Colorado Senior Pooch Featured On Animal Planet

Puppies don’t get to have all the Super Bowl Weekend fun — including a shot at a permanent home — on Animal Planet. Dog Bowl III, airing on Saturday, Feb. 1, will feature a senior dog from Colorado.

After the phenomenal success of its Super Bowl Sunday sports competition for energetic, boisterous pups, Animal Planet program executives wondered if they could replicate the “Puppy Bowl effect” with a similar event for older dogs.

“We didn’t know the first year if it would work as well as the Puppy Bowl,” Erin Wanner, a senior production executive for Animal Planet, told Patch. “But it’s so important. Older dogs have a harder time getting adopted. This has worked well for us as well.”

Rommy, a 5-year-old labradoodle from Englewood, will be featured on the show. The organization Freedom Service Dogs of America sent Rommy to represent the nonprofit, which provides service dogs to those in need.

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See Also: Puppy Bowl XVI: Colorado Dog Featured On Animal Planet

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Both Dog Bowl III and Puppy Bowl XVI, which air on Sunday, Feb. 2, increase awareness of shelters such as Freedom Service Dogs that rescue pets from often-desperate situations and find permanent homes for them.

By the way, Rocky Mountain Puppy Rescue in Berthoud also sent a pooch to the Puppy Bowl.

Dog Bowl contestants are often adopted before the end of the program, but participating shelters report an uptick in adoption inquiries, Wanner said.

“There are millions of dogs and all kinds of animals — cats and kittens, armadillos, goats — across the country,” Animal Planet spokesman Paul Schur told Patch. “This is about making a choice about making a furry friend a part of your family, and thinking about shelters first.”

Animal Planet’s Super Bowl Sunday pet adoption efforts have attracted celebrities who have adopted pets from shelters, including award-winning singer Emmylou Harris, actress and comedian Whitney Cummings, HGTV “Property Brothers” hosts Jonathan and Drew Scott, and animal-welfare advocate Jim Rappaport.