Photos of Rare Japanese Dog Species Surface

It’s a raccoon! It’s a badger! Nope, it’s a dog.

Known as Tanuki, photos of this super rare dog species, native to East Asia, have recently surfaced on Twitter from user @chibi_tori. The adorable photos of its misadventures are well documented and have since gone viral.

Tanuki is usually mistakenly translated as “raccoon” or “badger” but it is in fact a type of dog. According to the Epoch Times, this dog’s name is Tanu (creative, we know) and has become quite the household pet. Its owner apparently found it abandoned and they have been together ever since. Now if only we could adopt some here in the West!

Check out more images of Tanu below.