Puppy Bowl XVI: Maryland Dogs Featured On Animal Planet

MARYLAND — Millions of Americans have made Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl as important to Super Bowl Sunday as the appetizer menu. Here in Maryland, we have added reason to watch the Feb. 2 Puppy Bowl XVI beyond the obvious lure of two hours of adorable dog antics. Adorable pups from a local shelter are a contestant.

Three dogs from Last Chance Animal Rescue in Waldorf will be featured in the chewable challenge. Now in its 16th year, the Puppy Bowl features adoptable pets from rescue shelters across the United States and other parts of the world.

The Puppy Bowl’s start was “incredibly low-budget,” Erin Wanner, a senior production executive for Animal Planet, told Patch. “We put down some turf on the office floor and let some puppies go crazy. We spent three bucks on it.

“Now,” she said, “it’s a pop culture phenomenon There’s nothing better than puppies.”

In the starting lineup for the Puppy Bowl from Maryland will be:

Anise, who is on Team Fluff. She's an adorable Australian Cattle Dog/Labrador Retriever mix and is 19 weeks old.

Gina roots for Team Ruff and is a Labrador Retriever/Chow Chow mix. She's 12 weeks old.

Poppy plays for Team Ruff and is a Bichon Friese/Papillon. She's 16 weeks old and can be found at Last Chance Animal Rescue.

Animal Planet expects to find homes for a record 96 pooches from 61 shelters that have been divided in two swoon-worthy teams that will play, catch kisses on the Pedigree Kissing Cam and just plain charm you as they compete for the Chewy “Lombarky” trophy in Puppy Bowl XVI.

The competition begins at 3 p.m. Eastern Time, before the Super Bowl. Families adopting puppies get a starter kit from Chewy, an online pet supply business. The kit includes toys, food, treats, a bed, and grooming and cleaning supplies. Pre-bowl coverage begins an hour earlier.

You’ll see goat cheerleaders, a hamster Surge that will power the scoreboard and the signature Kitty Halftime Show. “Pup Close and Personal” segments will be shown throughout the broadcast. They feature celebrities who have adopted pets from shelters, including award-winning singer Emmylou Harris, actress and comedian Whitney Cummings, HGTV “Property Brothers” hosts Jonathan and Drew Scott, and animal-welfare advocate Jim Rappaport.

Animal Planet has its own Puppy Bowl casting department, a team that works with rescue organizations to recruit puppies and adult dogs for the Puppy Bowl and Dog Bowl, the latter an event for senior dogs that’s held on Saturday, Feb. 1.

Though the Puppy Bowl contestants are usually adopted before the end of the Puppy Bowl — Animal Planet’s most widely viewed program — it exposes the television audience to the pets available for adoption at shelters in their hometowns.

“There are millions of dogs and all kinds of animals — cats and kittens, armadillos, goats — across the country,” Animal Planet spokesman Paul Schur told Patch. “This is about making a choice about making a furry friend a part of your family, and thinking about shelters first.”

Wanner expects the Puppy Bowl to grow annually, both in the number of dogs recruited and the shelters represented.

“It’s been 16 years, and I still feel like we’re pressing upward and haven’t begun to see how far we can reach with the Puppy Bowl,” she said. “It’s part of the pop culture fabric of Super Bowl Sunday.”

If you want to get your Puppy Bowl feels going before the air date, watch for puppy warm-up videos on Animal Planet’s YouTube channel.