Northern Virginia Rescue Dogs to Participate in Animal Planet's 'Puppy Bowl'
Tune in to see them on Sunday.
This article was republished with permission from FXBG Advance’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
By Sébastien Kraft
Operation Paws for Homes, a Northern Virginia-based rescue headquartered in Alexandria, will have four puppies joining the 2026 “Puppy Bowl” on Animal Planet.
The 22nd edition of the annual TV event will be broadcast Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. with a total of 90 puppies involved.
“Being part of the Puppy Bowl has been a great way to get the word out about Operation Paws for Homes and the many adoptable dogs we have a available, both puppies and adult dogs,” Irene Skricki, a volunteer with the rescue who oversees the Puppy Bowl nominations, said in a news release.
“We organize Puppy Bowl viewing parties on Super Bowl Sunday, which gets volunteers and adopters engaged and excited about being a part of rescue. Beyond the benefit to OPH, participating in Puppy Bowl is also a wonderful opportunity to promote the value and importance of rescue more broadly. Puppy Bowl helps spread the message that there are adorable puppies available through rescue groups and encourages people to adopt and don’t shop.”
The local nonprofit rescue saves over 1,000 dogs annually. The organization partners with southern states including Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and southern Virginia to bring dogs from overcrowded shelters north to adoptive homes in Virginia; Maryland; Washington, D.C.; and southern Pennsylvania.
Operation Paws for Homes littermates Rosie and Twiggy will be participating in the Puppy Bowl. Rosie came to the rescue from Tazewell County Animal Shelter in southern Virginia, near the North Carolina border. Rosie now lives in Herndon, while Twiggy is in Alexandria – with both puppies having been adopted.
Poppy, from rural Mississippi, and Ozzy, from Wise County, will also join the show’s cast representing the rescue.
Puppies participating in the Puppy Bowl are each placed on one of two teams: Team Fluff and Team Ruff. Ozzy and Twiggy are on Team Fluff, while Rosie and Poppy are on Team Ruff. This year’s Puppy Bowl will be the 11th year that Operation Paws for Homes has sent competitors.
Operation Paws for Homes has four watch parties scheduled in the region. They include:
Chester, Virginia https://ophrescue.org/events/1919
Three Leg Run
4418 W Hundred Rd, Chester, Va. 23831
Manassas, VA (1-2 of the puppy competitors will be attending!) https://ophrescue.org/events/1923
Ornery Beer Company Taproom
8088 Flannery Court, Manassas, Va.
Pasadena, Maryland https://ophrescue.org/events/1925
Hysteria Taphouse
3201 Mountain Rd Suite 102, Pasadena, Md. 21122
York, Pennsylvania https://ophrescue.org/events/1926
Buffalo Wild Wings
320 Town Center Dr. York, Pa. 17408
For more information on Operation Paws for Homes, visit ophrescue.org.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
Our media group also offers the most-extensive election coverage in the region and regular columnists like:
And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
This article is published under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. It can be distributed for noncommercial purposes and must include the following: “Published with permission by FXBG Advance.”