Puppy Bowl and UBER Team Up

This year Puppy Bowl XI did something incredibly special and awesome! Animal Planet teamed up with UBER to bring puppies to your office! That is right, you could order a car full of puppies to play with for 15 minutes!

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UBER is a company which allows you to use a cell phone app to order a taxi, private car, or rideshare. They are prominent in the news because the company employs any qualified driver and car for use as a taxi in the face of existing taxi medallion systems and companies, and has been rapidly expanding to new areas.

Unfortunately, The Human only heard about this after the time you could try to order this service which was Wednesday February 28 from 11am to 3pm. It was also very limited due to the demand for such a service and the difficulties of moving puppies around to many play dates. Maybe, just maybe if this works out this year they will offer the same type of service in the future. It was also extremely geographically limited, available in only 10 major cities so many were out of luck to begin with.

Where, How, Why, and How Much?

Where:  Atlanta, Baltimore, Cleveland, Dallas, DC, Denver, Indianapolis, LA, Phoenix, and Seattle.

How: You had to use the UBER app and request the PUPPIES option, which could only be viewed by those using the app in the above cities.

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(UBER)

This is what was displayed if all the puppies were busy:

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It was stated that puppies only be delivered to office buildings, and you had to make sure ahead of time that your office manager/building manger/boss was okay with this. You needed a room available for the puppies to go in and/or an enclosure to keep them safe and contained.

How does UBER even have puppies to drive around? They partnered with local shelters in each city. Many of the puppies that were involved were adoptable.

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Why: This event draws attention to puppies in need of a home. It also brings exposure to the shelters who participated. In most cities the puppies in the car were adoptable and the representative who traveled with the car of puppies could help. Plus, who wouldn’t want to play with a bunch of puppies while at their office?!

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Here are the participating shelters:
Phoenix – Arizona Humane Society
Atlanta – Atlanta Humane Society
Baltimore – BARCS Baltimore
Cleveland – Cleveland Animal Protective League
Dallas – Dallas Animal Services
Denver – Dumb Friends League
Indianapolis – Humane Society of Indianapolis
LA – Wags and Walks
Seattle – PAWS
DC – Washington Animal Rescue League

How Much: $30 for 15 minutes of puppy play time. All the money went to the shelter that participated in the event.

Puppies from the UBER promotion in Dallas:
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(Twitter/City of Dallas)

You can read the rules here and find out more.

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The puppies also went to schools and children’s hospitals to brighten their day!

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The Human is very sad to have missed this, but the opportunity was amazing!

– Fizz

 

Puppy Bowl 2015 is this Sunday

It is once again time for Puppy Bowl! YES!!!! This Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!!!!

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Puppy Bowl is a show on Animal Planet which always airs on the Sunday of the Super Bowl. It is to show off cute puppies playing a fake game of football for your enjoyment. You can watch puppies both before, during, and after the big game. Puppy Bowl XI will air on February 1 2015 at 3 pm. It will start and end before the big game begins. However, PBXI will also replay a few more times so you can watch it instead of football or you can catch it after the game if you do not have time before.

As usual, the show features puppies from animal shelters playing with football (and other) dog toys on a miniature field inside a mini fake stadium. Puppies are switched out throughout the game and a touchdown is made any time a puppy makes it over the goal line with a toy. A ref calls penalties and makes sure that the puppies play nice. The halftime show features kittens playing. One puppy usually wins an MVP (most valuable puppy) award for playing the best. But I am not sure if that is true this year with the addition of an online fantasy draft. The point of the whole thing is to show off cute puppies to encourage people to go to their local shelters and adopt dogs in need of homes. All of the puppies featured have been adopted into new homes.

This year they are also featuring a fantasy draft, which might take the place of the mvp award.
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You go online here to sign into the site and pick three puppies for your dream team from the starting line up. The puppies are split into two teams: Team Ruff and Team Fluff. You can pick three puppies in any variation and across both teams.

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You also get to pick which team you think will win. Team Ruff is in the lead!

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Here are a couple of the puppies from the starting line up:

Aria the Labrador Retriever mix, on Team Ruff:
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Keith Barraclough/DCL

Blue the Schnauzer Poodle mix, on Team Fluff:
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Keith Barraclough

Boomer the German Shepherd mix, on Team Ruff:
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Chicklet the Australian Shepherd Mix, on Team Fluff:
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Keith Barraclough

Falcor the Clumber Spanial, on Team Ruff:
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Keith Barraclough/DCL

Fritz the Mini Schnauzer, on Team Fluff:
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Keith Barraclough/DCL

Lee the Boxer mix,on Team Ruff:
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Keith Barraclough/DCL

Panda the Pomeranian, on Team Fluff:
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Keith Barraclough/DCL

You can see the entire starting line up here. There is a great mix of beautiful and adorable puppies this year, you won’t want to miss out!

Make sure you tune in and watch all the adorable puppies this Sunday at 3 pm on Animal Planet!

– Fizz

Puppy Bowl X this Sunday!

Don’t forget that this Sunday before the big game is the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet!

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The “game” is two hours of watching adorable puppies play on a fake football field. They relay that same game 6 more times Sunday so you can catch it after the real football game if you don’t get a chance before.

If you would like to read some more interesting facts about Puppy Bowl check out CNN’s article 66 Adorable Reasons to Watch Puppy Bowl.

Puppy Bowl X Starting Line Up

Puppy Bowl X is coming on “big game” Sunday (Feb 2) on Animal Planet!

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If you have not heard of or watched one of the previous 9 Puppy Bowls it features adorable puppies, 66 of them this year, all playing together with toys on a fake puppy sized football field. Getting a toy to the end zones results in a touch down, rough play results in penalties. It is not so much about the “game” but rather about watching adorable puppies! The puppies all come from local rescues to help raise awareness for these pups and all rescued animals in need of homes.

Viewers get to vote for the MVP – Most Valuable Puppy – during the live event. There is also a half time show featuring kittens and keyboard cat, and cheerleaders.

Puppy Bowl X has penguin cheerleaders for the first time!
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(source: LA Times)

The best part is that this plays before the big game so you can watch both! It also replays after so you can watch puppies instead of football if that is your thing.

Here are just a few of the adorable puppies in this year’s starting line up:

1. Alvin – Male Poodle
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2. August – Female Boxer
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3. Aurora – Female Dalmation
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4. Cody – Male Spaniel
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5. Ginger – Female Old English Sheepdog Mix
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6. Jillian – Female Shih Tzu and Pekingese Mix
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7. Lily – Female Bassett Hound
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8. Mila – Female Pit Bull
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9. Opie – Male Schnauzer and Terrier Mix
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10. Roxy – Female Shih Tzu and Chihuahua Mix
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11. Suri – Female Siberian Husky
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12. Wyatt – Terrier Mix
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All of these pictures come from Animal Planet’s website, where you can see all the rest of the starting line up along with pictures of other years of the Puppy Bowl.

I encourage you to check out more pictures!

-Fizz

Puppy Bowl IX

Puppy Bowl 9 is this Sunday (Feb 3, at 3 pm) on Animal Planet!

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This years game returns with new adorable puppies, kitten halftime show, hamster blimp, Meep the bird, and on the sidelines this year are hedgehogs (possibly wearing tutus).

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As usually, the Puppy Bowl airs before the “big game” so you do not have to miss either one! If you are unable to watch at 3, the Bowl replays a few times so you can catch it later.

Here are a few of the starting line up:

1. Althea the female Australian Shepherd and Catahoula Mix

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2. Aurora the female Siberian Husky and Retriever Mix

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3. Bessie the female Catahoula Leopard dog mix

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4. Daisy the female Yorkshire Terrier

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5. Marta the female Schnauzer and Beagle mix

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6. Juniper the female Great Pyrenees

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7. Nala the female Japanese Chin

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8.Chestnut the male Labrador Retriever and Australian Shepherd mix

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The full line up of puppies can be viewed at Puppy Bowl IX Starting Lineup

Puppy Bowl VII Starting Line-up

Today Animal Planet announced the starting line-up of puppies for Puppy Bowl VII!

There are 20 puppies listed on the Animal Planet website complete with names, pictures, breed, age and a fun fact. Here are a few of the puppies you will see this year:

1. Amy

Golden Retriever/Corgi Mix

2. Booda

Pug mix

3. CB

Shih Tzu/Beagle mix

4. Duncan

Golden retriever/bulldog mix

5. Mae

Great Pyrenees/Newfoundland mix

To see all of the puppies in the starting line up please visit Animal Planet’s website.

If you have never heard of or watched Puppy Bowl, it is a show which takes place on Animal Planet on the day of the Super Bowl. It features puppies which you watch while they play on a miniature football field. There is commentary on the puppy play, using football terminology, as well as replay shots. A halftime show features kittens playing with various toys.  There are cameras to watch the puppies from different angles, one interesting one is the “bowl cam” which looks up at puppies drinking water through the bottom of the water dish.  Last year featured aerial shots from the Twizzler’s blimp which was driven by hamsters, but I am not sure if this will be continued for PBVII. Also new last year were bunny cheerleaders on the sidelines.

To find out more about PBVII, to see behind the scenes clips, highlights from years past and more visit Animal Planet Puppy Bowl VII.

Puppy Bowl is on February 6, at 3 pm…ending before the actual football game even starts, so you can watch both.

Super Bowl Commercials!

Yesterday I watched the adorable Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet, and then I watched the Super Bowl…mainly to see the commercials.

The Puppy Bowl was so cute! I loved watching the puppies and the different camera shots gave more interest to it. The bunny cheerleaders who just sat on the sidelines were very comical, as were the hamsters “flying” the Twizzlers’ blimp. Even better was that they replayed the “game,” so I got to watch it before the Super Bowl started and again after it was over!

There were not that many commercials featuring cute animals, but there were many funny ones that contain cute stars. Here are the cutest commercials that I saw this Super Bowl:

1. Doritos: Underdog

2. E*Trade Baby with Girlfriend

3. Monster.com fiddling Beaver

4. Coca-Cola – Sleepwalker

5. Kia Sorento

6. And of course, Budweiser had another cute commerical about their Clydesdale horses:

Puppy Bowl!

If you have nothing else to watch before the Super Bowl starts, why not watch Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl? I have never watched it before, but I want to try this year.

The Puppy Bowl features puppies from shelters that need homes and provides information on how to adopt them. You just get to watch the puppies play and interact with each other and toys in a model football stadium. There is commentary on the puppy play as well as replay shots. There are cameras to watch the puppies,  a “bowl cam” which looks up at puppies drinking through the bottom of the water dish, and this year will also feature aerial shots from the Twizzler’s blimp. Football terminology is used to describe the puppy play, touchdowns are called when puppies make it to the end zone, and time outs are called when puppies fight. New this year are bunny cheerleaders on the sidelines.

The program also has a half time show called the kitty half-time show.

Here are pictures of some of this years starting line up:

Addison

Bandit

Bear

Coco

Eenu

Jersey Boy

Duncan

Puppy Bowl airs on Animal Planet, February 7th from 3 to 5 pm e/p.