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The Japanese
government had planned to present Putin, widely known to be a
dog lover, with a male Akita as a companion to Yume, a female of
the same breed that Japan gave him in 2012.
But a Japanese legislator said Russia had turned down the offer.
"Unfortunately, we heard from our counterparts, and our hope to
present a bridegroom was dashed," House of Representatives
member Koichi Hagiuda said in a blog post on Friday, without
giving a reason for the rejection.
Abe and Putin will meet in Japan on Dec. 15-16.
They are expected to work towards reviving security talks and
joint naval rescue training halted after Russia annexed the
Crimea region in 2014. The two sides are also set to sign some
business deals.
A territorial dispute over a group of islands has bedeviled
relations between the two countries since the end of World War
Two.
Putin is known to be an animal lover who has been photographed
riding horses, swimming with dolphins and cuddling a leopard.
In addition to Yume, which means "dream" in Japanese, he is the
owner of Buffy, a male Bulgarian Shepherd given by Bulgaria's
prime minister in 2010.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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