Superbowl Fun For Dogs & Non-Football Fans: It's Called Puppy Bowl!

As many of you know, I'm not much of a football fan. My husband and my dogs have always loved football, but not me.

To give you an idea...
During last night's Superbowl, Jim asked:

Isn't Tom Brady dating Jessica Simpson?

To which I replied:

NO... Jessica Simpson was dating Tony Romo! Now quit asking me all these football questions, would ya?

Yes, that is the extent of my football knowledge, folks.

So anyway... last night before, during, and after Superbowl XLII, I channel-surfed over to Animal Planet and watched some of Puppy Bowl IV with my dog.

Here's how that went. [Hint: too cute!]

Tenor (my dog) thoroughly enjoyed the Puppy Bowl on TV.

In fact, I even thought about recording it, so I could replay my homemade version of Dog TV for him at other times. (But I didn't.)

It was at the point where I noticed my dog was snoring, that I was forced to come to grips with the fact that I may have enjoyed Puppy Bowl a bit more than Tenor did. I thought he was just hunkering down for a long night of doggie football watching. But no... (I woke him up here.)

That's okay though. I still managed to snap a few photos of my dog enjoying this doggie version of the Superbowl...

The Best Part About Puppy Bowl: The Fouls!
Yep, there's a referee in a black & white striped uniform -- armed with a whistle -- and he's not afraid to use it.

If you've never seen Puppy Bowl (this is the 4th year it has aired on Animal Planet). It goes something like this: A half-dozen or so puppies of all shapes and sizes enter the field one by one. (It's actually an astro-turfed play area that's painted with football line markings.) Below the dogs' mugshots, you see their name, breed, and habits or hobbies. (Yep) Then, the whistle is blown and all dogs are simply encouraged to play.

Of course, you've got your 'chasers' and your 'nippers' and your 'humpers' and your 'toy-stealers' and your 'water bowl protectors'. But it's all fun & games until the referee blows his whistle for things like:

Unnecessary roughness = one puppy playing too rough with another

Interference = dog pee or poo on the field

Out of Bounds = a dog has taken a toy off the green mat

Puppy Foul = anything one dog does that is cute, but not fair to the rest

Puppy Infraction = too much humping

And of course, a Puppy Touchdown is when a dog takes a football shaped toy into the endzone and winds up anywhere near the big yellow field goals. And yes, they have 'instant replays'...