Before They Were Stars: Rowlf the Dog in Purina Dog Chow Commercials

I’ve previously showcased how Jim Henson used early incarnations of Kermit the Frog in other projects for several years before the Muppets came along. However, the Muppet who probably had the most pre-Muppet success was Rowlf the Dog, who was actually used as a frequent sidekick to country music star Jimmy Dean on The Jimmy Dean Show during the 1960s. But Rowlf’s first official appearances came in 1962 when he appeared in commercials for Purina Dog Chow alongside a puppet named Baskerville the Hound, whose voice sounds an awful lot like Kermit’s.