It’s the cutest pregame show on the planet — and now it’s bigger than ever.
A record-breaking 150 dogs will be featured in Sunday’s Puppy Bowl, which has aired every year since 2005. It’s the longest-running television program that raises awareness about pet adoption.
This year’s dogs came from 72 shelters across the United States, Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands. John Nowak got to meet them all.
Nowak is a staff photographer for Warner Bros. Discovery, the corporate parent of CNN as well as Animal Planet, which has been airing the Puppy Bowl since its start. In October, he and his team photographed each dog at an arena in upstate New York where the filming of the show was also taking place.
As you would imagine, it’s not always easy getting 4-month-old puppies to take direction and stay still for the camera.
Everyone works together to get these gorgeous portraits of the dogs that highlight the animals’ beauty, personality and athleticism. They’ll use whatever they have to get the puppies to cooperate: treats, cuddles, toys, music. But sometimes there’s only so much you can do.
“Occasionally there are multiple dogs from the same litter and we get dogs like Maverick and Nova, who were two stunning huskies that gave us some amazing shots,” Nowak said. “Of course, trying to get two dogs to behave and sit still for a photo is the equivalent of juggling melting butter.”
Puppy Bowl XXII airs at 2 p.m. ET Sunday and will be simulcast across Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, Max and discovery+.
