Rescue Doberman from Arizona in Puppy Bowl XXI

Felicity is a rescue Doberman who will be in this year’s Puppy Bowl! She is one of several Arizona pups in the bowl this year. Airing at 12pm on Sunday, Feb. 9, the 21st Puppy Bowl can be watched on Animal Planet, Discovery, MAX, truTV and TBS Network, and streamed on DirecTV Stream, Sling, Philo, MAX and Discovery+. The Puppy Bowl is a top non-sports cable broadcast.

Felicity and Christy Cole of DHDR, joined “Arizona Horizon” to talk about Felicity and the operations of the Doberman rescue.

Felicity came to Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue of Arizona (DHDR) after a backyard breeder surrendered her mom to an emergency vet. Mama had an obstruction, and the breeder did not want to invest in her life-saving surgery so DHDR took over her care. Now with her forever family, Felicity is attending training and group classes to continue her socialization and enrichment.

Three other Arizona pups are also participating in this year’s Puppy Bowl. Animal Planet says every puppy and kitten ever featured on Puppy Bowls has found a home since the first show in 2005.

Felicity’s first couple of weeks alive were not the most bright. She was one of 14 puppies and some were not as healthy as her. Felicity was bottle-fed by her foster mom for two weeks in order to stay healthy. After she was stable, DHDR applied for Felicity to be in the Puppy Bowl, the organization’s first dog to be in the program.

“Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue is Arizona’s Doberman rescue… we’re 100% volunteer-based and we have about 150 volunteers,” Cole said.

DHDR gets a lot of puppies, in fact last year they got 45 puppies in total and Dobermans need training from birth in order to be “confident and social,” says Cole. The organization practices a protocol called “puppy culture,” since they train all the puppies they take in.

“It’s basically a checklist every week of what we do with the puppies, either handling their feet, touching their ears, or exposing them to different noises,” Cole said.

DHDR works hard to ensure a healthy, comfortable and positive environment for all the dogs they take in.