The teams lined up and the umpire called play. In a matter of seconds it was clear that not all the athletes understood the rules of Pup Match. The “historic” game brought Shuntae Todd, a former member of the national women’s cricket team, to the pitch.

She patiently threw out ball after ball expecting the nine specially selected players to go racing after them. Instead, they dodged them, they danced around them; some of them stared at them, and begged for treats.

All except Sammy the Slugger. Sporting a red and blue bandana, the six-year-old cocker spaniel willingly took on a leadership role with team Duch Pops, after its captain Armani was sidelined by an injury.

Their pack of four went head to head with the five dogs in team PadsPass led by Peru, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Although much-hyped as a superstar, the one-year-old avoided Ms Todd’s bowls and instead scurried around the ring in his blue and blue bandana yapping to his team which included Saffron, a 12-year-old whippet.

The excuse given in a YouTube video of the event by his human, Lauren Anders Brown: a favourite stuffed toy, a red lobster that usually pushed him to greatness, was lost days before the inaugural event at WindReach Bermuda on June 22.

The dogs had come lured by promises of treats from their adoring humans who stood and watched as they happily ran around off-leash. Eileen Thorne, the event “pupire”, made sure the animals were safe.

A professional dog trainer and behaviour consultant, she practices animal-assisted therapy, teaches puppy and obedience classes, and is a consultant with the SPCA.

“Dogs use a lot of body language to protect [their] space,” she said.

Those cues aren’t always picked up on when there is a group of dogs, if dogs are meeting for the first time or if a dog is unwell or stressed for any reason.

“It's just watching all that body language when we take our dogs out in public. And the big thing when we go into Pup Match, is that we are watching that all the players on both teams are respecting everybody's cues, that there's a lot of communication and respect both ways,” Ms Thorne explained.

“I'm also looking for if the excitement gets too much. If there's some chest bumping happening, or maybe I feel like there needs to be an interruption, I'm going to step in.

“I might call them out, and maybe give them a little break ― a little belly rub or something like that.”

The excitement level was equally high at Boats ‘n’ Barks off Crow Lane, where a group of golden retrievers battled it out over the Crown & Anchor table.

There was specially made “Kong stew” and bottles of Woffstel “beer” for thirsty players.

Kate Terceira, the executive director of WindReach, said that events like Pup Match were “really exciting” as they helped introduce the ten-acre campus to a new audience.

“WindReach enriches the lives of people with diverse support needs. When we're able to rent out our facility for events, the rental income allows us to continue providing our programmes here, and also [pay for] the upkeep of the facility,” she said. “It shows how our facility is inclusive of people and different animals.”

In the end, even with a dog down, Duch Pops took the trophy with a score of five.

It wasn’t a complete walkover. The judges gave PadsPass members Peru and Cici, a seven-year-old Corgi, two points each for cuteness. A fifth point was given to a three-year-old cockapoo, Sammy not the Slugger, because the judges liked his “dance moves”.

That the point went unaccounted for remains a hot topic. Also interesting for Ms Brown is that Peru’s missing lobster reappeared after the match.

“I don't want to say it was sabotage, but the fact that the lobster went missing just before Pup Match is just a little too suspicious,” she said. “Of course, now he's absolutely fine and back to fetching. But that day was really traumatic for him to not have his red lobster.

“But all the pups did so well … They worked so hard. They were such good boys and girls.”

• For more on PadsPass, visitpadspass.com. Learn about Duch Pops atduchpopsbermuda.comand for WindReach Bermuda, windreachbermuda.org