Every year, while sports lovers eagerly anticipate Super Bowl Sunday, animal lovers look forward to a different national television event: the Puppy Bowl. This year, two pups hailing from Hillsborough will take to the gridiron and go for glory while their fans cheer on from a viewing party at Eno River Brewing.
Charlie and Lewis are two puppies from a litter delivered under the care of Janice Smith, a Hillsborough resident and dog foster who decided to take on the challenge of maternity fostering with her husband.
“We decided to just kind of throw ourselves into it heads first,” Smith told 97.9 The Hill. “We read every book we could. We watched tons of YouTube videos on how to deliver puppies and that’s what we spent our summer doing. She delivered on June 26 and thought there were only five… seven came out.”
And after a summer at the Smith house, the puppies were ready for their new homes. One puppy, Charlie, ended up at a home in upstate New York, while the Smiths adopted her brother Lewis themselves. Because of Charlie’s proximity to the filming location for the Puppy Bowl, she decided to nominate her and Lewis. After both dogs were chosen, Smith headed to New York to film.
“It’s a lot of waiting ’cause they only can take a certain amount on the field at a time,” she said. “But for anyone who loves dogs, which is everyone there, the waiting is like in a giant room with like eight different puppy pens, and you could just walk between the pens and meet all these adoptable puppies. So I honestly spent most of the day just cuddling with dogs, which is a dream come true.”
As for how the puppies performed, she said she’ll find out Sunday alongside everyone else.
“We could peek over and see them a little bit,” Smith said. “I saw Lewis attempt the tunnel entrance a couple times, [it] was not a wild success. He was a little intimidated, but in terms of on the field, there’s kind of walls around it. So I don’t know. We’re gonna find out.”
In Hillsborough, Eno River Brewing is hosting a watch party from 1 to 5 p.m. on Feb. 8 to celebrate the local pups. Smith said proceeds from the event will go to a Hope Animal Rescue, a local foster-based nonprofit.
“Shelters can be really hard on puppies who haven’t been vaccinated yet,” she said. “Even just in the last month, we’ve had a couple that we’ve pulled who ended up with Parvo costs over $30,000. They have all survived, which is incredible. And I think that speaks to Hope Animal Rescue who just gives whatever it takes to support our puppies. So to be able to throw a fun watch party for the Puppy Bowl, celebrate two of our dogs, and then also raise money to help support them continuing to pull dogs from local shelters is amazing.”
The dog-friendly watch party will feature adoptable puppies, a football themed photo booth, raffles, and more. And while Charlie and Lewis have found their forever homes, there’s one important pooch who is still looking for a family.
“The mama, [Dolly], of this year’s Puppy Bowl [puppies] is still looking for her forever home,” Smith said. “She is the one who started all this. She’s one of my favorite foster dogs I’ve ever had. She’s about a 1-year-old sweet little pocket pity. So definitely check out Home Animal Rescue if you’re looking for a new friend.”
The Puppy Bowl will air on Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV at 2 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 8. It can also be streamed on HBO Max and Discovery+.
Featured image via Hope Animal Rescue/Discovery
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