Animal Planet Puppy Bowl!

February 2nd, 2009
Filed in: Uncategorized

Did you watch yesterday?

Super, super cute, right?

This was my third Puppy Bowl with Animal Planet, and the fifth year in production. At this point we’re a well-oiled machine. Would you believe that it takes an incredible amount of planning and people-power to pull off that two-hour puppy extravaganza? You’d be amazed.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the set (check out how small the room is):

The camera mounted on the horizontal ladder in front of the glass was a new innovation this year thanks to the Director of Photography, Rob. (Rob also shot my puppy training DVD. He’s the reason I got the Puppy Bowl gig! Rob came up with the famous “water bowl cam,” and I think that he applied that same sort of creativity when we shot my DVD.) In years past we had a camera guy on a wheely chair rolling back and forth trying to capture the action. The ladder made for smoother filming, but Rob got a workout!

Here’s my buddy Phil on set, getting up close and personal with the players.

Phil and I have spent a good part of the past two Puppy Bowls camped out side-by-side on the field, coaching the players for their introductory “starting line-up” shots. I was in charge of getting the pups to run toward Phil’s camera, which you might have noticed didn’t always happen! We never knew what to expect with those shots … some pups ran on to the field as if they did it every day, and others got stage fright in the tunnel.

Did you see the “streaker”? American Humane Rep Sandi and I snagged a photo with another naked pup:

Here’s Andrew the ref calling “unsportsmanlike conduct” on Griffey:

Though all of the pups were adorable, I did have a favorite:

Schroeder! My love!

Sure, Waltzing Mathilda won M.V.P., but I think Schroeder stole the show:

Who was your favorite?


12 Comments

Comments

On February 2nd, Greta wrote:

OMG, I loved Schroder. And the fact he was sleeping on the football was adorable. Although I did think the Catahoulas were so cute. I have 2 in my neighborhood and they’re such beautiful dogs.

On February 2nd, austin yoder wrote:

I like Schroder!

On February 2nd, Cat wrote:

I liked Eli, Moose and of course Mac. I didn’t like the streaker thing–the poor little Chinese Crested looked scared and ashamed when Andrew was trying to get her off the field; her tail was all tucked. She should have been allowed to stay and play! I liked Schroeder too, but I was a little concerned for him. Was he sick?

On February 2nd, admin wrote:

The streaker was actually an adult dog, so by “law” she wasn’t allowed to stay and play. As for sleepy Schroeder, he was only on set for a total of 15 minutes max … some of the dogs spent all of their game energy in the holding area before the cameras rolled, and I think Schroeder was one of them! We didn’t want him to get railroaded by the other pups, so Sandi and I took him off the field and let him sleep in peace. (In my arms, until I had to give him up and get back to work!)

On February 3rd, Pawfect Match Rescue wrote:

OMG our email is overflowing with inquires about our boy Schroder! :) He already had an application pending at the time of filming so he was adopted out the very next day!!
And no worries about his sleepy day. When we got home he was wide open!! Figures!
Thanks for the opportunity and I hope we can bring more puppies next year!
Aida

On February 3rd, chickeninabiscuit wrote:

How cool Victoria. What a great time you must have had with all those puppies.

On February 3rd, Nicki wrote:

Way cute, and yay for Schroeder for finding a forever home:)

On February 3rd, vivla wrote:

OMG I loved shroder and madiline!!!!

On February 3rd, Jill wrote:

Hi All, I am Schroeder and Charlie’s mom. The boys are doing great and very loved. They are still very cute but now way 40 lbs each. It is fun to have celebrity dogs.

On February 4th, Mandy wrote:

SCHROEDER’S MOM! Please post a big Scrhroeder picture. He is sooo beautiful.

On February 5th, nicky wrote:

i agree with mandy!! please post a picture of schroder!! lol. he was my favorite on the puppy bowl!! jill where are you from?

On February 5th, alicia wrote:

omg!!! i loved Schroeder ..what is his breed .. im looking all over for it …LOLOLOL

Leave a Reply




And Another Thing...

Subscribe to Life on the Leash

Get in touch