Image by Robert Deutsch via USA TODAY

Animal Planet Launches 'Dog Bowl' to Help Senior Dogs Find Homes

Airing on Feb. 3 (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) during Animal Planet's Road to Puppy Bowl XIV, the Dog Bowl is a one-hour special staring senior dogs in need of forever homes.

According to USA TODAY, the Dog Bowl, like the Puppy Bowl, which airs on Feb. 4 (3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT) during the Super Bowl, splits shelter dogs into two "teams" - Paws and Tails - for a playful game of football. The main difference is the Dog Bowl stars senior dogs while the ever-popular Puppy Bowl stars puppies.

Dan Schachner, Puppy Bowl's official "ruffaree" of seven years, talked about the Bowl's goal of animal adoption:

"Part of the message that we're trying to get out there is sometimes older dogs are more sedate and low-key for families that might be looking for that. In a perfect world, a family watches this and goes, 'Oh, that bulldog is so chill!'"

The average person will often adopt a puppy over a senior dog. The Dog Bowl can help change that by showing that adoptable adult dogs can be just as cute as puppies.

Simon Morris, the executive producer of Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl, told PEOPLE:

"The shelters around the country that we work with for Puppy Bowl were often talking to us about the great need for adult and senior dogs to find homes, and how much harder it is for them to secure adopters for these dogs versus puppies. We wanted to respond to this need and spread the adoption message wider. We also wanted to highlight that older dogs are often easier pets to take care of than puppies, being already house trained, and having their temperaments already tried and tested."

 

Be sure to mark your calendars for the first-ever Dog Bowl! Also, according to PEOPLE, the Dog Bowl will include a special Hall of Fame feature, where star veterans from past Puppy Bowl specials will be welcomed back on the field to relive "their moments of grid iron glory."

Are you going to watch the Dog Bowl? Tell us in the comments!

WATCH NOW: Special Handicapped Stars of the 2017 Puppy Bowl