Meet Dee-Bone Samuel, Bark Purdy & Harrison: How Sacramento rescue dogs became celebrities

At first, all Joaquin Razo knew from his friend who works at the Sacramento SPCA, is that she’d potentially found a good dog for him.

The dog, a curly-haired poodle mix with a shelter name of Affogato was similar to breeds Razo had had in the past, on the small side and quasi-hypoallergenic. Razo hadn’t had a dog in a couple of years, due to travel demands with his work, but felt ready in September to take the plunge again. Then Razo found out the more unusual thing about the dog he would be adopting.

“They mentioned that it was going to take a minute to get him because they were just working on some things,” Razo said.

Razo didn’t get to bring home his dog, who he named Tobias, until Oct. 12, because Tobias had to make a trip to New York before to film an appearance in Puppy Bowl XXI that airs on Animal Planet on Feb. 9 at 11 a.m. PST. Tobias, who will appear on the show as Dee-Bone Samuel, had made it to the third round of voting for the show’s “Most Pupular” award as of press-time.

When people adopt a rescue dog, they might be looking for nothing more than something they can love unconditionally and have fun with. Still, Tobias isn’t the only local rescue dog who’s gone on to big things.

Not the first Puppy Bowl star

Before there was Dee-Bone Samuel, there was Bark Purdy.

For Puppy Bowl XX that aired in 2024, Sacramento SPCA sent a long-legged chihuahua mix whose shelter name was Ted and who was nicknamed for TV in honor of the San Francisco 49ers quarterback. Nicole Swain, assistant clinic manager for Sacramento SPCA made the journey with Bark to Puppy Bowl XX filming in Glen Falls, New York, which is about three hours north of New York City.

During filming, which lasted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Swain observed that Bark was very friendly, wanting to play with everything and befriend everyone. This behavior continued after filming ended.

“All the other puppies came back to the main room and like knocked out and were completely tired and taking naps and winding down and Bark Purdy was still ready to go,” Swain said. “He was trying to play with all the sleeping puppies.”

Prior to making his trip to Puppy Bowl, Bark Purdy hadn’t been adopted, with Swain saying SPCA staff would’ve felt uncomfortable making him available and then promptly taking him across the country for filming. Swain, who fostered him before the trip, thought about adopting him when they returned to California before deciding it wasn’t the right decision for her.

Instead, Bark Purdy was placed for adoption and seen online by the daughter of Abel Ramirez. Ramirez, who had lost two dogs in the preceding year, waited an hour before the SPCA opened the following day to meet Bark Purdy in-person. “As soon as I saw him, I just felt this overwhelming sensation, like – like crying, because I’m getting the opportunity to raise another puppy,” Ramirez said.

SPCA staff waited until Ramirez had finished the adoption process to disclose that Bark Purdy, who Ramirez named Jack Jax, would soon be on TV in the Puppy Bowl, with staff not wanting to influence the adoption decision.

“I said, ‘Yeah right, whatever. I’m gonna adopt him and he’s mine already so it doesn’t matter if he’s in a Puppy Bowl or not,’” Ramirez said.

Eventually, though, Ramirez got into the spirit. A maintenance worker at Antelope Crossing Middle School in Antelope at the time, Ramirez took Jack Jax to campus every other week to meet the children, faculty and staff. He implored people at the school to vote for Jack Jax, who wound up taking second-place in the “Most Pupular” contest for Puppy Bowl.

Vander-pup rules

Sarah Varanini was running the Sacramento SPCA’s Twitter account in 2016 when she spotted a little Pomeranian named Harrison who resembled Giggy, a dog owned by Lisa Vanderpump of “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and its spinoff, “Vanderpump Rules.”

“Almost as a joke, we tweeted at her and said, ‘Oh look at this dog that we got that looks just like Giggy,’” Varanini said. “And she actually tweeted us back and said, ‘I’ll take him.’”

SPCA staff made arrangements with Vanderpump and her assistant to exchange the dog, Harrison, halfway between Sacramento and Beverly Hills.

Varanini, who was fostering Harrison, made the trip. She’d known Harrison to be energetic and happy-go-lucky in personality. And, when staff met up with Vanderpump, Varanini said that Vanderpump “immediately just kind of grabbed him and was like, ‘Oh, he’s amazing. I love him.’”

In the eight years since, different things have happened. Harrison has featured prominently in Vanderpump’s world and gained his own following. He kept his shelter name, though Vanderpump has given him nicknames like Prince Harry and Puffy. Vanderpump has also gotten deeply into animal rescue since adopting Harrison. “I hope that he might have helped inspire her,” Varanini said.

There have been other famous alumni from Sacramento SPCA, including: Bueller the Bulldog, who went viral on the website The Dodo and was featured in a children’s book; Luna the Bully, who became an “America’s Rescue Dog Show” finalist and has amassed 67,000 followers on TikTok; and a few dogs who’ve gone to work with the Search Dog Foundation.

Tobias is around six months old now, with Razo saying he loves to be with people.

“When we’re in the car, for example and he’ll be sitting in the front seat in his car bed, but he’ll just have his paw to let you know, ‘I’m here, don’t forget me,’” Razo said. “So he’s a little attached in that way.”

Asked about what it’s like to spend time with a dog and then later seeing them become famous in one way or another, Swain said it was surreal, though that’s not her only feeling.

“What I get the most joy from is seeing how much their new families love them and how well they’re doing and how dedicated those individuals are to their puppy,” Swain said. “Because when all the cameras go away and they’re not famous, that individual is going to be there for that dog, loving them just the same.”

This story was originally published February 1, 2025 at 5:00 AM.