Rowdy Appearances First Appearance My Mentor" Last Appearance My Last Words"



Rowdy is Turk and J.D.'s stuffed labrador dog.

About

Rowdy has never been alive during the timeline of the show, except when J.D. has a fantasy in which Rowdy attacks Carla. Rather, Turk and J.D. purchased him already stuffed at a yard sale 8 years ago. The guy they bought him from used to keep him in a box full of old hats. They are quite attached to the dog. One of the oldest running gags in the show is that Turk and J.D. often treat Rowdy as if he were alive, easily excited, and vicious. Their favorite practical joke involves leaving Rowdy in places where people do not expect to see him, such as in Carla's closet, where he can "guard [her] shoes," or in front of their neighbor's door.

Carla thinks Rowdy is creepy (as does Elliot) and she has frequently stated she wants to get rid of it. Nevertheless, she feels guilty when she does Turk a favor by getting Rowdy cleaned and accidentally loses him by leaving the dog on top of the car roof on the drive back home, which causes Rowdy to fall off. Enlisting the Janitor's help, she finds Steven, a stuffed dog that looks almost exactly like Rowdy except for being two inches shorter. ("My First Kill") When the Janitor finds Rowdy again, Carla confesses her mistake and Rowdy is returned to Turk. Since Turk and J.D. have their own apartments at this point, they are happy that there are two stuffed dogs now and both can have one of their own.

Trivia

Scrubs 'Yeah Rowdy, Hit That!'

Rowdy can be used as a bottle opener, as happened in "My Best Friend's Mistake".

Carla had Rowdy stuffed with potpourri.

One of J.D.'s fantasies involved Rowdy coming to life and attacking Carla after she insulted him.

One of the more popular examples of the live Rowdy joke is J.D. trying to cheer Carla up by propping Rowdy up against his leg and making it look like he was humping and saying, "Rowdy No!".

In "My Clean Break", J.D.'s girlfriend, Danni Sullivan, dresses up Rowdy in some clothes (a beret, glasses, purple boots).

J.D. and Turk used to play a prank where they pulled Rowdy on a rope with roller blades in front of cars to scare the driver. They stopped when they scared Ted, causing him to crash into a pole which fell into the Sacred Heart generator resulting in a power outage. Ted refers to Rowdy as a "lifeless ghost dog".

Rowdy, at one point, is noted by J.D. as being unusually dirty while he's giving Rowdy a bath and asks, "How do you get so dirty?". He also apparently had clumpy bits of fur around his butt that Danni trimmed when she was bored and staying at J.D.'s place.

Turk says he has hip dysplasia and that Carla shouldn't hold him by the haunches. J.D. says it's genetic in purebreds.

When asked in an interview if any cast members took anything from the set after filming the finale, Bill Lawrence confirmed that Zach Braff stole Rowdy. Braff also confirmed this when he spoke at the University of Florida. ABC studios has since reacquired him, according to Braff on Twitter.

During the show one of the employees was apparently fired, out of spite he hid Rowdy in the ceiling of Sacred Heart. Eventually Rowdy was found therefore leading to the episode "My Scrubs" where Rowdy was reunited with J.D. and Turk. Bill Lawrence later revealed that this was true, however Rowdy was found very soon after the incident. Stephen was made so they would always have two dogs in case something happened, rather than a replacement to the original.



Gallery

Quotes

“ Your dog is creepy. ” — Elliot

“ Aww... be nice to Rowdy. The guy we bought him from used to keep him in a box full of old hats. ” — J.D.







“ Yeah Rowdy, hit that! ” — Turk







“ Hey! Don't use Rowdy to cover up your giblets! Apologize! ” — Turk





