When Indigo got her acceptance letter to the Puppy Bowl, staff at the Five Acres Animal Shelter in St. Charles began planning a cross-country road trip.
It was New York or bust.
They had submitted her pointy-eared photo as a possible candidate for the annual TV program on Animal Planet that re-creates the action of the Super Bowl — but with puppies.
Puppy Bowl XX will kick off inside a model football stadium custom built in an arena in upstate New York. A record-breaking 131 dogs from 73 shelters nationwide will participate, by weight class, in small groups. The objective is to carry a toy across the “field†to score a touchdown.
The puppies are generally unaware of the objective. In lieu of running or passing the ball, expect to see more frolicking, wrestling, butt sniffing and the occasional potty break. Sportscasters Steve Levy and Taylor Rooks will provide the play-by-play. The highlights include a slow-motion cam, the water-bowl cam and kitten spectators in the Temptations Sky Box.
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Alyssa Paul, adoption/foster coordinator with Five Acres, was Indigo’s first foster mom and embarked on the cross country adventure with her in October to get her to the game, which will air prerecorded. The shelter decided they should drive because it wasn’t clear whether Indigo would be too big to fly in the main cabin of the plane by the time the show needed her for the production. She had been surrendered to the shelter by a person who purchased her online.
The 15-pound shepherd/Pyrenees mix isn’t the only pup representing the ºüÀêÊÓƵ area in the big game. Sadie, a 6-pound Chihuahua/Yorkie mix, adopted by Rich and Linda Meyer, of Washington, Missouri, from the Humane Society of Missouri, was also recruited to play for Team Ruff.
Rich Meyer, 69, describes Sadie as spunky with lots of energy.
“She loves to play fetch. She likes to play tug of war with big brother, Roscoe,†who is five times her size. She was only 3 pounds and days old when she was rescued from a hoarder in Franklin County.
Robyn Dexter, marketing and communication manager for the Humane Society of Missouri, flew with Sadie in October to New York where the show was filmed. Before taking the field, Sadie worked the camera for her professional headshots.
She clocked in as one of the smaller pups at 3.9 pounds at the time of the shoot.
“I was kind of worried about that,†Dexter says. But Sadie proved herself a worthy competitor.
“She threw herself in there and played all rough and tumble, even with some dogs who are older than her. She held her own. I was proud of her,†Dexter says.
Meanwhile, Indigo became best friends with Sherlock, a Husky pup. Her handler, Paul, said she had been a little nervous about driving hundreds of miles with a puppy. But Indigo was very well-behaved. They stopped every two hours, so the pup could take a potty break.
Paul said she would ask someone to watch Indigo while she ran inside fast food restaurants to use the bathroom.
“That was the hardest part of the travel, but her behavior was just perfect,†she says. They broke up the drive over two days, so the entire trip took five days.
Jeana Roth, executive director at Five Acres, views the Puppy Bowl as an opportunity to spotlight the great work shelters do.
“We have a lot of puppies,†she says. “Shelters are overwhelmed right now. Hopefully this encourages some people to consider adopting.â€
Both Sadie and Indigo have already found their forever homes.
The three-hour Puppy Bowl XX will air at 1 p.m. Feb. 11 on Animal Planet, Discovery, Discovery +, TBS, TruTv and Max.