It’s no secret that Real Housewives star Lisa Vanderpump loves dogs. Her namesake rescue center in West Hollywood called Vanderpump Dogs was founded in 2016 with the goal of reinventing the image of a dog shelter. Every dog that goes into the shelter gets the Vanderpump treatment: they rescue, rehabilitate, primp, and pamper dogs in need of a loving forever home.
NBC entertainment reporter Heather Brooker sat down with Vanderpump recently to talk about why she decided to give her pups the star treatment, on and off screen in her new Peacock reality series, "Vanderpump Dogs."
Heather Brooker: “You’re sort of like a matchmaker for dogs in your new show. Can we start calling you that?”
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Lisa Vanderpump: “You know what, it’s sort of like a passion project, Heather. Vanderpump Dogs has been in existence now for 5 years and we managed to adopt out and find loving homes for 2,500 dogs roughly I think. And we have another shelter in China where we have 500 dogs. And we reach out all over the world to help spay and neuter. So Vanderpump Dog Foundation has a huge reach globally. But this is our Vanderpump Dog rescue in Los Angeles. And it’s just been a beautiful experience because everybody there is connected by the love of dog. And we see some incredible furry people come through our doors all hoping for a second chance at life.”
HB: “With a lot of reality shows there is drama. It’s one of the things we love to watch in a lot of the shows you’re on. But is there any doggie drama on this show?”
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LV: “It’s not ‘Vanderpump Rules’ for dogs that’s for sure. I think it’s more the emotional investment because of the stories and the poignancy. And of course there’s drama in the dog’s stories, which might be emotionally provocative. And human stories as well of the people. Who’s saving who? Are they saving the dogs or are the dogs saving them?”
“Vanderpump Dogs” cast includes Lisa Vanderpump (“The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” “Vanderpump Rules”), Dr. Andrew Y. Kushnir, Summer Loftis, Brian Marshall, Patrick Miller-Wren, Madeline Quint and Kendall Young.