A man who has spent a whopping $14,000 to ‘become a dog’ recently attempted an agility course with surprising results.
While many think the Japanese man who goes by the name of Toco when he’s in the furry suit is barking mad, he has garnered quite the following in recent years.
He first hit headlines last year, after clips of his incredibly life-like dog suit were shared online. Since then, he’s kept people up to date with his experiences as Toco via his YouTube channel ‘I want to be an animal’.
In recent months, Toco bought himself his own dog crate to sleep in and shared what it was like to go on a walk wearing his leash.
And now, Toco has embarked on an agility course in a video that was uploaded to YouTube earlier this month.
First of all, Toco began the way he starts most of his videos by giving real-life dogs a fright by his mammoth presence.
The fake pup then starts with a jump, something he embarrassingly fails to pass.
Taco instead lands on the bar a few feet off the ground, which would lead to an automatic disqualification in competition according to one dog trainer.
Dog trainer and owner of Trinity Border Collies, Brianne Farr, told the New York Post: “I don’t know how he maneuvers in that contraption because it looks like it’s challenging for sure.”
Farr went on to say how Toco’s slow momentum leading up to the jump is what would confirm he’s disqualification if competing in a real tournament.
Despite that, the dog trainer credited Toco for ensuring the weave poles were left correctly even as he struggled to surpass them.
“He definitely needs to work on his jumping skills,” Farr admitted. “Overall, I think it was a bit of a struggle for him.”
YouTube/ I want to be an animal
Toco then took part in a few other obstacles common in a dog agility course.
Despite taking part in a bunch of dog activities, Toco has previously said how people are ‘misinformed’ on what he really wants.
Speaking to the New York Post earlier this year, Toco said: “My desire to be an animal is like a desire to transform…a desire to be something that I am not.”
Toco went on to reveal he wears the dog costume around once a week, saying he mostly does this at home.
And while he may be dressed in a dog costume at times in his home, his family have yet to put him in the dog house despite his rather unique hobby.
“The family was surprised, but received it favourably,” he continued. “I am very happy that they accepted it.”
