Are the Puppy Bowl puppies trained to play the game?

Are the Puppy Bowl puppies trained to play the game? - Adorable puppies playing on tile pavement near fence

Instead of watching the Super Bowl this year, I decided to watch the Animal Planet Puppy Bowl, featuring puppies dragging toys around the field and scoring if they drag it to the end zone.

It made me wonder, are the puppies trained to drag toys to the end zone and play nicely with others on their team? Or are they just given free reign to do what they want and they are unaware that the goal is to get it to the end zone?

Also, are any other animals on the show trained (e.g. Half-Time show cats, cheer-leading roosters, smartphone typing parakeet)?



Best Answer

They aren't really trained since the dogs are all puppies who are available for adoption in shelters nationwide. But their handlers do have tricks:

Peanut butter has proved useful in luring the pups apart — or getting them to do anything, really. Spread some peanut butter on the edge of a camera lens and it’s a guaranteed adorable puppy-licking-America’s-TV-screens moment.

Animal Planet has a video showing how the kittens are choreographed and other similar ones.




Pictures about "Are the Puppy Bowl puppies trained to play the game?"

Are the Puppy Bowl puppies trained to play the game? - Calm Yorkshire Terrier playing with ball in studio
Are the Puppy Bowl puppies trained to play the game? - Black and Tan Rottweiler Puppy Running on Lawn Grass
Are the Puppy Bowl puppies trained to play the game? - Curious puppy biting toy for Birthday celebration



How do they choose the puppies for the Puppy Bowl?

Months before the event, Petfinder reaches out to their rescue and shelter partners to find puppies to take part. Each shelter submits names, photos, and descriptions of the pups', including their history, age and pawsonality. All breeds and mixes can play, and you'll find many cute-as-a-button contenders.

Did all the dogs from the Puppy Bowl get adopted?

All five dogs who will appear in Puppy Bowl have already been adopted. The show filmed in New York in October 2021. But one, Judy Love, came back after her family moved into a larger house and she didn't adapt well to it.

What happens to the puppies in the Puppy Bowl?

for the Puppy Bowl. All the animals on the show (except for the penguins) are shelter animals, and usually all are adopted by the time the show airs. Throughout the program, updates on the status of each of the adopted puppies was given.

How accurate is the Puppy Bowl?

But how accurate are they? Obviously, we don't have stats back on the 2017 puppy prediction yet, as that game will be played on Sunday. But, in their four previous years of predictions, the puppies have been correct two out of four times for a success rate of just 50 percent.



The Puppy Bowl




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Wendy Wei, Sam Lion, Pixabay, Sam Lion