The live webcam was set up on Ustream in October 2008 by a San Francisco, California, couple to monitor their Shiba Inu puppies while they were at work.
[3] The live streaming website showed the puppies interacting with each other in a variety of ways: sleeping, playing with toys, tearing up wee pads, and snuggling with their mother, Kika.
[3] As of July 2012[update] the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam streaming page on Ustream has received over 60 million views.
The six puppies (three females: Autumn, Ayumi, and Amaya and three males: Aki, Akoni, and Ando) were identified mainly by their different-colored collars.
The couple kept one pup from this litter, Ayumi, and the camera continued functioning so that viewers were able to watch her interact with the other three adult Shibas in the house.
They were sired by a red Shiba named GCH CH Kobushi Justa Draco Rosso AOM.
The fifth litter of puppies was born on August 21, 2013, to parents Ayumi and sire Morningstar Dr McDreamy Chouseisou.
It is believed that this female will enter the AKC dog show circuit and possibly be the couple's new foundation girl moving forward once all appropriate health tests have been verified.
By August 2018 all required OFA health tests were performed and Nori was given an Excellent rating and a CHIC number.
The eighth litter of puppies was born on December 19, 2019, to parents Nori and GCH Jogoso's Forged In Fire (aka Max).
Donations from the calendar are being sent to various Shiba Inu Rescue organizations around the United States, and that year the amount totaled over $6,000.
[5] From April to November 2009, regular viewers of the Puppy Cam (who call themselves Shibaholics) collectively donated $11,172 to Shiba Inu Rescue Resources of America in honor of the SFShiba family.
In November 2009, the American Kennel Club Gazette featured an article on the continued efforts of the puppy cam fans as significant contributors to SIRRA.
Before their one-week birthday, national attention to the puppies grew as they appeared on PeoplePets.com[12] as well as the Bay Area Blog of The New York Times.
[14] On November 14, 2008, NBC Nightly News broadcast a live feed of the camera to its national TV audience.
[18] On December 11, 2008, Jeff Horwich of Minnesota Public Radio posted a song written about the puppy cam.
The puppies have been featured in magazines including Time, People, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, and online sites like boingboing, dlisted and Gawker.
[21] In December 2010, Kika and her litter were featured on Animal Planet's Dogs 101 Shiba Inu segment, where the phenomenon of the puppy cam was noted.
In 2012 the couple turned down offers from Ricki Lake and Anderson Cooper to appear on their TV shows.