Real-Life Puppy Bowl Features Local Pups At St. Pete’s Dog Bar

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — While many across the United States are eager for Super Bowl Sunday’s match-up between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, for animal lovers, the real show is Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl.

More than 100 puppies from dozens of shelters and rescue groups across the country are filmed playing together on a mini-gridiron to raise awareness of pet adoption. The pre-recorded show airs Sunday at 2 p.m. EST. Watch it live on Animal Planet, Discovery Channel or TBS, or stream it on discovery+ and HBO Max.

It’s fun to watch on TV, but there’s nothing like seeing an energetic pack of pups chase each other around a field full of balls in person.

Luckily, for St. Pete dog lovers, Dog Bar, 2300 Central Ave., is hosting its own, real-life version of the Puppy Bowl on Sunday.

• Also Read: Puppy Bowl Stars 2 St. Pete Rescue Dogs On Super Bowl Sunday

It will air the Animal Planet competition starting at 2 p.m., then, from 4 to 6 p.m., local pups will take the field for a fun afternoon.

The bar fences in an area and uses chalk to create the makeshift field.

“Then we throw a big pile of balls out there,” owner Fred Metzler told Patch.

The first portion of the game features younger dogs, rotating through pups who have similar energy on the field.

“We’ve had great Dane puppies. They’re 60 pounds, but they were still puppies, playing with everyone else,” he said.

Later in the day, adult dogs take the field.

With so many pups running back and forth, it can be difficult to track the game’s score. But the “woof-erees” are on top of it.

“If a dog happens to pick up a ball across the endline, we’ll call it a touchdown,” Metzler said. “If one dog steals a ball from another, we’ll call a penalty flag.”

No matter who wins, though — the red team or the blue team — the pups have a blast, as do the onlookers, he said.

Those attending the game, whether their dog is on the field or not, are excited to cheer on their favorite pup.

“We get a good crowd,” Metzler said. “It organically evolved into what’s become a pretty nice event.”

Sunday’s Puppy Bowl at Dog Bar will raise funds for Compassion Kind, a local animal rescue organization that has two of its own pups competing in this year’s Animal Planet show.

And nearly every event at Dog Bar — from monthly Charity Bath Day to the monthly Biscuit Brunch to various dog meetups and special events — raises money for local animal rescues.

Two years ago, the bar raised about $50,000 for local animal organizations, a number that increased to about $60,000 last year.

“This year, we’re trying to beat that and get to $70,000,” Metzler said. “Every event we do is trying to drive some money to a rescue. If we didn’t give back to the dog community after how much they do for us, we would be horrible. It just seems to mesh with who we are. It’s become our mission statement.”