Puppy Bowl's Levi and Moosh adopted by Rockbridge County woman
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
FAIRFIELD — Cassandra Harding has adopted the MVP of the big game Sunday. No, she does not have Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes living in her Fairfield home. She does, however, have Moosh, the MVP of Puppy Bowl XX, living there.
Moosh, a miniature American shepherd, was one of the 131 puppies from 36 states and territories who took part in the annual game that features dogs looking to be adopted. This year's game featured not only the smallest puppy to ever take part in the game, Sweetpea, at 1.7 pounds, but also the largest, Levi, a Great Dane, who was 72 pounds at the time the game was recorded in October.
Oh, and that Great Dane, he is also living with Harding in Rockbridge County. She adopted two dogs from this year's game. Harding is a trainer with Green Dogs Unleashed, a non-profit animal rescue based in Troy, which is located in Fluvanna County. The rescue rehabilitates dogs and trains them to become therapy dogs.
In March, Green Dogs will expand to Waynesboro, and Harding will be the trainer for this area.
Green Dogs was invited to send eight puppies to this year's Puppy Bowl, which was actually played and recorded in October in New York, but not aired until Super Bowl Sunday when it's traditionally seen on Animal Planet. Four handlers had to accompany the dogs and Harding was one of them.
"I fell in love with Levi," Harding said. "I was handling Levi, he's the Great Dane. Ultimately, after Puppy Bowl, I decided to adopt Levi."
Levi is now 9 months old, is about 32 inches at the withers, and weighs 130 pounds. Harding expects him to top out at about 175 pounds. She is training him to be a service dog.
Then, when voting started for MVP, Harding's boyfriend fell in love with Moosh. The couple already had four dogs, including Levi, but he asked Harding if they could handle a fifth dog. She was all for it.
"I'll adopt all the dogs, I don't care," Harding said.
Three weeks ago they adopted Moosh, who is hearing impaired. Green Dogs specializes in deaf and blind dogs, Harding said. She said Green Dogs wants to show that hearing-impaired and sight-impaired dogs can be great pets.
"The purpose of Puppy Bowl is to get these dogs out in front of people and have them fall in love and ultimately adopt them," Harding said. "It kind of worked just like that in our household."
This was Harding's first trip to Puppy Bowl, but luckily two of the handlers that she accompanied had done it before. Harding said a lot is going on, with cameras and lights.
"They have you take off leashes and collars, so you really don't have a lot of control," she said. "You have to really use your handling skills and food and treats and stuff."
They were there for four days, staying in an Airbnb and trying to manage eight dogs.
"I said it's like childbirth" Harding said. "It's exhausting and amazing all at the same time. I swore I would never do it again when it was over, but I'm already ready to do it again next year."
More: Auctioneers, health emergencies, and a housing insecurity exhibit: THE DIGEST
— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Puppy Bowl: Mini American shepherd, Great Dane adopted by Fairfield woman
