Every year, football fans look forward to seeing the year’s Super Bowl commercials. But when dogs join the most significant sports event of the season, the clever canines always blitz the views. For this big-time contest, two breeds will appear for the first time in a major pigskin promotion.
“Saz” Ch de Rafale Reve de Debut RN CGCA CGCU TKE, a Belgian Laekenois and rare breed, and her housemate, “Chowder” Feathertale’s Not Your Boyfriend, an English Cocker Spaniel, are set to steal scenes in two separate spots sometime during the game.
Two Perfect Plays
“If you see a scruffy dog with a beard sitting in the back of a parked car at a gas station while a man wearing a tiger suit walks by, that’s Saz,” says Katie Doomy, the dog’s owner and trainer.
8-year-old Chowder had two scenes, in which he acted in ways that come naturally to dogs. “His head is down an automatic food dispenser, and on cue, abruptly pulls his head out facing the camera,” Doomy says. “Chowder’s other scene was his favorite. He stands next to a family gathered on a patio while the child keeps giving him popcorn.” Both scenes took four days to shoot.
While Doomy of Jacksonville, Alabama, can’t reveal the identity of either ad sponsor ahead of the big game, she did share that Saz worked in an ad for an up-and-coming tech company.
Why a Belgian Laekenois?
When Doomy received a call that producers were looking for a Golden Retriever or a breed that could tilt its head on cue while sitting in a car, she knew 5-year-old, 50-pound Saz would be perfect for the role. Upon arriving on set, the director and crew thought the 5-year-old Laekenois looked cool and hired her on the spot. “A few times they called her a Muppet, and everyone fell in love with her,” Doomy says.
A member of the Herding Group, the Belgian Laekenois (pronounced “Lak-in-wah”) or “Laeken” for short, is named after the town of Laeken in Belgium. One of four Belgian breeds recognized by the AKC, the intelligent breed has a fawn, rough, and curly-tousled coat and is naturally reserved around strangers.
Doomy originally went looking for a Belgian Malinois but was drawn to the Laekenois’ scruffy look and soon brought home a 10-week-old Saz. The owner began socializing her puppy right away. “I spent a lot of time introducing her to strangers and training her to ‘Go say hi and come back to me,’ because I knew an outgoing personality would come in handy on a film shoot,” Doomy says.
Participating in performance sports also helped Saz relax in noisy environments and new settings. The Laeken earned her AKC Canine Good Citizen Community Canine (CGCA), AKC Canine Good Citizen Urban Canine Good Citizen (CGCU), and an AKC Rally Novice title. They are continuing to work on their Advanced title. “Saz was the first Belgian Laekenois to earn a Trick Elite title,” Doomy adds.
When they go out, she says people always ask, “What kind of dog is that?” Or, if Saz is a Poodle or the dog from the movie “Because of Winn-Dixie,” which starred a Berger Picard. One person was sure she was either a Irish Wolfhound-mix or a terrier. “All the attention helps to socialize her,” Doomy says.
Getting the Money Shot
While their acting schedule can range from a half-day to a movie lasting multiple weeks, Doomy says her dogs like going to film shoots mostly because they like the snacks and because they’re happy to go to another incredible place with Doomy.
Working as a mobile groomer on her off-days gives Doomy the flexibility to report to shoots and prepare her dogs for their close-ups. “I work with my own dogs,” she says. “Becoming a professional movie dog trainer happened accidentally.”
In 2019, Doomy began training dogs for screen and print after a friend told her about a casting call for dogs to act in a commercial. At the time, Doomy was a corporate dog trainer at a pet store and had submitted impressive obedience training videos of “Alfredo,” her 11-year-old Poodle. “He was cast as ‘Jacque in the movie, ‘Charming the Hearts of Men,’ and that was our start. “They were looking for a dog who could keep long, solid stays, and he did.”
In December 2020, Saz landed her first acting gig, stealing food and money from her companion, an unhoused man, in a movie starring Sylvester Stallone. “Unfortunately, they cut her scene,” Doomy says.
The professional dog trainer prepped both dogs for their Super Bowl spots. Saz didn’t manage the head-tilt action, so Doomy first suggested to the director that Saz could bark, but the director didn’t want a bark. Doomy’s next suggestion was for Saz to turn her head to watch the man dressed in the tiger suit walking past the car.
The director agreed, and Doomy trained Saz in the car to sit, stay, and watch her. Then, Doomy slowly matched the man’s walking pattern, but made sure Saz could see Doomy outside the camera’s angle.
“As a trainer, sometimes when I’m on a shoot with my dogs, I have to think outside the box because the director doesn’t always know what a dog can pull off, and I do,” Doomy says.
Acting Credits Extend Past Games
While these Super Bowl ads are Saz and Chowder’s first major roles, the Belgian Laekenois and English Cocker Spaniel are experienced animal actors with multiple roles to their names.
Saz’s previous role was as a rescue dog in “Teen Wolf: The Movie,” released in 2023. “No one knows a Belgian Laekenois is a real breed, but this was one time I didn’t mind,” Doomy says. “It was my favorite movie as a teenager, and when I met my favorite actors in it, I squealed,” Doomy recalls. “It was just the best job we had.”
What do canine celebs do when they’re not camera-ready? Chowder loves chasing a disc and participating in Diving Dogs. “His personal best is 16 feet, which is not too shabby for an English Cocker Spaniel,” Doomy says. “At home, my dogs have an off switch, but as soon as they see me put my shoes on, they’re down for anything.”