year ago. 'Pipi' (Pipi'er) usually likes to sit at the store entrance or rest in the window, so we thought we'd just put up a sign for him as a welcoming model. Unexpectedly, it worked quite well. Sometimes he'd even wear the sign and run around looking for customers, bringing them from far away to the store."
Following Mr. Chen's introduction, the reporter interviewed Ms. Yang, a frequent customer of his store. Ms. Yang said, "The first time I visited this store, I was taken there by 'Pipi'er' (a Shiba Inu), just to see what a store recommended by a Shiba Inu was like."
"Pipi'er's" March "payslip". (Photo taken by the interviewee)
On March 29th, Mr. Chen posted a video of "paying" his dog "Pipi'er" a salary. He claimed that "Pipi'er" originally earned 3,000 yuan a month, but due to reasons such as being late, leaving early, abandoning its post, dozing off at work, and urinating or defecating indiscriminately, its salary was deducted, and "Pipi'er" only received 243 yuan in cash. Mr. Chen explained, "My sister paid 'Pipi'er' just for laughs, since dogs can't understand pay slips. Of course, like any other worker, it prefers going home to going to get off work because it can go out and play after get off work."
