Six months ago she was fighting for her life, and now she’ll be playing in the biggest game of the year. Felicity hasn’t had an easy journey, but she thrives on overcoming obstacles.
Felicity, a Doberman Pinscher from the Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue of Arizona in Phoenix, will participate Sunday as part of Team Fluff in the 2025 Puppy Bowl, Animal Planet’s popular alternative to the Super Bowl. Felicity is 6 months old, 45 pounds and full of energy.
“Dobermans are a very athletic, muscular breed. We tried to do everything to make her a receiver and not a linebacker, but she is going to be quite a bit larger than some of the other dogs out there,” said Lisa Cuto, associate director of Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue.
“Gentleness training was definitely in the picture. We tried to socialize her with all sizes of puppies so that she wouldn’t bull anybody over, but don’t count on that. It might happen,” Cuto joked.
Felicity is one of four dogs who will represent Arizona shelters and rescues in the Puppy Bowl. Delulu and Jake, both Shih Tzu and Maltese mixes, will represent the National Humane Society on Team Ruff. Akimel, a Chow Chow and American Pit Bull Terrier mix representing the NAGI Foundation, will be on Team Fluff alongside Felicity.
Felicity’s foster mom, Pamela Garcia-Filion, her daughter and Cuto have been hard at work getting the puppy ready for her big day. She has been practicing short obstacle courses in the backyard by running through a tunnel to work on her agility.
Garcia-Filion’s daughter helped Felicity learn to fetch by starting with small objects like a tennis ball and growing to larger objects. When Puppy Bowl Sunday rolls around, Felicity will be ready to attack the football on both sides of the ball.
“Dobermans are a working breed, so they want a job. So once you assign them a task, they learn easily. Doberman’s a very smart breed,” Cuto said. “We taught that little girl how to chase a ball from an early age.”
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Another aspect of Felicity’s training was familiarizing her with other dogs. Felicity took trips to the farmer’s market each week along with many walks around the community to help acclimate and socialize with other people and dogs.
“She will be with teammates on Team Fluff that she doesn’t know very well. So to get her to be happy, relaxed and to chase the football is going to be our goal,” Cuto said.
Felicity will be the first Puppy Bowl participant from Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue. Cuto explained that about 70 dogs applied for the Puppy Bowl, and Felicity was one of about 40 dogs selected.
Sunday marks Puppy Bowl’s 21st anniversary, and there will be a record 142 puppy players from 80 shelters and rescues across 40 states, and two countries. Tuani will represent Nicaragua. In addition, the Puppy Bowl will feature 11 extraordinary special needs athletes. Team Fluff and Team Ruff will compete against each other for the “Lombarky Trophy.”
The 2024 Puppy Bowl commanded 12.6 million viewers, and was the No. 1 non-sports cable telecast of the day in all key demographics. One year earlier, the event reached a five-year high of 13.2 million viewers.
“We’re a small local rescue. When we heard back that Felicity was one of the finalists, we couldn’t have been more ecstatic, on a national level to be able to represent what a wonderful breed Dobermans are,” Futo said. “They made the decision. I’m not sure how, probably because she’s adorable.”
Futo grew up with big dogs and fell in love with Dobermans. She joined the Desert Harbor Doberman Rescue of Arizona to help however she could. While the rescue does not have a physical shelter, it has about 150 volunteers who take in dogs to foster while they prepare for adoption.
Desert Harbor’s services for the dogs include helping with medical problems, spays or neuters and getting them well, mentally or physically, to find their forever home.
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Felicity’s foster family will be adopting her, and it will become her forever home. She will have a brother named Kingston, who is 14 months old and also a Doberman.
The NAGI Foundation, which is sponsoring Akimel on Team Fluff, offers services, resources and support for both people and their pets on tribal land. Their focus in past years has been on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian community, but they’re reaching out to other local tribes as well.
This will be the second puppy the NAGI Foundation sends to the Puppy Bowl, after sending a puppy a couple years ago, according to Sheila Iyengar, founder and CEO of the NAGI Foundation.
“I think (Akimel) is such a great representation of amazing dogs that can be found on our tribal lands. She is very, very social with people, like she loves children, she loves people, she gets along with other dogs,” Iyengar said.
Iyengar, a dog trainer and behaviorist with over 30 years of experience, believes Akimel was attacked by other dogs before landing at the NAGI Foundation, based on scars. However, Akimel has grown to be comfortable with other dogs.
Akimel and Felicity have met and played together to get acclimated and ready for their trip to the Puppy Bowl together.
Iyengar believes Akimel will be adopted by her foster family as well. The family is very close with the NAGI Foundation and has fostered numerous dogs.
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