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Puppy Bowl VIII Referee Explains Rules Of The Game (VIDEO)


First Posted: 02/ 4/2012 3:41 pm Updated: 02/ 4/2012 3:42 pm

Dan Schachner, the official Puppy Bowl referee, sat down to explain the rules of the 8th annual Animal Planet Puppy Bowl. According to him, "the rules are a little looser than your regular NFL game."

Schachner's role as ref involves calling penalties, one of his favorites being "fouling of the field" or "premature watering of the lawn."

Beyond puppies, Puppy Bowl VII is also expected to feature 20 kittens, five pigs, one bird and "a few hamsters."

To learn about one fuzzy Puppy Bowl player who found a loving home, click here.

Every puppy seen on Puppy Bowl is available for adoption. If you're interested in adopting a dog in need of a home, visit Petfinder.com.

Need more puppies in your life? Check out the adorable photos below:

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  • Two Beagle puppies play as the American Kennel Club officials announce their annual list of the most popular dog breeds in the U.S January 27, 2010 in New York. (DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Puppies watch on at a police dog training base September 16, 2005 in Beijing, China. The dogs are trained by a police squad to learn identifying, catching, tracking and other skills. According to the Ministry of Public Security, there is an estimate of over 10,000 working police dogs in China. These dogs are divided into 30 kinds according to international conventions and are widely used in police work, rescue and military missions. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

  • A view of a puppy at the North Shore Animal League America's Tour For Life Pet Adoption Event on April 26, 2012 in New York, United States. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

  • A view of a puppy at the North Shore Animal League America's Tour For Life Pet Adoption Event on April 26, 2012 in New York, United States. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

  • Puppies just born by a sniffer dog sleep at a police dog training base September 16, 2005 in Beijing, China. The dogs are trained by a police squad to learn identifying, catching, tracking and other skills. According to the Ministry of Public Security, there is an estimate of over 10,000 working police dogs in China. These dogs are divided into 30 kinds according to international conventions and are widely used in police work, rescue and military missions. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

  • A Mastiff puppy rests during the XVIIIth International Dog exhibition on November 8, 2009 in Prague. (MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/Getty Images)

  • A three-day-old Labradoodle puppy is shown to the press at the Uri Bekman's 'World of Dogs' kennel in Pardesia, 30 kms north of Tel Aviv 07 December 2005. (YOAV LEMMER/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Three-day-old Labradoodle puppies nap at the Uri Bekman's 'World of Dogs' kennel in Pardesia, 30 kms north of Tel Aviv 07 December 2005. (YOAV LEMMER/AFP/Getty Images)

  • A seven week old Daschund cross puppy waits to be re-homed at the Cheshire Dogs Home on January 4, 2010 in Warrington, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

  • Three-year-old Galia suckles her first litter of six puppies on June 4, 2009 at the Barry Foundation Great St. Bernard breeding kennels in Martigny, Western Switzerland. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Two-week-old puppies play on June 4, 2009 at the Barry Foundation Great St. Bernard breeding kennels in Martigny, Western Switzerland. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Two-week-old Saint Bernard puppies play at the Barry Foundation breeding kennels in Martigny on June 4, 2009. The Saint Bernard dog was once the ubiquitous companion of monks at the monastery tucked 2,500m above sea level, guiding them through the Alps or helping them to rescue stranded or lost travellers in the snowy mountains. However, there are no longer any such dogs living permanently at the monastery these days. In fact, the monks decided five years ago to part ways with their pedigree breeding programme, as the work became too much for the four monks living permanently at the monastery to handle. The breeding kennels faced the risk of being shut permanently if not for a group of Swiss bankers and animal-lovers who set up the Barry Foundation to buy the breeding programme. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Two puppies play as American Kennel Club officials announce their annual list of the most popular dog breeds in the U.S January 27, 2010 in New York. (DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

  • A volunteer holds up a puppy that was born after its mother has been rescued from a truck, in an animal hospital in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 19, 2011. Chinese animal lovers mobilized by online calls for help blockaded a truck of hundreds of dogs being shipped off for food in a rare, permitted display of social action amid a broad crackdown on most kinds of activism. (AP Photo)

  • Nine Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies from a litter of 17 look out of their box in Nauen, 50 kilometers outside Berlin on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010. On Sept 28, and 29, 4 year old Ridgeback Etana had 17 puppies. All of them survived. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

  • Seven Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies from a litter of 17 look out of their box in Nauen, 50 kilometers outside Berlin on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010. On Sept 28, and 29, the 4 years old Ridgeback Etana had 17 puppies. All of them survived. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

  • A husky puppy is transported in a child's push chair, on a snowy street downtown Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Dec. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

  • A seven week old Border Collie puppy rests after frolicking with its sibblings in their garden as outdoors temperatures dropped below minus 10 degrees celsius in the village of Bodice on December 16, 2010. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

  • A seven-week old Border Collie puppy rests after a play with its siblings in their garden as outdoors temperatures dropped below minus 10 degrees celsius in the village of Bodice on December 16, 2010. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Six-month old Chihuahua puppies, Ellie, left, and Gulliver, right, nuzzle together at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in Methuen, Mass. Wednesday, June 15, 2011. The already adopted puppies, born without front legs, were fitted with wheels made by Eddie's Wheels of Shelburne, Mass. and are training to walk and run with them. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

  • Puppies run at a playground in the K9 school and hospital of the Middle East Kennel Cub at Nahr al-Kalb area, north of Beirut, on October 27, 2010. The Club, which is the largest in the Middle East, has more than 400 dogs and clients bring their pets to be trained, bred and hospitalized. (JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

  • In this handout image provided by Pucchin Dog's, 'Love-Kun', a 3-day old chihuahua puppy with heart-shaped markings is presented to the media with his brothers at Pucchin Dog's on August 6, 2009 in Odate, Akita prefecture, Japan. The new puppy is the brother of 2-year old chihuahua 'Heart-Kun' who was also born with a perfect heart-shaped marking on his back from the same parents. (Photo by Pucchin Dog's via Getty Images)

  • This photo provided by the Chicago Zoological Society shows 10 African wild dog puppies, six males and four females, huddling with their mother, Kim, at Brookfield Zoo in Broofield, Ill. (AP Photo/Chicago Zoological Society, Jim Schulz)

  • In this Thursday, May 19, 2011, photo, Bonnie, a basset hound, nurses her puppies at an animal rescue facility in South Knox County, Tenn. Bonnie and Clyde, the father of her puppies, are being cared for by At Risk Intervention animal rescue, after being saved from flood waters in Arkansas. (AP Photo/The Knoxville News Sentinel, Paul Efird)

  • Two adopted stray dogs play at an animal shelter on December 15, 2006 in the outskirts of Xian of Shaanxi Province, China. The animal shelter, established by Chinese animal lover Dai Shuqing, is located at an abandoned warehouse which houses some 100 dogs and costs over 2,000 yuan (about US $255) per month. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

  • Golden Retriever puppies with their handlers as the American Kennel Club officials announce their annual list of the most popular dog breeds in the U.S January 27, 2010 in New York. (DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Susan Thomson holds a three-week-old Chihuahua puppy named Tom Thumb on April 7, 2009 in Renton, Scotland. An unofficial measurement taken by the owner makes Tom Thumb approximately 6 inches long. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

  • A dog suckles her puppies on February 16, 2009 at Halikisla village of Kars, eastern Turkey near the border with Armenia. (MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)

  • A six month old Weimaraner puppy guards his master during Slovakia's national canine all breeds competition in Banska Bystrica on 6 May 2007. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

  • Portuguese Podengo puppies are displayed for the media during the launch of the Crufts Dog Show Febuary 24, 2004 in London, England. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

  • A view of a puppy at the North Shore Animal League America's Tour For Life Pet Adoption Event on April 26, 2012 in New York, United States. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

FOLLOW HUFFPOST GREEN

Dan Schachner, the official Puppy Bowl referee, sat down to explain the rules of the 8th annual Animal Planet Puppy Bowl. According to him, "the rules are a little looser than your regular NFL game." ...
Dan Schachner, the official Puppy Bowl referee, sat down to explain the rules of the 8th annual Animal Planet Puppy Bowl. According to him, "the rules are a little looser than your regular NFL game." ...
Dan Schachner, the official Puppy Bowl referee, sat down to explain the rules of the 8th annual Animal Planet Puppy Bowl. According to him, "the rules are a little looser than your regular NFL game." ...
Dan Schachner, the official Puppy Bowl referee, sat down to explain the rules of the 8th annual Animal Planet Puppy Bowl. According to him, "the rules are a little looser than your regular NFL game." ...
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wildanimalover
09:46 PM on 02/07/2012
Since they use adoptable puppies, I think they should add a Doggie Bowl and get older dogs that need their forever homes. Puppies ALWAYS get adopted and there are so many adorable adult dogs that so need their forever homes.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
wildanimalover
09:44 PM on 02/07/2012
i love Puppy Bowl! I missed last year's (and the year before?) when the ref said 'unnecessary rrruuuufff ness!' I thought that was really cute.
12:10 PM on 02/07/2012
Even the Puppy Bowl /
has too many sports trappings /
for me to enjoy.

@suburbanhaiku
11:44 AM on 02/07/2012
Puppies rule, overpaid football players drool!! Yay puppies! Puppy Bowl is the best thing on TV.
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calogero
unrepentant liberal
12:40 PM on 02/05/2012
This is one of the most real "Reality" shows on t.v. .No pretense that it is anything other than a program with dogs as STARS.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
grayshrimp
10:35 AM on 02/05/2012
There's no mention of the kitten half time show! Do they still do that?
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Mustang Marine
I'm a cheap date, but an expensive pet.
10:00 AM on 02/05/2012
While I applaud the aim (adoption), I cannot help but wonder just how much further American television "entertainment" can fall.

Oh, well, if you don't like it, you don't have to watch it!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
summer261987
if only~~
08:56 AM on 02/05/2012
really hard to concentrate on what he says with all the cuteness around! XD
bebecca
liberal atheist in KY
08:41 AM on 02/05/2012
This was filmed in Oct, hopefully most of these animals already have found pemanent homes.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
MissTake1989
Equal means equal, hypocrites.
06:31 AM on 02/05/2012
Look at all of the wanna-be Mike Vicks.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
KJLSanDiego
12:41 AM on 02/05/2012
OH MY GAH HOW DO I GET THIS JOB?????
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Candide33
I heart Bernie Sanders
12:27 AM on 02/05/2012
I LOVE IT! I would much rather watch puppies play anyway.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Attilatheblond
Prefers tortilla chips to crackers
12:04 AM on 02/05/2012
My cat actually sat and watched most of the Puppy Bowl last year. I took pictures as we figured no one who knew the killer cat would believe it.
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
09:14 PM on 02/04/2012
Neither one of my cats give a hoot, one way or the other! :-)
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Devilslakewoman
Flaming Liberal
09:30 PM on 02/04/2012
Ha! Mine's a sofaback, and occasionally, between yawns, makes snide comments when those woosie puppies punt 'n piddle.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Devilslakewoman
Flaming Liberal
09:40 PM on 02/04/2012
Well, dagnabbit, I meant 'wussies'...or 'wusseys'...or ??)
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
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10:53 PM on 02/04/2012
A sofaback!

Nice.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
robiform
if you're commenting, you DO care!
11:40 PM on 02/04/2012
But there is a kitten halftime show! Which in many cases is more entertaining than the Super Bowl halftime show!
08:57 PM on 02/04/2012
How this show made it to 8 years is beyond me.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
Devilslakewoman
Flaming Liberal
09:24 PM on 02/04/2012
And may every step you take in the dark be squishy, preferably steamingly so.

["Woofs," and a "Fffhhhhhhhttt!" from the fur-faces around my hearth.]
11:05 AM on 02/05/2012
Did i offend you and your Mangy Mutts? Too bad.