Meet the Connecticut dogs competing in the Puppy Bowl
the Super Bowl on the same day as the game. This year’s event, airing on Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. includes 118 puppies from 33 states. Seven of these canines, including Aurora and one other dog adopted from the Danbury Animal Welfare Society, have Connecticut connections.
Karen Pasieka, a DAWS volunteer of more than 13 years, took the puppies to the filming last October. The shelter, located in Bethel, has participated in the Puppy Bowl for five years.
“[The puppies] really just have a fun day,” Pasieka said. “There’s a lot of volunteers and staff there that come around and give a lot of attention to the puppies,”
Shelter staff submits applications to the Puppy Bowl for dogs that tend to be social and will probably have a great time during the filming. But there is no pressure for puppies to perform during the filming—they are mostly just playing, she said.
Luna, the other DAWS dog appearing in the Puppy Bowl Sunday, definitely fits the profile. The beagle and basset hound mix, now seven months old, lives in Danbury in his forever home with Cathy and Ron Niles.
“She loves people, when we go outside she can’t wait to meet people,” Cathy Niles said.
Sky, a cattle dog/golden retriever mix, will compete at the Puppy Bowl representing the Ridgefield Operation for Animal Rescue, which has sent dogs to participate in the event every year since 2020.
“Many shelters participate, so the number of puppies entered must be overwhelming,” Donigi
Gale said. “[It] must be very difficult to select the cutest ones.”
Sky is a “foster failure,”meaning she was adopted by her foster home.
Lulu, a Shih Tzu/Pomeranian mix, and Scout, a pit bull/Norwegian Elkhound mix, also represented the Nutmeg State in the puppy match.
Lulu, described as a ‘spitfire,’ was a late submission from Pack Leaders Rescue of CT to this year’s roster. After Lulu was surrendered to the shelter, Tori Cateni, its co-founder, took one look at her and knew she would be perfect for the Puppy Bowl.
“She’s just so funny, she’s playful,” Cateni said. “That’s what makes her so sweet— she’s social and sweet with a little bit of sass in there.”
Two other dogs who were recently adopted by Connecticut families will be representing the Hawaii and Texas shelters they came from. Hoku, adopted from Maui Humane Society, will be the first dog to represent Hawaii in the Puppy Bowl, according to
Animal Planet.
Dewberry, now named Aspen, participated in the event as a cheerleader alongside Aurora. There will be pom-poms and cheer-formations involved during the puppy cheerleaders’ performances that will “amp up the volume with an overload of cuteness,” according to an Animal Planet news release.
Every participant in the event gets a professional headshot which comes with challenges, like keeping the puppies still, according to Ann Brookes, a foster volunteer for Shaggy Dog Rescue, an organization that rescues dogs in the Houston area and sends them to adopters and fosters in the North East.
“We’ll jump up and down, we’ll shake cookie bags, we’ll make all kind of kooky noises to get the dog’s attention,” said Brookes. “It’s really cute to watch but you leave the room and you think ‘boy, I must’ve looked like a fool.’”
The Puppy Bowl’s purpose is to promote the adoption of rescue dogs from shelters around the county. Last year after the Puppy Bowl aired, DAWS and Shaggy Dog Rescue found homes for more than 200 puppies each.
“There’s many Lulus out there that need homes,” Cateni said.
This year’s event can be accessed on Animal Planet or streamed on discovery+. Other special features of the Puppy Bowl include Sesame Street’s Elmo and Tango coin tossing for the game, as well as a segment of Hoku going on a field trip in Maui’s National Parks to learn about the legend of the ‘Poi’ dogs of ancient Polynesian culture, according to a press release.