You may be gearing up for the Puppy Bowl this year, but in 2018, Animal Planet will also be airing the Dog Bowl, an event that will give older dogs a chance to take the field and show what they can do. Since 2005, puppies have been featured in the Puppy Bowl, which promotes adoption of shelter pups, as well as cats and other animals. But viewers have been sorely missing full grown canines who can be just as cute, loving, and special as their younger counterparts. Are you looking forward to catching the Dog Bowl this year? Here’s what you should know about the event, including where and when to tune in.
Why The Dog Bowl Is Important For Older Dogs
The Puppy Bowl has long featured adorable little puppies to encourage adoption from shelters, but older dogs need love, too. In fact, puppies are far more likely to be adopted first while older dogs sit and wait in the shelters, and sometimes they’re never adopted at all. This means they are more likely to be euthanized to make room for younger, more adoptable dogs.
Any dog lover can tell you how special and wonderful old dogs are, and they deserve love just as much as puppies. By recognizing older dogs during the Dog Bowl, Animal Planet and the ASPCA hope to get the word out and give grown-up pups the attention they deserve and, hopefully, encourage adoption. Promoting the adoption of older dogs can help save lives of dogs that need it the most.
What’s Different About The Dog Bowl
The Dog Bowl will be similar to the Puppy Bowl in many ways, but the most obvious difference is that the dogs will be full grown. They will be placed on Team Paws or Team Tails and will have lots of fun over the one-hour long special. It will be hosted by animal advocate Jill Rappaport and feature the CEO of the ASPCA, Matt Bershadker.
Some of the dogs that are featured will include six-year-old Retriever mix, Gus, and six-year-old Beagle/Retriever mix, Dino, from the ASPCA. Both of these dogs found forever homes in 2017. Bucky, a mutt from Metro Animal Care and Control in Nashville, will also take to the field. He found his forever home, too.
Pups from 15 shelters in 11 states will join them, and they will range in age from 2 years old to 15. There will be 50 dogs competing, including 4 Bulldogs from Long Island Bulldog Rescue in New York. Many of the dogs have already found their forever homes, including Rommy, a Labradoodle from Denver, who is now helping his Army and Navy veteran dad cope with PTSD. You can take a look at the whole Dog Bowl lineup here.
The adult dogs don’t have all the puppy energy that will certainly be seen during the Puppy Bowl. They’re a bit more mellow, and they know how to interact with each other and follow social rules. But that may be more appealing to people looking to adopt who might want to skip the exhausting, sometimes destructive energy of puppyhood and instead find a dog who knows when to relax. Hopefully it will encourage more people to give older dogs in shelters a second look.
Where And When To Watch The Dog Bowl
The Dog Bowl will air on Animal Planet the night before the Super Bowl on Saturday, February 3, at 8 pm ET/PT. You can use your cable subscription to watch on iPhone, Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Xbox, and Android. Animal Planet often posts highlights of the Puppy Bowl on their website and YouTube page, which don’t require a cable subscription, and they may do the same with clips from the Dog Bowl, too.
Are you going to tune in to see the Dog Bowl? Do you think Animal Planet should hold the Dog Bowl every year? Let us know in the comments below!
