Puppy Bowl XV on Animal Planet - Feb 3

Get ready for the cutest sporting event of the year! The Puppy Bowl XV Pregame Show in the US will be watched by millions of Americans whe...

Get ready for the cutest sporting event of the year! The Puppy Bowl XV Pregame Show in the US will be watched by millions of Americans when it airs on Animal Planet this Sunday 3rd February 2019.

What is the Puppy Bowl?

An adorable prelude to the Super Bowl, this event was designed to promote pet adoption back in 2005.

The Puppy Bowl pits Team Fluff and Team Ruff against each other for the Lombarky Trophy, which last year went to Team Fluff. All the canine competitors come from a shelter or rescue organisation and are up for adoption through the Sato Project.

In the past, all of the puppies — more than 1,000 over the past 15 years — have gone home with new owners after being promoted during the event.

A lot of people don't know this but unlike its human-based rival event, the Puppy Bowl does not happen live. It was actually filmed back in October, using multiple cameras and rotating its furry participants in and out; the footage is then cut down to highlight the cutest and most action-filled moments possible! The results are then kept under lock and key.

Referee Dan Schachner revealed that "it is a two-hour event when it airs, but it takes almost a week to put together.” This makes for a lot of editing and "the things that don’t tend to make it on air are the dogs sleeping, relieving themselves and sniffing the ground, as dogs have been known to do."

Touchdowns are typically scored when a puppy drags a football into the end zone. Time outs can be called when the water dishes are empty. Penalties are assessed when the puppies use the football field as a bathroom. There are clever penalty names called ruff sides, dog collar tackle, and paws interference. Additionally, puppies can get flagged for “terrorising the ref” and “pancacking.”

As for the participants themselves, there are a few requirements: they must all be within 12 and 26 weeks of age, well-socialised, and vaccinated. They must also meet certain height and weight restrictions due to the size of the “stadium.”

Above all else, this game’s top priority is the safety of the puppies. To ensure things run smoothly, more than a hundred people supervise the dogs, including veterinarians, representatives from the Humane Society and volunteers.

More than 90 adoptable dogs are participating in 2019 with pups coming from 51 animal shelters and rescue organisations from over 20 U.S. states and even Costa Rica!

Three disabled pups will also be competing — or adorably tackling other pups while chasing squeaky toys. They include Bumble, a hard-of-hearing and blind Australian shepherd mix, Will, a three-legged doodle mix, and Pippi, a blind Jack Russell mix.

This year you can also expect kangaroos as cheerleaders, a capybara (giant guinea pig) mascot, some porcupines and even a sloth as the referee!
Coinciding with 2019's halftime show of the Super Bowl the Kitty halftime show will feature a performance by Adam Feline of Purrr-oon 5!

Sadly Animal Planet in Australia is still not broadcasting the Puppy Bowl live nor even the day after. You may be lucky enough to stumble across it a few months later which we think is a real shame...

When: Sunday 3rd February 2019, from 12pm (PT) or 3pm (ET).  

Where: Animal Planet TV Channel (US)