Puppy Bowl 2021: time, channel, training and everything you need to know

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It’s Puppy Bowl time.

With 70 puppies from 22 different shelters, Sunday’s event will pit Team Ruff against Team Fluff in a canine football game with a common goal: to be adopted.

This is what you need to know.

What is even the Puppy Bowl?

Don’t get carried away by Roman numerals. This is Puppy Bowl no. 17, the last in a tradition that began in 2005.

The puppies are split into two teams and placed in a canine-sized football stadium to compete for the “touchdowns,” but there is also a performance of the national anthem, a show in the middle, a game commentary per game and a “steering wheel.”

Puppies playing during Puppy Bowl XVII.
The captain of the winning team receives a “Chewy Lombarky Trophy,” but they really win every dog.
During the last 16 events, 100% of the puppies and kittens presented were adopted. (Yes, there are kittens, more on that later.)

The Puppy Bowl tries to celebrate adoptable puppies and shelters and the staff that helps them.

Who competes?

This year’s Puppy Bowl features dogs from nine northeastern states.

Puppies playing in the Puppy Bowl XVII.

You’ll meet Marshall, a deaf Boston Terrier training to be a therapy dog ​​for Covid-19 nurses.

You’ll meet Mona, a 10-year-old Toy Poodle mix from Los Angeles who does reiki healing sessions.

You’ll see five players with special needs and four hearing-impaired puppies, including Jett, a mix of double-amputee in front of Labrador who likes to escape to the field.

And all of these players will be hailed on the sidelines for the first time by puppy cheerleaders, Animal Planet said in a statement.
You can meet the players here.

Is it just dogs?

Well no. For one thing, this year’s Puppy Bowl will be very presidential.
First Lady Jill Biden filmed a public service announcement to air during the event, featuring the first two dogs, Champ and Major. Major is believed to be the first shelter dog with an address in the White House.
First Lady Jill Biden with the first Champ and Major dogs.
Forever friends Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart will be the hosts, with Dan Schachner as the “game player.” Celebrating ten years of “rufferee” for the Puppy Bowl, Schachner will sanction the puppies, ruff-accommodation and touchdowns.
Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg.

ESPN game-by-game announcer Steve Levy and SportsCenter host Sage Steele will make human comments.

And then there are the kittens. Adoptive kittens will represent their lives at the annual Kitty Halftime Show.

Okay … I’m sold. Where do I look?

You can watch this three-hour event on Discovery + and Animal Planet on Sunday, Feb. 7, starting at 2 p.m. ET.

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