Animal Planet puts older dogs in the spotlight with Dog Bowl II.
Since its inception about one dog-lifetime ago in 2005, Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl has become a wildly successful part of Super Bowl Sunday. But senior dogs in shelters around the country need homes, too, and that’s where Dog Bowl II comes in.
Airing on Animal Planet at 8 p.m. on Saturday, February 2, the hour-long special follows the same football broadcast parody format of Puppy Bowl XV, which will follow the next day.
63 dogs were selected from 31 shelters to create the two squads vying for the Lombarky Trophy – Team Oldies and Team Goldies. All of the dogs featured have been adopted between filming and airdate, which is a happy thing. One lucky doggo will win the Milk-Bone MVP (Most Valuable Pooch) Award as well.
(See why you should adopt a shelter dog here.)
The featured tail-gaters during the event will be the Olate Dogs, winners of season 7 of America’s Got Talent.
Throughout the broadcast, hosted by Jill Rappaport, there will be “Dogs Life” segments showcasing some of the organizations that helped get these players ready for game time.
Some of these segments will feature Baltimore Ravens tackle Ronnie Stanley, who teamed up with BARCS, Maryland’s largest animal shelter, to host a draft combine for three hopefuls trying to make the roster, a look at the only animal sanctuary in Afghanistan, and a profile on Instagram superstar Mamie the Dog, who has over two million followers.
Mamie is 17 in human years, which makes her around a hundred in dog years. She will appear as part of the Halftime Show along with other famous social media celebrities like Mervin the Chihuahua, Kimchi Kardoggian, and Ella Bean.
Some of the players have special needs or disabilities, including three-legged doggos Anneliese the Beagle mix and Sutty the Border Collie/Pomeranian mix, Elijah the straight-legged German Shepherd, wheelchair operative Mr. Bojangles, deaf Audrey the Australian Shepherd/Border Collie mix, and a trio of visually-impaired players: Gizmo the Papillon and Chihuahuas Wilma and Captain Will.
The first Dog Bowl in 2018 featured Team Paws playing Team Tails. Puppy Bowl XV follows on Sunday, February 3 at 3 p.m. ET, featuring Team Fluff against Team Ruff before Super Bowl LIII matching the Los Angeles Rams against the New England Patriots.