Prognosticating pooch picks Super underdog

And the dog picks . . . (drum roll, please) . . . the underdog.

Glen Cove resident Lady, a 14-year-old German shepherd-border collie mix, has correctly predicted the last six Super Bowl winners (yes, even the Giants).

Take that, Punxsutawney Phil.

The prognosticating pooch has a penchant for football and watches the big game every year with Paul Wisniewski, the cousin of owner Vera Von Wiren-Garczynski.

This year, Lady has tossed the New Orleans Saints a bone.

"A day or two before the Super Bowl, Vera walks the dog in a normal routine," said Wisniewski, 65, of Glen Cove. "At the end, you say to the dog, 'You want to come in?' If the dog isn't ready . . . it means the AFC is going to win. If the dog feels like going into the house . . . it's the NFC."

Though Von Wiren-Garczynski, 79, a retired professor of Russian literature and history at City College, isn't a huge football fan, it was her close relationship with Lady that spurred the tradition.

"I was walking Lady and a gentleman told me, 'You seem to be communicating with [her]," Von Wiren-Garczynski said. "He goes, 'Can she predict the Super Bowl?' . . . So I ask her sometimes. It's a joke, and so far, she's predicted OK."

On Friday night, Lady turned in after her walk, apparently too tired to go another round - a nod to the older, more established NFC. Or perhaps the dog that both Von Wiren-Garczynski and Wisniewski described as "very smart" has a soft spot for Drew Brees.

"I really bonded with her," said Von Wiren-Garczynski, who donates to local animal shelters and speaks fervently against animal cruelty. "I think I speak the dog language with her. When I look at her, it seems I can talk to her."

Perhaps appropriately, Von Wiren-Garczynski, who previously worked as a visiting scholar at Harvard and Columbia, speaks nine languages, including pre-Soviet Russian.

She retired in 1992. Four years later, Lady became her companion when Von Wiren-Garczynski saved the dog from a shelter. Lady likely was abused as a pup, her owner believes. The dog can be withdrawn with strangers, "but she'll sit and observe," she said.

"Lady feels," Von Wiren-Garczynski said. "Oh, yes, Lady feels. I'm ill, and she's very sensitive to my pain."

Lady and Wisniewski will watch today's game together while Von Wiren-Garczynski flits in and out of the room. They'll munch on cheese puffs, and mentions of Michael Vick will be kept to a minimum.

If all goes according to Lady, it'll be the Saints' turn to howl.