SUPER ‘BOWL’ PUP
Abandoned and rescued, Linus now headed to ‘Puppy Bowl’
COLLEGEVILLE >> A “miracle pup” with a fragile start to life is now thriving as a dynamic “Puppy Bowl” star.
Linus, a golden-haired, irresistible mix of Yorkshire terrier, Pomeranian, Chihuahua and mini Poodle, will warm hearts when the 16th Annual “Puppy Bowl” premieres on Animal Planet on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 3 p.m.
The puppies frolicking and competing in a pseudo-stadium hail from shelters and rescue groups all over the country.
Linus owes his energetic wellbeing to the care he initially received from New Life Animal
Rescue founder Kim Mangione, who took care of the newborn last fall following his treatment at Penn Vet in Philadelphia.
“These newborn puppies were abandoned and someone took them to ACCT (Animal Care & Control Team) in Philly,” explained Andrea Shinder, who adopted Linus from New Life with her husband Howard Shinder. “The mother wasn’t nurturing the babies the way she should have been, so we think that’s why the owner took them to ACCT. New Life has a Facebook page and I’ve been following it for years. They got in these cute little babies that were hours old, less than four ounces, and I fell in love with them. Someone said, ‘I’ll take the mother.’ We think
this person’s dog was having puppies and she just didn’t know what to do. Two of the puppies were gone right away. Linus is the only survivor out of the four puppies born. Linus had a sister, Lucy who only survived 13 days.”
The foster-based New Life only takes in critically ill dogs, Howard noted.
“Kim would nurse Linus and get up to feed him with formula every two hours and she does everything out of her home. This woman is amazing. Linus really is a miracle, when you consider he’s the only one out of four puppies that survived,” he said. “We like to think a lot of it is because of us, but it was Kim that got him to the point where he could be adopted. I think Kim might have wanted to keep Linus but she knew he was a good match for us.”
Last September the couple made the trip to New Life in Marlton, N.J., to bring Linus back to Collegeville, where they were already sharing their home with a one-year-old rescue dog named Hazel.
“We knew we wanted another dog,” Andrea said. “Hazel is very shy and we wanted another dog to help her to get out of her shyness. And it has. When I saw Linus and Lucy it just went into my heart and I said, ‘I’m going to get one of these.’ And then when it was just Linus I immediately put in an application and the response was, ‘he’s very critical, he’s not ready for adoption and we don’t know how long it will be.’ We were willing to wait. Kim would never have adopted him out if she knew he was sick. She told us, ‘we have to wait and see how he is’. Linus and Lucy were both touch and go for a while, and then Lucy died at the 13-day mark and Linus survived. He turned out to be a healthy puppy, very loving and playful, just a wonderful little boy.”
The couple had been following the puppies’ progress online.
“Social media is the best way to find a dog. And then they have these adoption events where you can go see the dogs. You fall in love with a puppy online, you go anywhere. I’m very honored that we were chosen to adopt Linus,” Andrea added, as Linus curled up contentedly on a cushion nearby.
“We had driven down to Smyrna, Del. to pick Hazel up,” Howard said, adding that Mangione recommended Linus to the “Puppy Bowl” producers.
“They contacted us and we were excited about it,” he recalled. “We had to send pictures in and tell them a little bit about the dog. Some of the dogs, maybe half or even more, at the time of the taping in New York City last October, hadn’t been adopted yet. But they say that 100 percent of the dogs have always been adopted following the show. We were excited about it. It’s a twohour show and there are 96 dogs from more than 20 different states. It’s a big production. There’s multiple cameras and closeups of the dogs. They have a bunch of toys and the object is for a dog to pick up the toy and run to the end zone. It’s a touchdown for that team, and then they compile the scores for each team. Linus was on Team Ruff and he could be on for two seconds, we don’t know.”
From the outset, it was clear that Linus was one of the breakout stars.
“If you Google ‘Puppy Bowl’ his picture comes up as one of the dogs, so Linus is getting his 15 minutes of fame out of it,” Howard said, laughing. “It was a long day at the taping. All the dogs are well behaved, playful pups. I can’t wait to watch. It was an interesting experience and a lot of fun.”
Linus, who weighed four pounds at the taping, is now twice the size he was then, Howard said.
“He was one of the smallest dogs, 14 weeks old at the time. So many people just wanted to come over and pick Linus up and we had to tell them he’s already been adopted. He’s just an adorable dog, no doubt about it,” he said.
Even out of the limelight, Linus is proving himself to be a plucky little celebrity these days.
“He’s very smart and is starting to learn some tricks. When he’s out walking it doesn’t matter if another dog is 75 pounds, he’ll go up to them and lick them. He’s not afraid at all,” said Howard, who hopes the “Puppy Bowl” spotlight on New Life and other rescue groups brings them the attention they deserve.
“A lot of the show is all about promoting these rescue groups. ‘Don’t shop, adopt,’ and put these puppy mills out of business. Kim is so amazing with New Life Rescue. If she has a dog that can’t be saved she will provide hospice care and make that dog as comfortable as possible,” Howard said. “There was a dog that was found on the side of a creek that had cancer, and she took the dog home when they said there’s not much they can do. She made the dog comfortable and showed the dog in its last couple of months that there are people out there that love dogs. That’s what she wants to show the dogs, that even if you’ve been abandoned or you’re sick, there’s somebody out there who’s going to love you. She’s really kind of special,” he added. “She really does need a bigger facility and is really trying to raise money now so she can buy a farm and have a true shelter and rescue more dogs.”
Linus fans can follow his adventures on Instagram.
For more information about New Life Animal Rescue, visit newlifeanimalrescue.org.