Retirement Home for Elderly Dogs Opens in Japan - $1,000 Per Month

A pet company in Japan has opened a nursing home for older dogs which will provide round-the-clock vet care, a specialist guy, and even a swimming pool!  This is offered as a positive option for families with older pets that can be harder to care for.  Hopefully, this will keep people from just abandoning their older dogs, or putting them down.

Aeonpet Co., which is a subsidiary of the Aeon supermarket chain, is the company responsible for starting the idea.  The first site is opening at a shopping mall east of Tokyo, and has spots for an initial intake of 20 dogs.

“We decided to open the nursing facility because so many dog owners have requested something like this,” said Nanako Oiishi, a spokesperson for the company.

“Many Japanese people have pets now, but of course they get old and it can be difficult to care for them.”

Along with having vet services with a dedicated doctor on call at all times, there is a large grooming room, and owners will be able to stay with their animals as they live out the last days of their lives in comfort and luxury.

The care will also incorporate some services offered at the company’s luxury pet hotel at Tokyo's Narita Airport, including an hourly room temperature check and webcam so owners can look in on dogs day and night.

Prices will vary depending on the size and type of canine, although the company expects it will set the average owner back about $1,000 per month.

Aeonpet’s president said his intention is to use the first dog retirement home as a method to establish a second to none and available nowhere else.  They also hope to “establish an industry standard” in care for our older pets.

“We hope to eventually expand operations nationwide,” Akihiro Ogawa, Aeonpet’s president, said.

Aeonpet is already the largest pet company in Japan.  There are more than 170 stores, and 59 hospitals for pets in operation throughout the country.

Improved living conditions and health services for animals mean that the majority are living far longer than in the past, while new laws that went into effect in Japan last year make it a legal obligation for pet owners to take care of their animals until they die.

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Dog Circus Educates Japanese Youngsters on the Responsibilities of Pet Ownership

Tokyo, Japan - Japanese elementary school children enjoyed a dynamic performance by a troupe of 'unwanted dogs' on Wednesday when the Wow Wow Dog Circus came through town with the aim of educating youngsters on the responsibilities of pet ownership.

Jumping rope, balancing on balls and crossing narrow balance beams the furry friends brought smiles and laughter to the students of the local public school located in Tachikawa city on the outskirts of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area.

Beginning with a short 10 minute speech about dog shelters and statistics on the numbers of canines abandoned each year in Japan, organizers provided the young attendants with both education and entertainment.

Impressed by what he learned one 6th grader said he didn't approve of people who abandoned their pets.

"I really felt those people that abandon their dogs and don't take responsibility for them, that's not a good thing," 12-year-old Tokutaro Takahashi said.

His classmate, Keito Aoki who also had a chance to jump rope on stage with man's best friend agreed.

"For me it is unforgivable! From the moment you buy one, until it dies, that is our obligation," Aoki said.

The Wow Wow Dog Circus aims to educate young people about the responsibilities of pet ownership and encourage them both as children and later as adults to adopt animals from shelters in preference to buying them from pet shops.

"To understand the value of life, while they are still kids, to let them know what the situation in Japan is in the hope that they will pass on what they learned to others. That is the main focus of the program," said dog trainer Kayo Takeda.

In contrast to some other nations the concept of 'doggie adoption' or animal rescue is still relatively unknown in Japan. Most pet owners purchase animals from local pet shops or kennels.

"Compared to a country like Germany the number (of adoptions) is way too low, more and more we need to use the system (for adopting abandoned dogs).

The sales at pets shops are very high (in Japan), but overseas the thinking to adopt a dog is much more prevalent. I'd like to hope that Japan will move forward in that direction," Takeda told Reuters.

In Japan 100,000 dogs are abandoned and destroyed every year.

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Sony Stops Production of Aibo, the Robot Dog - Parts No Longer Available for Repairs

In 1999, Sony launched a robot dog named Aibo in the U.S. and Japan that not only responded to external stimuli, but was able to learn and express itself. These capabilities, allow each unit to develop a unique personality including behavior shaped by the praise and scolding of its owner.” And Aibo, short for “Artificially Intelligent Robot,” quickly became a hit, especially in Japan.

At around $600 to $2,000 a pup, each iteration of Aibo cost less than some real dogs. And the perks didn’t end there. He doesn't need to eat or be taken out for a walk. He can be cut off when you are away. He does have a feature that when he cocks his leg, your hear noise like water running.

Hideko Mori, a robot dog owner of eight years, purchased the pooch after the death of her husband and, like many other Aibo owners, became attached to her unique cyborg companion.

“I can’t imagine how quiet our living room would have been if Ai-chan wasn’t here,” Sumie Maekawa, a longtime Aibo owner, told The Wall Street Journal, using an honorific suffix applied to girls’ names.

Tatsuo Matsui, who owns two digital dogs with his wife, added, “I can’t risk my precious dogs because they are important members of our family.”

Sony decided to discontinue the bot in 2006, after selling around 150,000 units.

"Our core businesses are electronics, games and entertainment, but the focus is going to be on profitability and strategic growth," a Sony spokeswoman said at the time. "In light of that, we've decided to cancel the Aibo line."

For years following the announcement, Sony would repair Aibos that experienced technical difficulties. But in July 2014, those repairs stopped and owners were left to look elsewhere for help.

“The first time I spoke directly to a client he told me, ‘He’s not very well, can you examine him?’” Hiroshi Funabashi, a robot dog repairman, told AFP. “I realized he didn’t see it as a robot, but as a member of his family whose life was more important than his own.”

The Sony stiff has led not only to the formation of support groups--where Aibo enthusiasts can share tips and help each other with repairs--but has fed the bionic pet vet industry.

“The people who have them feel their presence and personality,” Nobuyuki Narimatsu, director of A-Fun, a repair company for robot dogs, told AFP. “So we think that somehow, they really have souls.”

While concerted repair efforts have kept many an Aibo alive, a shortage of spare parts means that some of their lives have come to an end, and funerals have been held for 19 Aibos that engineers at A-Fun were unable to save.

Each formerly automated animal is wearing a tag with its owner’s name, as well as where it is from.

"It’s not at all unusual for people to develop strong emotional attachments to non-living objects or machines," says cyberpsychologist Eleanor Barlow, giving the common examples of naming a car, or a child becoming attached to a doll. "Research suggests this can happen in order to satisfy a need in us...to care for something to improve our own sense of well-being or by way of a child substitute."

As artificially intelligent machines are increasingly incorporated into our modern lives, people substituting robot interfacing for human interaction. And when a machine resembles something living (like Aibo), people are likely to both form a stronger bond to it and feel a greater sense of loss when it vanishes, said Barlow.

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There's A Cafe In Japan…Where the Patrons Interact with Friendly Owls!

Japan is known for it's crazy, kooky fads. The social trends there cover almost any kind of interest (and any subset of that interest). So it's no surprise that after making gaming cafes, cat cafes and even bunny cafes, the Japanese thought of a new adorable trend: owl cafes.

Over the past year, owl cafes have been springing up in Tokyo and Osaka, and they're just as adorable as they sound.

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