Not just pups this time: 'Puppy Bowl' embraces older dogs

“Everyone wants the puppy and, unfortunately, the reality of puppyhood is it’s tough,” says Victoria Schade, the show’s lead dog trainer and wrangler. “I think people don’t realize that until they’re deep in the thick of it. That’s the beauty of an older dog, an adult dog, a senior dog: They bring a different sort of calm.”

This year's event — Puppy Bowl XXII — will bring together 150 dogs from 72 shelters across the United States, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. It airs Sunday, simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, HBO Max and discovery+.

The Puppy Bowl made its debut as counter-programming to the Super Bowl in 2005. Dogs score touchdowns on a gridiron carpet when they cross the goal line — any goal line — with a toy in their mouth.

The puppies are split into two teams — Team Fluff and Team Ruff — and each dog is given a nickname — like “Slick Rick” or “J-Paw” — and a specialty, like “Epic end zone dance.”

The pre-taped show is really just an excuse to spend time watching adorable dogs play with chew toys, wag their tails furiously and lick the camera. A deeper reason is to encourage animal adoption.

“The message of Puppy Bowl is about helping animals who would otherwise not have a great chance in life, especially even more acute in some cases with older dogs because they are often overlooked,” says Joseph Boyle, head of content for Discovery Channel.

Good boys and girls

The Puppy Bowl has become a programming tent pole for Discovery — “It’s gigantically important for us,” says Boyle — and also a slice of civic campaigning. “I don’t know that there’s a lot of television out there that does advocacy in such a strong way,” he says.

The inaugural Puppy Bowl was watched by nearly 6 million viewers. Last year, 12.8 million viewers tuned in. By comparison, 8.66 million watched the recent Golden Globes.

Boyle says the show is a godsend to animals shelters and rescue groups that don't have the resources to advertise and that's echoed by the folks at Muddy Paws Rescue, a foster-based rescue group in New York City.

Mallory Kerley, the group's marketing director, says viewers can check out different breeds and personalities and realize there are other options than breeders.

“If they can see a puppy that they fall in love with onscreen, hopefully they can find that one also in a local shelter or rescue,” she says.

Shelters and rescue groups say the massive spike in adoptions during the pandemic has leveled off and has recently taken a dip as families face economic challenges.

“When you can’t afford to put food on your own table, you can’t even think about feeding or adopting a dog,” says Kerley. “So that has been a challenge in the rescue world as a whole.”

Schade, a dog trainer and novelist who adopted a puppy during last year’s Puppy Bowl to be friends with her older dog, says the senior dogs in the Puppy Bowl have tons of spirit and add something special to the show.

“They bring a different energy to the field,” she says. “With the puppies, we have that unbridled puppyhood enthusiasm, whereas the senior dogs they’ve got a playbook. They’ve been through a lot and they’re going to strategize a little harder than those puppies are.”

Tips on caring for an older dog

Senior dogs have some advantages over puppies: They're often house-trained, are fine being by themselves and may have already been taught to sit or stay.

“They really make great dogs for people who don’t want to be home every two hours checking in on an eight-week-old puppy, who want to be able to take their dog and have them be calm,” Kerley says.

Schade warns prospective owners that the dog they see in the shelter environment isn’t necessarily the dog they're going to end up with.

“It is such a challenging environment — it’s loud, it’s crowded, it’s unfamiliar — so, of course, you’re going to see a different version of who that dog is at their core,” she says.

“Once they have the opportunity to have that very important decompression period, which is typically about three months, you start to see the real dog. Once they’re through that, you get to see this incredible devotion, love and gratitude for their new life.”

Schade says the Puppy Bowl is helping dispel myths about animals in the shelter system — like that they're broken or that there's only one kind of dog available. “Look at our players and you’ll see that’s not true,” she says.

“There’s the expression, ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,’ which is not true,” adds Schade. “Dogs love learning for their entire lives and as long as we’re focused on science-backed dog friendly training, there’s no reason why an older dog can’t learn anything and everything.”

Kerley faces a dilemma on Super Bowl Sunday — Muddy Paws Rescue has sent two puppies to the Puppy Bowl, one on each team.

“I’m not sure which team we’re going to be rooting for. We’re going to have to root for them all,” she says. “It’s definitely the cutest day on television. Even my dog loves watching along.”

How to watch and stream the Puppy Bowl

The Puppy Bowl airs Sunday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern/11 a.m. Pacific and will be simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV. The show repeats throughout the day on those channels.

It will stream on HBO Max and discovery+.