In Skagway, Alaska, a unique dog walking business has exploded on social media after buying a bus to transport its canine clientele.
When Mo Thompson first moved from mainland USA to Alaska just before the COVID-19 pandemic, she thought she’d only be there for a summer. When her husband then asked her to forge through a freezing winter, Thompson had one proviso.
“When he asked me to stay for the winter, I told him I would only if I had a puppy,” Thompson told ABC.
Thompson soon had her dog and began working two jobs in the seasonal Alaskan city of Skagway. In just a couple of short years, Thompson’s love of dogs led to her owning and running the most unique bus service Skagway has seen.
With many seasonal workers coming to Skagway and working gruelling hours, Thompson first started her business by taking co-workers’ dogs for walks during her lunch break.
The small city soon noticed that Thompson was exceptionally good with dogs and in the years that followed, Thompson went from walking a small group of dogs to needing vehicles to transport her growing collection of puppy participants for their daily mountain walks. But it all went to another level when Thompson and her husband bought a bus.
“When I bought our latest bus, the internet fell in love,” Thompson says.
“I had no vehicle for a couple of weeks after a wheel fell off of my old vehicle, but the Skagway community helped me receive this current bus.
“Now with this new bus, I’ve been posting daily on TikTok as the dogs hop onboard.”
The videos that Thompson posts daily to social media show dogs waiting in the snow on the curb for the Mo Mountain Mutts bus to pick them up. The video then records them as they hop onboard and trot to their seat, where they socialise with the other dogs.
Thompson says the bus has been a hit for the dogs – there’s now even a designated ‘licky puppy corner’ for the younger and more excitable passengers.
“On the bus every dog has their own seat,” Thompson says. “We have that corner made up of a quadrant of seats where the licky puppies go.
“It’s eliminated the problem of older dogs not wanting to sit next to a licky puppy, as the senior dogs stay well away from the dogs who lean on each other and get excited.”
The Mo Mountain Mutts bus is a 2005 Ford Eldorado AeroTech bus that Thompson scored from a Skagway business that had it sitting idle throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thompson admits the doors don’t work as they should after the vehicle was used as a tour bus for years, but the luxury of owning a bus after previously owning a minivan has allowed her to film the dogs more and create a following on social media.
“The dogs love the bus as they get good treats when they hop on and behave,” Thompson says. “I always use high value organ meat for them when they get onto the vehicle, so they get a treat pass upon entering.”
The bus has done more than just keep the dogs and Thompson sheltered.
Certain TikTok videos of the Mo Mountain Mutts have been seen more than 55 million times, with certain dogs, like Jake, becoming a fan favourite on the social media app. It’s created a whirlwind for Thompson that has revolutionised her business. She credits the bus for her success.
“I was so lucky to get the bus,” Thompson says. “Now I’m at my capacity for dogs to care for and I can post daily.
“The dogs love the bus and the puppy bus is a hit!”