Everybody is getting ready for a big game this weekend, but some are more prepared to cheerfor those on Team Ruff and Team Fluff. “Puppy Bowl XVII” will stream on discovery+ onSunday and will air on Animal Planet at 2pm ET the same day. Diehard Puppy Bowlers willhave more content to love this year than ever before. Three specials under the Puppy BowlPresents umbrella will make their premieres on discovery+ with separate airtimes on AnimalPlanet. “The Dog Games” (streaming Sunday) has four dogs and amateur trainers face off todecide who is the greatest showman, “Best in Show” (streaming Saturday, on Animal Planetat 11pm) will reunite former Puppy Bowl players and “Puppy Bowl Nation” (streaming Saturday,on Animal Planet Sunday at 11am) offers a peek into life after the big game for these pups.The Puppy Bowl has always used to promote pet adoption, with 100% of participants findinghomes in prior years, and this year’s spectacular comes after a particularly ‘pawsitive’ yearfor adoptions as a whole. Between March and September 2020, the number of foster petsin US homes increased by 8%, according to PetPoint, an organization that collects industrydata on pet adoptions. For many people, the decision to open their homes came due to theirlack of social interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey published in the journalPLOS ONE in September asked nearly 6,000 people in the UK about their wellbeing duringthe pandemic and interactions with their pets. Most respondents, including 91% of dog owners,said that their pets were an important source of emotional support, said University ofYork senior lecturer Elena Ratschen. “[The study] highlighted the role of companion animalsas potential social buffers for psychological distress and loneliness, regardless of species,”Ratschen said in the survey’s results.
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