Dan Schachner is a professional referee whose main job hazards include getting bitten and peed on.
For 13 years, Schachner, 49, has been the ref for the “Puppy Bowl,” the annual event that happens on Super Bowl Sunday before the big game.
(It will be simulcast 2 p.m. Feb. 11 across Animal Planet, Discovery, TBS, truTV, Max and Discovery+.)
“The most challenging part of the job is coming up with different ways to say the same thing,” Schachner, who is based in Brooklyn with his wife and teen sons, told The Post.
“You know how the Eskimos have 50 different words for snow? We have a million different ways to say ‘piss interference,’ ‘fertilizing the field.’ So, coming up with new and interesting calls is definitely a challenge.”
During the Puppy Bowl, untrained puppies on Team Ruff and Team Fluff face off in a chaotic skirmish – all in an effort to get them adopted by viewers (they have a 100% adoption rate, Schachner said).
This year’s Puppy Bowl will feature 131 dogs from 73 shelters and rescues, representing 36 states and territories.
Dan Schachner talks about the challenges of being the Puppy Bowl ref. WireImage Ref Dan Schachner takes the field during the Puppy Bowl. Animal Planet/Damian Strohmeyer Raine, one of the puppies up for adoption in the 2024 Puppy Bowl. Warner Bros. Discovery Ref Dan Schachner makes a call. Animal PlanetAnd, for the first time, Schachner himself is even adopting a furry family member – a puppy named Whistle, who will be his assistant referee during the big game.
He said that he constantly needs to be ready for anything.
“You’re watching untrained puppies on a field with chew toys. So you’re constantly being surprised,” he said. “I’ve seen dogs leap a foot and a half in the air, when I didn’t think they could. I’ve had dogs decide to opt out of playing, and just hang out snoozing. I’ve had dogs that decided to jump off the field and into a camera man’s lap.
“I’ve had dogs put their little snouts in my pocket and steal my penalty flag … we’re constantly on our feet.”
The field is the size of “a large living room,” he said, and the Puppy Bowl requires a 100-person crew that includes camera and lighting techs, as well as a team of animal wranglers and vets.
“It is a tremendous operation,” he said.
Ref Dan Schachner calls a touch down. Animal PlanetAmong the 131 dogs, “We can’t have more than eight to 10 on the field at once. So, subs are coming in all the time. If a dog seems too tired or too rambunctious, we’ll sub them out,” he explained.
As for penalties, he said he lost count of how many he gives per game.
“A lot of the [penalties] will not get shown. There’s two penalties, and we will throw the flag for it, but they often get edited out [of the footage],” he said. “Because, if we stopped to show them, the game would be six hours instead of three. One is for excessive cuteness. That’s called all the time. And there’s a penalty for hydration of the field, piss interference, tinkle on the twenty …”
Puppies competing during the Puppy Bowl. Strohmeyer/Animal Planet/Splash Dan Schachner with puppies. Getty Images Dee Dee, one of the puppies up for adoption in the 2024 Puppy Bowl. Warner Bros. DiscoverySchachner said that he is “neutral” for the actual Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
“In past years, I go for whichever is animal-themed. So if the Lions had made it in, I would have been all for the Lions,” he said. “This year [the teams] are both red. Dogs can’t really see red. If I’m a dog watching the Super Bowl and both teams are red, dogs are partly color blind. Red’s not on their spectrum.
“So, they can’t tell the difference.”
