Meet Bobby, the panhandling pitbull

Will work 4 bones!

Life’s “ruff” for a panhandling Bronx pooch named Bobby, who begs for “dog food” money with a plastic bucket in his mouth.

The enterprising 5-year-old pit bull rakes in more than $ 20 an hour, which he dutifully brings to his master, Jose Suarez, 47, who taught him the lucrative hustle.

Bobby with his own Jose SuarezPhoto: Tomas E. Gaston

“It goes to his food, his vet — and I get to eat from it, too,” said Suarez, of Belmont, who is unemployed.

Suarez dresses Bobby in mirrored sunglasses and a neck bandanna near East Fordham Road and Webster Avenue, then stands off to the side as Bobby woofs his magic.

The people-loving pooch purposefully strolls right up to strangers with a bucket that proclaims he’s a “rescue dog” seeking “tips for dog food” — turning animal lovers’ hearts mushier than canned Purina.

Suarez discovered the dog had a talent after he took him along on a window-washing gig two years ago, he said.

Bobby likes carrying sticks, so Suarez let him hold his squeegee bucket, which impressed one passerby, who tossed some change in the bucket.

Suarez soon started training Bobby to carry the bucket around for hours, showering him with affection when he obeyed, he said.

“He always wanted to carry things around. I’d tell him, ‘Don’t come without the bucket,’ and he would go back and grab it,” he said.

“He’s a very smart dog. Everybody loves him,” he added.

A girl drops money into Bobby’s bucket as his sits calmly.Photo: Tomas E. Gaston

The pair panhandle several times a week, generally in two 1¹/₂-hour-long shifts each day, Suarez said.

The most the pair have earned in one shift was $ 200 in two hours near Times Square on Christmas Day, he said.

The money-making scheme doesn’t bother some neighbors, who say the dog doesn’t aggressively hound passersby — and simply makes folks on the block smile.

“I think it’s adorable. He’s well trained, well behaved, and the kids love him,” said Crystal Urbinato, 28, whose 1-year-old son dropped some change in the dog’s bucket on Saturday.

Suarez used to have a different hustle. He was arrested for selling drugs and was sent to jail in 2002. After he got out of the doghouse, he bought Bobby — then a 1-month-old-puppy — and has been on the straight and narrow ever since, he said.

“I have no wife, no kids. It’s just him and me,” he said.

Additional reporting by Tomas E. Gaston

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