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Proud puppy papa Bryan Reisberg has spent the past decade chronicling the adventures he shares with his Corgi Maxine. The videos of Maxine traveling around NYC over her dad’s shoulder — safe in a backpack Reisberg designed himself and now sells called the Little Chonk — easily drew in an online following from millions of people (about 6 million subscribers across TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook). There was a disruption in regularly scheduled programming last summer, though, when 10-year-old Maxine was not fit for backpack riding while she recovered from surgery. Luckily, a friend of Reisberg’s had a scathingly brilliant idea for video content during Maxine’s convalescence: spotlighting shelter dogs on backpack adventures! Reisberg reached out to Best Friends Animal Society, who in turn connected him with Animal Care Centers of NYC, and the results have been amazing. For the past six months, Reisberg has taken shelter dogs on day trips that are not only pawsitively adorable, they’ve led to a big uptick in adoptions from NYC’s severely overcrowded shelters.
The first date: On July 10, Mr. Reisberg posted his first adoption video. The adventures with Axl, a 10-month-old tan-and-white puppy, included a subway ride and a run in Central Park. In the video, Axl often leaned his head to the side, letting his long tongue roll out of his mouth. “Please consider making Axl part of your family,” Mr. Reisberg wrote in his Instagram post. More than two million people saw footage of Axl’s day in the city. Nine days later came an update: “Guess who’s going home today!” Mr. Reisberg exclaimed in a video while Axl licked his face. His update featured Axl’s new owner, a woman who saw the video and drove from Virginia to adopt him.
Queen/king for a day: Nationwide, dogs spent a median of 32 days in a shelter before being adopted in 2024, according to Shelter Animals Count, which collects data from shelters across the country. Most trips follow a routine: a subway ride, a treat, a toy and some time walking or playing outside. Mr. Reisberg said his favorite part was giving the dog a “pup cup,” a small cup of whipped cream from Starbucks or a local cafe. “They go crazy for it,” he said as he got in line at Starbucks. “It’s a new routine that I get as messy as possible,” he added.
People will drive for hours to adopt a dog from these videos: In September, Pear, a smooch-happy white pit bull mix, got a subway ride and a walk through Times Square. She received lots of pets, a toy pig and a hot dog, and Mr. Reisberg serenaded her with a few lines from “Cell Block Tango” from “Chicago” as they checked out the billboards. Richard Hage, 53, a graffiti artist who uses the nickname Aones Wto, first saw Pear on an American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Instagram page. He fell in love with Pear, who looked like his previous dog, Leia. “Then I saw Bryan’s Instagram page pop up and I saw the dog,” Mr. Hage said. Once his application was approved, he drove an hour and a half from upstate New York and the shelter took a celebratory photo of the new family, with Pear wearing a bandanna that said “rescued and loved.” She brought the pig toy she got with Mr. Reisberg to her new home. His “very lovey-dovey dog” has since settled in, he said.
Lots of pets, a pig toy, a hot dog, and being serenaded showtunes?! That pretty much describes my perfect date. What a wonderful mitzvah Reisberg is doing! And I can totally see this concept taking off as a bigger movement, with more people volunteering their time to show off pups while giving them a city adventure. It’s so needed: in other sections this article noted that a new Animal Care Centers facility already hit 210% capacity one month after opening. Additionally, the shelters are thrilled that more larger dogs who tend to get overlooked are now finding homes. So again, this is a winning formula!
I myself found My Guy in a similarish way: a colleague was volunteering at her local shelter by taking pooches out for walks on the weekend. She knew how hard My Girl’s death hit me, so each week she would come in and show me pictures of available pups she’d met. Truth be told, it was not My Guy who finally drew me to trek an hour-and-a-half to the shelter! (Special thanks to my mother for driving. Not sure I’d live to write another post if I left that out.) Anyway, when we arrived the certain someone I had come to see was out with a vet, but it didn’t matter anyway because I’d laid eyes on My Guy. We took a walk, found a bench, I sat down, he hopped right into my lap and it was all over. And unlike the average one-month shelter stay, My Guy had been there for three! I like to think he was waiting for me.
Lastly — Oh my dog, the power of the “pup cup” is insane!
How lovely and it’s great these dogs are getting forever homes.
I’ve just spent a lovely, long stroll down the rabbit hole of his IG account, watching these videos. A follow was mandatory so I can see more of these in my timeline to offset the hellscape of our current reality. How amazing and wonderful to do these videos!
I’ve been following his IG for many years – he’s amazingly talented, and loves animals. His reels of him laughing are a must watch.
Love this so much!
I want to bump in to them on the train!