Cheering on the four-footed, tail-wagging Puppy Bowl players doesn’t usually mean we’ll be leaping up from the couch after a nerve-wrackingly close play or telling our televisions our truest feelings about our team’s last move.

But there are plenty of “ahhhs” delivered, and a few “soooo cutes” squealed during the duration of Puppy Bowl, which makes sweet sense: The annual scruffy showdown is all about precious pups “scrimmaging” with each other while romping around a petite field packed with toys.

Puppy Bowl XXII raises a happy howl Feb. 8, but before the televised Animal Planet showdown adorably arf-arfs, pooch people will have a few opportunities to hobnob with Fidos at Bowl-themed bashes.

A Puppy Bowl Tailgate Party will tug heartstrings at Best Friends Animal Society’s Pet Adoption Center in West LA Feb. 7.

The afternoon happening is all about giving visitors the chance to maybe “meet your future MVP” and get to know some of the sweethearts currently being cared for by shelter staff and volunteers.

And the good feelings are going even further: The people at Puppy Bowl XXII are taking care of Best Friends adoption fees, at centers in LA and beyond, from Feb. 2-9.

Leo and Remy, two Puppy Bowl pup-letes, are seen taking a little well-deserved downtime. (photo: Helen Woodward Animal Center)

If you are going further afield Feb. 7, you may have the opportunity to meet two paw-some Puppy Bowl players.

The Helen Woodward Animal Center will stop by Raising Cane’s in Mira Mesa with a pupful purpose: To spotlight Remy and Leo, two Puppy Bowl players who hail from the San Diego area.

(The pups’ full names, because you should know ahead of time, are Sir Remington Fluffypoo Esquire II and Leonardo de Barky.)

If you want to meet Remy & Leo, be sure to stop by the Mira Mesa event Feb. 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; you’ll also get to say hello to Petunia, who played in the 2025 Puppy Bowl.

There’s a Feb. 8 tailgate party, too, at McGregor’s Bar & Grill in Mission Valley.

A cornhole competition is also afoot at the Feb. 8 gathering, if you want to display your cornhole-based skills.

While Remy & Leo won’t be in attendance Feb. 8, you’ll be able to cheer them on as they go whisker-to-whisker in Puppy Bowl XXII; the Helen Woodward Animal Center fundraiser is also a watch party.

By the by, this is the seventh Puppy Bowl appearance for Helen Woodward Animal Center animal alumni, making it a true powerhouse for powerhounds bound for this elite and sweet face-off.