San Diego puppies featured on winning Puppy Bowl 2023 team

SAN DIEGO — Team Fluff took home the ‘Lombarky Trophy’ from this year’s Puppy Bowl. Two of the puppies on Team Fluff are local to San Diego.

Right before the Super Bowl, Puppy Bowl XIX aired, featuring 122 puppies. Two of the puppies were representing the San Diego region and were adoptable puppies from the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

“We like to call this the cutest game on earth,” said Monica Petruzzelli, PR Manager, Helen Woodward Animal Center “And you don’t have to pick a team, it’s all about us coming together and just supporting rescue pets.”

A watch “paw-ty” was held at McGregor’s Grill during the Puppy Bowl on Sunday.

“This year we have two brothers in the game, we have Carlos and Crocket, they are both Dachshund blends,” Petruzzelli added. Just like the headlines of this year’s Super Bowl with the Kelce brothers competing, the Puppy Bowl had a headline of its own, but Carlos and Crocket were on the same team, the winning team, Team Fluff.

“All the puppies in the Puppy Bowl truly are winners, because they’ve all been adopted and that’s the true goal here,” Petruzzelli said.

Carlos was adopted by San Diego local Ashlee Testerman shortly after he flew back from New York to film the Puppy Bowl in October. Testerman didn’t know he was a star when she fell in love with him and adopted him from the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

“I get teary-eyed and I’m like oh he’s my little superstar,” Testerman said, talking about seeing him on TV.

“He was the first dog I saw and within like 5 minutes I was like I’m going home with him, I didn’t even know much about the Puppy Bowl thing. I was just like in love with him the second I saw him,” said Ashlee Testerman, Carlos’ owner.

What about Crocket? He found a loving home too.

“He was adopted by my parents, my mom and dad, actually when I took him to New York we bonded so much that he became a part of the family,” Petruzzelli said.

Over the last 19 years, the Puppy Bowl has had a 100 percent adoption rate.

“They’re just as beautiful and playful as any puppy that you can get from a breeder. These guys need our help and the more we can do to get them this exposure can help truly save lives in the long run,” Petruzzelli said.

Sunday’s watch party also featured two adoptable Chihuahua mixes, coined the “chi-leaders.”