After causing a stir as they moved into the White House, President Joe Biden’s two dogs, Champ and Major, are expected to set tongues wagging again when they make an appearance at the 17th annual Puppy Bowl this Sunday, February 7th, 2021.
The Puppy Bowl is an annual event that airs on the same day as The Super Bowl. The event, which will last about 3 hours, is a canine version of The Super Bowl. It features a miniature stadium, where puppies from local animal shelters wrestle over chew toys. The puppies that manage to grab a chew toy for themselves and drag it over the end zone line are declared the winners to take home the “Lombarky” trophy.
Ruff VS Fluff
This year’s Puppy Bowl will feature two teams, Team Ruff and Team Fluff, and will be hosted and commentated on by Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog, assisted by SportsCenter host Sage Steele and Monday Night Football’s Steve Levy. Each team will have 35 adoptable puppies from rescue organizations and animal shelters from across the north east.
The aim of The Puppy Bowl is to create awareness about the importance of adopting dogs and other pets from shelters. This is something the first family are already familiar with. One of their German Shepherds, Major, was a shelter dog before they adopted him from the Delaware Humane Association.
All the puppies that have taken part in previous editions of The Puppy Bowl have ended up getting adopted, and the hope is that the same will happen after this year’s edition.
The first dogs, Champ and Major, won’t be competing in The Puppy Bowl, however. They will be appearing in a 30 second public service announcement with the First Lady, Jill Biden.
In the public service announcement, the First Lady and the two German Shepherds sit before a fire, as the First Lady talks about the impact pets have had on families during the Coronavirus pandemic. The First Lady talks about how pets have brought joy and comfort to families during the pandemic. Check out the public service announcement in the video below.
Public Service Announcement
The First Lady goes on to say that one of the most beautiful things on earth is the unconditional love that dogs give us, and she says we need to keep ourselves healthy for the sake of our pets. She then urges Americans to protect themselves by wearing their face masks at all times, even when they are taking their dogs out for a walk.
The public service announcement ends with a happy bark from one of the first dogs, and a directive asking Americans to get more information on how to prevent the spread of Coronavirus from the Centers for Disease Control website.
The Puppy Bowl pregame show will start at 1 PM ET, while the actual action will kick off at 2 PM ET, four hours before the Super Bowl. You can catch the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet and Discovery+.
