Welcome to the Moth. I'm Michelle Jalowski. It's that time of year when it feels like everyone is talking about football.

And whether you're a diehard fan, or you don't know the difference between a tush push and a flea flicker,

and yes, those are both real football phrases, the stories around the game are often just as fascinating and exciting as the game itself.

On this episode, two stories related to football that aren't about the game of football.

We're talking halftime shows, big game pageantry, and puppy bowls.

First up is Eliana Smith, who told this at a Philadelphia Grand Slam where the theme was making waves.

Here's Eliana, live at the mall.

I started fostering dogs or convinced my parents that we needed to start fostering dogs

when I was 12 years old. This quickly became my entire personality. And within the first year,

I had fostered over 40 different dogs.

And it was around then that I was presented with the Holy Grail of foster dogs.

Annabelle was about a year and a half old, and she was like a pity mix, very stereotypical, very sweet, and like, wanted to be all over you.

And she was very pregnant as well. So in a few short

weeks I would have five tiny puppies in my house at all times. And I was so excited. I learned

everything I could about early puppy development. Even in those first few days, exposing them

to the right things will determine what they're afraid

of and how emotionally stable they are later in their life.

It's really incredible.

So on the 4th of July, Annabel had not five, but 10 puppies.

And again, I'm 12 years old and I get to have 10 puppies in my lap at all times.

It's incredible.

And the first few weeks, they're not really doing much.

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