Braedyn Bruner, Ric Hearst, Giovanni Mazza, Maurice Benard: General Hospital stars dish on how a tender storyline turned into a day of unscripted mayhem

On General Hospital, Gio (Giovanni Mazza) and Emma (Braedyn Bruner) thought they were just breaking into Dalton’s (ex-Daniel Goddard) second lab to free a handful of terrified dogs. But while the on-screen moment played sweet and heroic, the actors say the day behind the scenes was anything but calm.

Pup Chaos, GH-Style

Soap Opera Digest talked to several General Hospital cast members about the dog episode, and they didn’t hold back. Bruner was the first to crack up remembering the day. “I could not stop laughing about Maurice holding the happiest dog,” she said. “Also, the same happiest dog took a poop right before filming.” Then she added the kicker: “That same happiest dog got loose and ran up and down the soundstage until someone caught him!”

And the Pomeranian star known as Fizz — or, apparently, anything but Fizz — became a recurring joke. Bruner said Benard bonded with the little puffball instantly, even if he couldn’t land on the right name — calling him Spitz, Spaz, Fitz, basically everything except Fizz. And the whole vibe shifted with it; suddenly the soundstage felt less like a soap set and more like a Saturday-morning cartoon that had forgotten to pause for commercials.

Mazza had his own moment of chaos…and tenderness. “One of my favorite moments was when I fell madly in love with a beagle named June,” he shared. And while June stole his heart, the rest of the pack stole the scene. On the first take, every dog sprinted off in different directions: through doors, past cameras, even into windows of the set. Everyone except a bulldog named Frank, who Mazza joked “got up on his chair and fell asleep like the bestest boy.”

The Day the Dogs Took Over

General Hospital's Ric and Sonny dealt with dogs. | Image Source: ABC

Hearst said it wasn’t chaos — it was work. Real work. “Those scenes with the pack of rescue dogs… oh man!” he laughed. He spent half the shoot trying to wrangle a Bullmastiff and a Great Dane, tiptoeing over tails, dodging paws, and praying he could keep a straight line of dialogue. At one point, he was clutching a beagle and weaving around the Great Dane’s stretched-out body like he’d wandered into a canine obstacle course he never signed up for.

By midday, the actors weren’t running the scene — the dogs were. The unpredictability became the script. Lines were adjusted, blocking was abandoned, and the director simply rolled with whatever furry mayhem broke loose. What began as a heartfelt rescue story turned into one of those legendary GH shoot days the cast will be laughing about for years. (Find out how Bruner celebrated her General Hospital anniversary.)

General Hospital can be seen weekdays on ABC and Hulu.