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This Sunday, February 7th is an exciting day for football fans and puppy lovers alike when Discovery+ and Animal Planet blow the whistle on the most important sporting event of the entire year—Puppy Bowl XVII!
“We need puppies now more than ever!” said everyone.
Have no fear because television’s cutest sports competition and the original call-to-adoption TV event, PUPPY BOWL, returns on Sunday, February 7 for the biggest, most exciting game to date, now as a 3-hour event on Sunday, February 7 at 2PM ET/11AM PT.
Join discovery+ and Animal Planet for this special event to experience all the fuzzy puppy faces from TEAM RUFF and TEAM FLUFF who go paw-to-paw to win the CHEWY “Lombarky” trophy. Be on the lookout for TEAM RUFF who is looking to reclaim their title after last year’s loss — they’re coming back with a vengeance!
Puppy Bowl celebrates adoptable pups in all their cuteness and showcases the incredible shelters and rescues dedicated to helping animals find their loving homes. All puppies and kittens featured in past Puppy Bowls have found their forever homes with loving families. And even though this past year has been different from year’s past, one thing is for certain – there will be a Puppy Bowl to highlight these special puppy players and kittens so that they can finally find the place they are meant to call ‘home.’
This year, 22 shelters and rescues from nine Northeastern States are enlisted to bring 70 incredible adoptable puppy players out for Puppy Bowl XVII to sport their TEAM RUFF ‘Tail Mary Tangerine’ and TEAM FLUFF ‘Bark Blue’ bandana colors. What genetic traits are these pups bringing to the game? With the Wisdom Panel™ dog DNA test, we’ll find out what’s beyond those big puppy dog eyes and how each dog’s breed mix might give them an advantage on the field. We’ll see their skills playout in the brand-new GEICO Stadium, where these adoptable players have even more room to rumble and fumble! Fan-favorite elements, including slow-motion replays, nose-to-nose action from the famous water bowl cam, and aerial shots of the field from the brand-new TEMPTATIONS™ Sky Box are all back this year, along with epic drone shots of puppy players across the arena that bring audiences as close as possible to all the game-play action. THE HOME DEPOT goal post nets serve as the backdrop to every touchdown and field goal as audiences have a front row seat view through lens of the cameras in the CHEWY end zone pylons.
This year’s Pup Close and Personal highlights include a special profile of actress and animal advocate Kristen Bell who has teamed up with Annenberg PetSpace in Los Angeles to spend time with Java, a Labrador mix puppy looking for a fur-ever home to snuggle in; Biscuit, a very special Maltese mix pup from Paw Works in LA, who gets a special day out with one lucky kid baker from Food Network’s ‘Kid Baking Championship,’ where we’ll also hear from hosts Valerie Bertinelli & Duff Goldman; Fozzie, a Foster Dogs Inc. Norwegian Elkhound who experiences his first ever grooming from Harlem Doggie Day Spa; and Foofur, a Shepherd mix puppy who is cared for by a very special foster under the PAWS Chicago foster program. Other in-depth profiles include Marshall, a deaf Boston Terrier mix rescue pup who’s training with Green Dogs Unleashed to be a therapy dog, where at a local hospital, he will provide a group of COVID ER nurses with a much-needed mental break in the midst of the pandemic; Jett, a double front amputee Labrador mix from Pets With Disabilities in Maryland, who is prepping for the big game with regular jaunts along the countryside with his fellow special needs cat and dog companions; and Stitch, a Hound mix, who at Wilburton Inn-New England dog friendly resort in Vermont, enjoys a special day out at the Inn on a mission to meet an adopter, before getting scrappy on the field.
Audiences will also see four incredible Senior Spotlight profiles that include Scoobert, an 8-year-old Chihuahua Boxer mix from mix from Young at Heart Sanctuary in Chicago who even though is a senior pooch with medical needs, has a special zest for life; veterinarian Dr. Kwane Stewart, aka @thestreetvet, who treats homeless dogs off the streets of Los Angeles at no cost; Mona, a 10-year-old Toy Poodle mix who undergoes reiki healing sessions at Den Retreat in Los Angeles for a more peaceful state of mind; and Blossom, an American Staffordshire Terrier, who has become the poster pup for the ‘Pitbulls in flower crowns’ series by rescue advocate and photographer Sophie Gamand. PUPPY BOWL XVII will also feature five special needs players who are looking forward to finding their loving home including Jett, and four hearing impaired pups including Marshall, a Boston Terrier; Fletcher, an American Bull Dog; Theodore, a Pyr Border Collie; and Rumor, a Heeler mix.
