Meet Bowie the “Uber Dog”—the Internet's Latest Obsession

For many of us, Take Your Dog to Work Day is a rare treat. But for Colorado-based Uber driver Kevin Ferman, ride-alongs with his Yellow Lab, Bowie, are just another day at the office. Together, they’ve launched the digital content series Bowie the Uber Dog — racking up more than 400,000 Instagram followers, 144k on TikTok, and millions of views on YouTube. 

Bowie’s whole bit revolves around a brilliantly simple premise: He rides shotgun while Ferman picks up passengers, and a dash cam captures every excited squeal as passengers climb inside. Viewers become flies on the car window, peeking in on the conversations that ensue.

“The car is his favorite place,” Ferman tells Kinship of his doggo colleague. “He gets to watch the world go by, and he gets to meet new people all the time.”

On the road: Bowie’s story

Fittingly, Ferman and Bowie’s story began with a very long car ride. As a puppy, Bowie lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico; a friend of Ferman’s adopted Bowie from his mother, who’d rescued the whole litter. When that friend had to take a second job in 2022, he realized he couldn’t give Bowie the life he deserved. Enter Ferman, who’d just moved into a place with a backyard that he was eager to share with a dog. The trek home took seven hours, but that didn’t seem to faze five-month-old Bowie.

After Bowie had settled in, one of Ferman's jobs fell through. He had worked for Uber in the past, so he decided to return as a stopgap — and the timing felt almost kismet. “I was realizing that Bowie has pretty bad separation anxiety,” he says. “So that instantly gave me the idea, well, Bowie loves the car. I'm going back to Uber. Let's bring Bowie along and see if it works.” The two rode around together for about a year and a half before Ferman decided to share their wholesome experiences with the world.

Bowie, now three years old, has completely changed the driving experience for Ferman. In the past, Ferman says, he’d drive “grueling” 12-to 16-hour shifts. He’d stop only for gas, and by the end of the day, he found himself limping out of the car. But with Bowie along for the ride, he’ll stop every few hours to find a park. Meanwhile, Bowie loves both the company of new passengers and the playtime stops at various destinations throughout the day. 

Customers also behave differently when Bowie’s along for the ride. “When they get into the car, and they see a dog, they just light up,” Ferman says. “It makes their day, so it makes it a lot more fun for me, too.” Pre-Bowie, riders often asked Ferman the same handful of questions — like how long he’d been driving for Uber and whether anyone had ever thrown up in his car. These days, the conversations are a lot more fun. As Ferman puts it, “I’d much rather talk about the dog than the job.”

A dynamic duo

Ferman estimates that Bowie has helped raise his tips by around 10 to 15 percent, and after years with a 4.99 driver rating, he’s finally hit a perfect five stars. At this point, however, he no longer drives to make a living; thanks to the “Uber Dog,” he only gets behind the wheel to drum up content for the show. They’ve done around 6,500 rides together, and in that time, only two riders have ever canceled (which Ferman says anyone can do free of charge).

Of everyone who’s ever gotten into his car, Ferman’s favorite passenger is Phyllis — an elderly woman whose Bowie the Uber Dog episode has gone viral multiple times. “Just the absolute sweetest person I've ever met in my life,” Ferman says. “I’m hoping she calls one day, because she has my card. I was supposed to drive her to the casino one of these days.”

The cards Ferman hands out are just one part of his strategy to expand Bowie the Uber Dog ’s pawprint; he’s also partnered with sponsors like Temu and PetLab Co. Ferman attributes the show’s success to his experience in sales, marketing, social media, and filmmaking. “I grew up skateboarding,” he says. “I picked up a camera from a really young age and spent the better part of 15 years making skateboard films.” In 2016, he released a skateboarding video called “ Debauchery,” which he says won first place in a local festival.

“That’s my passion,” Ferman says. “That’s been my whole life.”

So, what’s next for the Uber Dog media empire? Ferman says he’s got a couple irons in the fire on the sponsorships side that he can’t discuss just yet, and he’s also toying with an idea for a potential spin-off series — a clip show, of sorts, where former riders can come back for longer, deeper conversations and add commentary. For now, however, he and Bowie are just enjoying the ride(s).