NEW YORK (WABC) — What started as a way for Bryan Reisberg to carry his dog around New York City has grown into a business, an online following and a mission to help shelter dogs find homes.
Reisberg has completed more than 55 adoption rides, taking dogs that are up for adoption around the city in a backpack and sharing their outings online. The rides have drawn smiles, selfies and attention from passersby while putting the dogs in front of a much larger audience.
“It’s truly changed my life from like having having such a close relationship with the people who work at these shelters that people volunteer. And then just seeing like the ecosystem of like how many dogs, whether you’re in a kill shelter or a no kill shelter, how many dogs really need help and how how much these shelters really need our help,” Reisberg said.
The idea traces back to Reisberg’s own dog, Maxine. Reisberg said he graduated from Tisch at NYU in 2009 with a film degree and was writing his first feature film while working at an ad agency to make money. He and his wife got Maxine as a wedding present to each other in 2015.
Reisberg began carrying Maxine on the subway in bags and eventually found a backpack for her. He started sharing videos of their adventures on Instagram, initially as a creative outlet.
The project remained a side hustle as its audience grew.
“Just organic, I had a job, like this was just a true side hustle,” Reisberg said.
In 2021, Reisberg turned that experience into a small business after people began asking him about the product he used to carry Maxine. He said he didn’t want to recommend it because he didn’t consider it safe and believed he could design something better.
“People kept asking me, ‘How can I have this relationship for my dog?’ And I refused to recommend the product I was using because it wasn’t safe,” Reisberg said. “So I quit my job. I started a company.”
Reisberg named the company Little Chonk, describing “chonk” as a term of endearment for an animal. He said the backpack sold out in four minutes.
Maxine continues to serve as an inspiration for Reisberg. She has arthritis, and Reisberg said the company launched a hip and joint supplement in February and plans to move further into the health and wellness category.
“We’re going to shift a lot of resources, and we’re going to dive into the science here,” Reisberg said.
The adoption rides began after Maxine was on crate rest for about three months last year. Reisberg said one of his best friends suggested taking adoptable dogs out instead.
Reisberg said the rides have since received more than half a billion views, but the attention they generate for his company is no longer his primary concern.
“What I’m focused on now is impact, like those rides have clocked in, I think over half a billion views. And so yeah, that’s good for the brand. But it’s not really my focus, it’s about the dogs, and…maybe it’s naive, but I trust that the community and the audience will find these other things,” Reisberg said.
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