Maxine the Fluffy Corgi
Maxine’s entire genre is a technicality. New York’s subway rules require dogs to be contained, so Reisberg carried his corgi in a backpack — and the image of a serene, fluffy corgi face poking out of a bag on a packed train became one of TikTok’s most reliable sources of calm.
Who Maxine is
Maxine is a fluffy Pembroke Welsh corgi — the long-coated variety of a breed developed to herd cattle in Wales. Reisberg and his wife got her in 2016 as a wedding present to themselves. He started bringing her to his production studio in a doggy backpack to avoid leaving her home alone, and the subway commuters’ reactions became the content.
The commute format
The “commute with me” video is deceptively simple: Maxine rides along, the city reacts, and the corgi’s unbothered expression carries the whole thing. It defined the city-dog niche — the appeal is the contrast between a chaotic subway and one perfectly content dog — and it scaled to more than 5 million followers across platforms, posting under the handle madmax_fluffyroad.
What it became
Maxine’s backpack turned into a business: Reisberg founded Little Chonk, a pet company whose first product was the Maxine One dog backpack he had effectively been prototyping on camera for years. More recently, he has used the same commute format for something better — taking adoptable shelter dogs on backpack adventures around the city. The videos have driven real adoptions, with most featured dogs finding homes.
The honest take
Maxine is a case study in turning a constraint into a brand. A rule meant to be an inconvenience became the entire identity, then a product, then a genuine public good. The shelter-dog pivot is the best use any big pet account has found for its reach — the same backpack that sold followers now moves dogs out of shelters.
Maxine appears in our famous TikTok dogs guide and the internet’s most famous dogs.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Maxine the corgi ride in a backpack?
New York City’s MTA requires dogs on the subway to be carried in a container, so owner Bryan Reisberg carries Maxine in a backpack. The ‘commute with me’ clips became her signature content.
Who owns Maxine the Fluffy Corgi?
Maxine is owned by Bryan Reisberg, a New York video producer who later founded the pet-backpack company Little Chonk.
What is Maxine’s shelter-dog project?
Reisberg now takes adoptable shelter dogs on backpack adventures around New York City; the videos have led to successful adoptions for most of the featured dogs.
