RUFF RIDERS
Puppy Bowl teams compete for gridiron cuteness crown
Puppy Bowl XIII Sunday, Animal Planet
Bow-wow-wow, yippie-yo, yippie yay! Puppy Bowl XIII is set to air this Sunday, ahead of Super Bowl LI, and the competitors are looking fierce. Fiercely cute, that is.
The annual doggie football showdown features Team Ruff and Team Fluff vying for the Petco Lombarky Trophy, with such esteemed players as Mr. Whimpers, Little Tarzan and Alexander Hamilpup taking the field. The matchup should be intense: Team Fluff is out for revenge, having lost to Team Ruff for two years running.
Animal Planet worked with 34 animal shelters and rescue organizations to find 78 adoptable players, including three pups with special needs: Doobert, who is deaf; Lucky, who has three legs; and Winston, who is hearing-and-sight impaired. This year the cheerleaders are rabbits and guinea pigs, and the halftime show boasts Kitty Gaga singing Puparazzi, with other felines playing guitars and scratching on a DJ turntable.
Keep an eye out for Instagram celebrity dogs in the stands, including Chloe the Frenchie, Chloe Kardoggian and Toast Meets World.
The task of putting together the event is a big one, with crews filming 100 hours of footage over three days.
“We have about 15 pounds (7 kg), of dried dog food. We have 500 dog treats, 250 dog toys. We have over 80 ounces (2 kg), of peanut butter for the lick cam. And 1,600 weewee puppy pads,” Puppy Bowl’s coexecutive producer Simon Morris told Sports Illustrated.
“On the field, it’s one person’s job to jump in very regularly to clean up, to do a pooper scooper moment. We don’t feature that on the final cut.”