Heading to NYC to film Puppy Bowl X
We are so excited that we had two of our rescue puppies picked to take part in Puppy Bowl X (airing February 2014). This post has been private for several months and we are excited to finally make it public!! We paid our own way and were able to make it to filming on Thursday & Friday, October 3 & 4, 2013 in New York City. The pups, their adoptive families and ROMP rescue reps made the journey from Chicago to NYC to take part in this 10 year anniversary event. It was a very fun experience that we were so honored to be part of. Here are some pictures and videos from our experience!
Our trip on Southwest Airlines was extra special too
Taser on the morning of the filming, after a snuggly night of sleep
Videos from the green room at the studio in Hell’s Kitchen where they were filming
Video from the hero shoot with Taser
Taking Taser’s Pedigree picture
Filming Sharpie’s entrance for Puppy Bowl X
Filming Taser’s entrance for Puppy Bowl X
Puppy Bowl X FAQ’s
How did your pups get into the puppy bowl: Animal Planet contacted us asking us to send in photos and videos of our puppies. We submitted the 4 Italian Greyhound puppies we had and they picked 2 of the 4 to take part in the big game. This all happened over the summer.
How old are the puppies used: 12-21 weeks old at the time of filming (on October 4, 2013), between 6-9 months on the air date (February 2, 2014). Our two Italian Greyhound were 12 weeks at the time of filming.
How many pups are allowed on the field? Anywhere from 12-15 pups were playing on the field at any given time.
What’s the premise of Puppy Bowl? It is a cute event aired on Super Bowl Sunday (every year since 2004) that strictly uses rescue pups and thus sheds light on adopting both purebreds (and mix) puppies from local shelters and rescues as ALL the puppies used in their games come shelters and rescues from all across the US. They then place the pups in groups on a mini football field with toys, dogs that pickup the toys and bring them to the end zone score. It’s every dog from themselves, they don’t have teams. The rescued puppy with the most points at the end of the game is the MVP, most valuable puppy. The referee commentates to keep things light, humorous and note the ‘plays’ that are happening on the field.
Were the pups adopted: We were fortunate to have the pups adopted before going to New York for filming (although they were up for adoption at the time we submitted them to Animal Planet). Animal Planet invited the adoptive families to come with us for filming and did an adoption segment on Sharpie and his family that you can find on the Animal Planet website!
How did you pay for it: Our volunteers and adoptive families paid their own way for the flight/hotel/expenses to get to New York to be part of Puppy Bowl, Animal Planet does not pay for any expenses aside from parking at the filming studio (and they provided lunch at the studio as well). Some groups fundraise so they can go.
How long was filming: Filming for the puppies took place over 1 day. The puppies were divided into 4 groups, 2 groups at a time were filmed together so there were two different sessions (AM & PM sessions, bigger breeds and smaller breeds), each session was onset for about 7 hours. The kitten halftime show and other animal segments were filmed on a different day.
Do all the puppies that go there get used in the show? Yes, all the puppies that were asked to attend filming had airtime during Puppy Bowl X.
What exactly happened when you arrived at the studio? We had to check in, everyone there had to sign a waiver, we then had to provide health paperwork for the pups, the pups were checked out by a vet to make sure they looked healthy, we were then placed in the green room where the puppies got to know the other pups in their group (in pens). As filming took place they would take pups from the pens and have volunteers bring them to the field which was located in another room. None of the rescue reps or adoptive families were allowed in the filming room. There was a licensed vet and animal specialist (or two) onsite at all times in addition to all the Animal planet Volunteers. They had a live feed with selective views being played on a TV in the green room – that was all we were able to see while we were there. After group A and B from our Am session was filmed we had to also get the pups hero shots taken, Pedigree photo, get recorded interviews with their adoptive families. That all took place on the second level of the building. We then went back down and had the pups film their entrances. Any of the pups that had significant plays during the game were asked to stay after so they could do extra pieces in the event they were MVP’s. After that, we received a Puppy Bowl X shirt and were free to go!
What do you get for being in the Puppy Bowl? Aside from a cool Animal Planet Puppy Bowl X crew shirt, personal pride, the experience and bringing more recognition to our group as well as our cause. Animal Planet does a nice job helping us obtain local media coverage leading up to the show. For us, it opened a lot of working relationships for additional support moving forward. We did have a spike in adoption inquires and visits to our website leading up to the game. Animal Planet also does a nice job noting our group online and because they only use rescue pups to take part in Puppy Bowl – it is a great project to be part of: shedding light on the availability of puppies (purebreds and mixes) in shelters and rescues across the country.