Bethel shelter dog playing in Puppy Bowl
For Travis Bliss, the quest to find the “perfect puppy” led him and his wife to Stardust, a Poodle-Australian Shepherd mix that was up for adoption at the Danbury Animal Welfare Society in Bethel.
“My wife and I both were totally in agreement with how there are so many dogs ... with so many stories and no homes,” Bliss said on why he chose to adopt.
In their search for a puppy, Bliss came across a profile for the pup not knowing that Stardust was one of two dogs participating from DAWS in Puppy Bowl XIX, which will air on Animal Planet on Sunday, Feb. 12.
The other DAWS puppy participating is Dakota, a German Shepherd-American Pit Bull mix. Both dogs came to DAWS from a rescue partner in West Virginia, according to Karen Pasieka, the Puppy Program Coordinator at DAWS. Nine dogs from Connecticut are competing.
Stardust was born into litter of injured puppies — she had to have her eye surgically removed, and one of her siblings died young. Bliss, who lives in Wallkill, N.Y., said he didn’t even realize that one of Stardust’s eyes was missing until the shelter told him about it — he was unable to tell from the shelter’s pictures because of the way Stardust’s black fur falls on her face. However, he says her disability has not slowed her a bit.
“You wouldn’t even know that she’s missing an eye today. She’s as happy as ever,” Bliss said.
Stardust, who has been renamed to Mazie after her August adoption, is competitive, according to Bliss, often wanting to play with a rope toy, or tussle with the couple’s two cats.
She has the right personality for the Puppy Bowl, which will pit Team Ruff against
This is the fifth year DAWS puppies are competing in the Puppy Bowl.
Team Fluff in a matchup that spotlights the work of rescue shelters and volunteers.
One-hundred twenty-two puppies from 67 different shelters will be participating in the game. Participating Connecticut shelters include DAWS, Dog Star Rescue, Lucky Dog Refuge, Pack Leaders Refuge of CT and Ridgefield Operation for Animal Rescue.
This is the fifth year DAWS
puppies are competing in the Puppy Bowl. “The Danbury Animal Welfare Society is fortunate for the opportunity to participate in this national movement that brings awareness to the importance of animal rescue and adoption, and the countless loving animals ready to find their forever home,” DAWS said in a statement to Hearst Connecticut Media.
Bliss said he’ll be away when the Puppy Bowl airs but Mazie will be at her day care celebrating with the other dogs while wearing her Team Fluff bandana. He said Mazie had a hard life until her adoption, and he hopes to “make all of that go away” with their care for her.