This Bucks County woman is head puppy whisperer for the ‘Puppy Bowl’

Every year around this time in the spectacle known as Puppy Bowl, over 100 incredibly cute baby canines run, romp, and tackle on a puppy-sized football field. One by one, the pups will gaze patriotically upward during “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Then puppies of the winning team will stand solemnly still for the presentation of the coveted Lombarky Trophy.

Meanwhile, the folks at home who can barely get their dogs to “sit” and “stay,” wonder: “How the heck do they do that?”

The answer is two words, one woman: Victoria Schade.

A Bucks County dog trainer, animal writer, and novelist, Schade has been Puppy Bowl’s secret weapon for the past 18 years. The Doylestown resident is the show’s lead puppy trainer and wrangler. With her behind-the-scenes know-how and supply of training treats and squeaky toys, the puppy whisperer manages to make the event appear seamless and fun. That’s true even this year with more puppies than ever in the bowl, including several special-needs pups.

» READ MORE: Meet the local puppies (and some kittens) starring in the Puppy Bowl

“I just love it to pieces,” she said.

To say she’s appreciated is an understatement.

“She’s always like the real lynchpin of the show,” said Simon Morris, Puppy Bowl’s showrunner and one of the producers. “She knows puppies. She’s very good at reading the stadium in terms of the dynamics all the time. She’s right there.”

For Schade, a big part of her job is keeping the puppies on the field happy and engaged in safe fun.

“It’s carefully observing body language. With puppies, what might look like fun can sometimes be a little bit of stress or being overloaded,” she said. “Much like a toddler, they don’t know when they need to take a break. They keep going and going. That’s when you start seeing inappropriate behavior.”

So that’s when Schade reaches in and benches that puppy for a little while.

But as important as her job is to Puppy Bowl, it’s not all glory. The whole crew is a team.

That includes dealing with “the piles and puddles” that often occur.

“We all pitch in,” she said. “Sometimes if I’m closest, I’ll run up and grab it. There’s no ego. We’re all there to help and get the best show possible.”

While Schade has always been an animal lover, she started in the corporate world in technology sales. But that lost its luster after a while.

“I was doing some introspection, ‘Where do I want to be? What’s important to me?’ And all of a sudden it was like lightning struck: ‘You should be a dog trainer!’”

That was over 20 years ago. Her family and friends thought she was nuts to give up a successful corporate career, but Schade believed there were opportunities and decided to pursue in-home dog training, capitalizing on her sales background. It took off.

Before long, she was writing about dog training. Her first book was Bonding With Your Dog. She was also blogging and writing for various online outlets. Then she started penning pet-oriented novels; her first was Life on the Leash. Writing is her career now — she no longer does private dog training.

And in the middle of all this training and writing 18 years ago, she began working with Puppy Bowl.

Early on, Schade was responsible for recruiting and selecting the puppies. Now, other people do that through rescues and shelters throughout the country as the roll call for Team Fluff and Team Ruff has grown every year.

The location has changed over the years, too. This year, the show was filmed over about a week in early October in an arena in Glens Falls, N.Y.

Falling in love with puppies is an occupational hazard of working Puppy Bowl, and Schade is not immune. In fact, she said, lots of the puppies over time have found homes with members of the crew. “That’s always one of my favorite parts.”

One year she was all set to adopt a scruffy-but-tenacious little pup named Tiddly only to learn she was already spoken for. “That was a heartbreak,” she said.

Schade says she has no favorite breed although she is partial to mutts and is a fan of pit bulls. Sadly, Olive, a 12-year-old white mixed breed that belonged to her and her husband, recently died, but their smooth Brussels griffon, Millie, age 13, is still with them.

Sarah Barnett, now executive of ACCT Philly, the city’s open intake animal shelter, said she met Schade at a Puppy Bowl when Barnett, then working for the Humane Society, was helping out as a handler. Over time, Schade has actively tried to advocate for rescues and dogs in need, even beyond Puppy Bowl. When it comes to caring, Schade is the real deal, she said.

“She’s helped foster dogs. She’s volunteered. She’s tried to bring awareness through her books about the importance of adopting,” Barnett said. “It’s nice to see someone who’s willing to do that.”

On Sunday, if you tune into Puppy Bowl XX, you will see Schade’s work even though you’ll see no trace of her.

Those puppies gazing up at the flag during “The Star-Spangled Banner?”

“I’m actually standing right next to the camera, holding a treat and doing my cute little encouraging voices to get that pup to hold still and look up with that gorgeous face,” Schade said.

And those puppy introductions as they run out of the tunnel look easy, right?

“It’s daunting,” the trainer said. “There’s lots of lights and silence and that little bit of dry ice. There’s this moment when they come to the edge and they’re like, ‘I don’t know what to do!’ So I’m literally on my hands and knees, going, ‘Hey, puppy! Come to me!’”

And somehow, they do, year after year.

“I’m training puppies on the field, and that’s the challenge,” Schade said. “But it’s the best week of the year, and I’m honored to be a part of it.”