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This Is What It's Really Like at the Puppy Bowl

Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl

This Is What It's Really Like at the Puppy Bowl

Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

The Puppy Bowl is the best part of Super Bowl Sunday. If you think differently, you're wrong. I mean, football is OK, but puppies! And kitties! Rolling around on a tiny football field! Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl will air, as always, on Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 5, and it will feature shelter dogs and cats. Animal Planet films this spectacular feature in advance of February, and I got to be a lucky viewer. If you can contain your jealousy of my adventure (I won't blame you if you can't), scroll through to see some behind-the-scenes shots and find out what really happens at the taping. And don't forget to tune into Animal Planet on Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. EST to see all this cuteness come together!

1 The show is filmed over the course of two days

The show is filmed over the course of two days
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

Day one was all about filming the kittens for the halftime show. Day two was a daylong puppy shoot.

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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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2 The kittens were just as destructive as the kittens you have at home

The kittens were just as destructive as the kittens you have at home
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

Production assistants had to keep fixing pieces of the set that the kitties were ripping apart. No surprise there!

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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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3 It's pretty silent on set

It's pretty silent on set
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

On kitten day, the only sound was the whirring of the electronic kitty toys. No meowing, no talking, no anything. On puppy day, while I was there, there was hardly any barking. Just so much playing!

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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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4 In the holding area, I got to play with all the animals

In the holding area, I got to play with all the animals
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

And when I say all of them, I mean the kitties, the puppies, some bunnies, a few guinea pigs. It was practically a zoo behind the scenes, and it was amazing.

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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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5 There is a lot of this happening in the holding area

There is a lot of this happening in the holding area
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

Playing in the Puppy Bowl is hard work, you know?

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6 The puppies are filmed in groups

The puppies are filmed in groups
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

The crew spends all day filming the puppies in groups. I watched the last group film, which was a bunch of rambunctious big pups.

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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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7 It takes a LOT of people to make this work

It takes a LOT of people to make this work
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

There are many, many volunteers who line the stage to make sure the puppies stay on the field, not to mention all the crew who are doing the filming.

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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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8 Accidents happen on set

Accidents happen on set
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

Listen, they're baby animals, of course there are accidents while filming.

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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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9 All the animals are shelter animals

All the animals are shelter animals
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

And by the time the show airs in February, all of the animals will have found homes. Several of them had actually already found homes by the time of the taping, which is amazing news!

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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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Behind the Scenes at the Puppy Bowl
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips
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10 It's actually magical

It's actually magical
Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hedy Phillips

Seriously, there are baby animals everywhere — what more could you ask for?

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