They’re ready to ruff up the competition.
The 19th annual Puppy Bowl is here — with Team Ruff and Team Fluff champing at the bit to go paw-to-paw.
The three-hour broadcast, which is the longest-running televised adoption event, features 122 pups, including 11 with special needs, duking it out on the field for the Lombarky Trophy.
“What’s different about this year is that we’re bigger and better than before,” referee Dan Schachner, who is returning for his 12th year, told The Post.
“This show is designed to promote animal adoption, and that is our number one mission,” he added. “By the time Puppy Bowl is over, we have all our animals — proud to say — adopted.”
While there may be some sports buffs who would rather tune into the Super Bowl — ugh, as if — those who aren’t as keen can celebrate Puppy Bowl Sunday instead. In addition to the first pooch from a Native American organization, pups from 67 shelters spanning 34 states, and one from Dominica, West Indies, are pawing for the ultimate prize: a forever home.
In fact, Puppy Bowl has a 100% adoption rate — and this year will be no different, Schachner predicts.
“The majority of the dogs do get adopted because we do shoot in advance,” he explained, adding that Puppy Bowl is typically filmed in October prior to when it airs.
However, dogs are always available for adoption throughout Puppy Bowl — they just might not be the on-screen stars. The rescues featured at the bowl have adoptable puppies ready to find their forever homes, too. While many of the 20 tri-state area pups featured are already adopted, rest assured that there are many more who need loving families.
“If you don’t see them on the field, you will see them in segments called “Adoptables,” where we feature dogs from shelters around the country that are currently up for adoption right now,” Schachner said.
The State Farm Stadium in Arizona has nothing on the Puppy Bowl Stadium, created within the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls, New York. There, the young pups will get into action as they bark, growl and tumble toward the goal line.
To win points, the puppies must drag a toy into the end zone, but just because they’re untrained canines doesn’t mean they’re immune to the ref’s calls. Many of the calls are a play on words to match the NFL’s traditional verbiage, Schachner said, and he uses his creativity to come up with new fouls as he goes along.
“We try to find new ones that are applied to dogs,” he said. “It’s all about trying to be creative with the penalties that exist in the NFL and apply them to dogs.”
Dogs can be flagged for puppy-only fouls such as excessive hydration, snoozing on the sidelines, excessive cuddling and even “turd on the 20” — although the tenured ref admits even he has trouble thinking up new penalties. Excessive cuteness, he claimed, is one that — unfortunately — can’t be applied to some of the NFL’s hunkiest players.
“I mean, Tom Brady’s not going to get hit with that, neither with Patrick Mahomes, or anyone else in the NFL,” he said.
If close-up views of cute snouts and long shots of puppies en masse captured from the dozens of cameras positioned on the field aren’t enticing enough to tune in, Schachner said to stick it out until after the lights dim and the champion has been crowned. That’s when a “beautiful segment” plays, showing puppies running to their new families — and “there’s not a dry eye in the house.”
“They show families scooping them up and taking them home, and we get a little view of life after Puppy Bowl,” he said. “And that is my favorite part.”
“Because we’re playing a game, we’re having fun, we’re getting the message out about adoption,” he added. “But the real drive here, the real win, the real championship is these guys having a forever home and not languishing in a shelter forever.”
While kickoff is at 2 p.m. EST on Animal Planet, TBS, discovery+ and even HBO, eager audiences can kick back and watch the pregame show just an hour earlier to see exclusive interviews with players and their coaches. It will also include a segment on each pupper’s breed and traits from a doggy DNA test, offering insight as to which team will bring home the victory.
Sportscasters Steve Levy and Taylor Rooks will be giving their play-by-play commentary throughout the telecast, and the show will have a brief halftime segment dubbed Kitty Half-Time featuring three kitten shelters with adoptable felines.
Team Ruff
Button and Gilbert
Left with their eight other siblings in a plastic bin at a local thrift store, these two Shih tzu mixes are ready to go snout-to-snout with their opponents. Button and Gilbert, from Ninna’s Road to Rescue in Haughton, Lousiana, are described as outgoing, social, silly and curious — and their favorite party trick is to bring people “treasures” they find.
Prior to Puppy Bowl airing, Button was adopted by a crew member in New York, while Gilbert was taken in by his two dads in Tennessee.
Sugar Lump
One of nine pups brought in to Angel City Pit Bulls along with their mom, Sugar Lump arrived with an upper respiratory infection. Thankfully she and her siblings were nursed to full health after their mama stopped nursing them at too young an age.
Nicknamed the “Heirloom Tomato Litter,” the American Bulldog Pekingese mix has been adopted along with her siblings: Fox Cherry, Chianti Rose, Banana Legs, Hillbilly, Beefsteak, Moonglow and Rosella Crimson, who is playing for Team Fluff.
A natural-born leader, Sugar Lump has “real QB energy” and is described as “feisty and fearless” once she hits the ground running. But don’t be fooled by her spunk; as soon as she’s cuddled, she’s totally chill.
While the pups all found a new home, their mama, Leone, is on the hunt for her forever family now.
Team Fluff
Asiago
This Bassett Hound will have you cheesing throughout the show.
Asiago — whose original name was Duke before he was surrendered by his original owner — has found his forever home. In his new family, Asiago is one of three “cheese boys,” along with his adopted siblings Parmesan and Reggiano.
Despite his sweet nature, the hound, from Tri-State Bassett Hound Rescue in Pennsville, New Jersey, is ready to take on the competition as a member of Team Fluff.
Marshmallow
One of five siblings that were surrendered by their owner, Marshmallow has been at Aheinz57 Pet Rescue in DeSoto, Iowa. At the time, they were living in a horse stall, “scared and unsocialized” and “filthy,” but thankfully turned out to be the sweetest dogs.
Marshmallow is a Great Pyrenees Australian Cattle Dog who is described as playful and “full of energy.” He’s a total lovebug — getting along with any pup he meets — and has been already adopted by a family, who have a 2-year-old whom he loves to protect.
Bacon & Eggs
They’re an egg-cellent pair.
Bacon and Eggs arrived together on the doorstep of the Blue Water Area Humane Society in Clyde, Michigan. The Border Collie Chow Chow mixes were so young at the time, they were too little to be away from their mama. Thankfully, the staff nursed them with extra care and attention, and they’ve grown up to be sweet, playful pups who are “very smart.”
