Dan Schachner, the official referee of Animal Planet’s “Puppy Bowl,” talks about his journey into animal advocacy and what fans can do to help shelter pets find homes.
How did you first get into animal advocacy?
Growing up, I had several types of pets — not just dogs, but hamsters, goldfish, and parakeets — so I’ve always loved animals. In college, I was kind of going through a turbulent time and couldn’t have a pet, but when I moved to New York and settled in, I landed my first job for a show called “Your Pet Wants This,” all about the latest pet gadgets and tech at the time. At the same time, I was cultivating a career as a television host and broadcaster, so when Animal Planet asked for an audition video about the “Puppy Bowl” referee position, it felt like the perfect home for me. I got the job, and here I am 16 years later.
What does being the face of the “Puppy Bowl” mean to you?
I do take a bit of issue with people saying I’m “the face of the ‘Puppy Bowl’” because if you look at all the posters, it’s dogs first, as it should be! But if we qualify it and say I’m the human, then I’m OK with that. You need at least one human to deal with all the literal and metaphorical fouls, but being the only human does come with a lot of pressure. To the untrained 150 puppies, I’m just an obstacle. The behind-the-scenes secret is that nothing is fabricated; it just takes a lot longer to film than the three-hour event you see on Puppy Bowl Sunday. We have special needs dogs, senior dogs, new puppies, even kittens, and our goal is to highlight everyone doing their best so we can get as many pets adopted as possible. It’s been the thrill of a lifetime, and it gets better every year.
What is the preparation mindset that you get into before filming?
You have to be in good shape, because the entire event is about a week-long filming schedule, wrangling 150 dogs in rotations of 10-15 to film different sections of the game. Besides myself, there’s a 100-person crew, and our viewers really take the entire game seriously. I want to do the best job that I can, so I have to be mentally and physically sharp. I’m almost 6 feet tall, and most of the players are at most 2 feet tall, so there’s a lot of bending down!
Why is it so important to spotlight adoptable animals on such a large scale?
Adoption and advocacy for rescues have been part of every show that I’ve ever done with Animal Planet. The animal overpopulation problem in this country is not solved, so unfortunately, for every dog that’s adopted, there are possibly two or three still in a shelter. We highlight just a little bit of background on each puppy to give you their story from the beginning to being on the playing field, and by doing this, we have found that every rescue we work with reports not just an uptick in adoptions, but also in donations and advocacy. I always say, if you can’t adopt, you can foster. If you can’t foster, you can donate. If you can’t donate, you can volunteer. And if you can’t do any of that, you can at least repost a dog in need. There’s always something we can do.
What advice do you have for someone bringing a new rescue into their home?
The best thing you can do is establish a routine from day one. Dogs are creatures of habit. Even if you don’t have a strict routine for yourself, do it for the dog. Rescues are coming from the chaos of a shelter or even worse, so the sooner they see they’re in a structured home where they know what’s happening, the sooner they’ll feel like they’re in a safe place.
