Many have claimed that their dogs watch television and some dogs do sit and appear to watch the set for short or long periods of time. While there is no way to be absolutely certain if they are watching what is on the television many companies have been quick to jump on the bandwagon and have DVDs on the market that are specifically geared towards your dog’s television programming tastes.
A few years ago, it was very unlikely that your dog was actually watching the program on your television. Traditional television sets had an image renewal rate of 50-60 Hz which is similar to human vision’s flicker fusion rate. This means that to the human eye there is never a pause, it just fuses together into a seamless motion. Dogs have a higher flicker fusion rate of 70-80 Hz. This means that they actually see each frame of the show. This means it was like watching something in extreme slow motion which would not be very attention grabbing for most dogs or people. LCD televisions, and especially high definition sets, have an image renewal rate that can be as high as 100 Hz or more which means that your dog can now enjoy seamless viewing too. Yet people have believed that their dogs enjoyed watching television with them for many years, a lot longer than high definition television has been around.
To make the situation even more complicated, different breeds of dogs have different visual abilities. Some breeds such as Labrador retrievers and other hunting dogs have better vision than some other breeds. Many small dogs are near-sighted while other breeds such as sighthounds are far-sighted. No studies have been done that identify if there is a higher predilection among certain breeds for watching television than others; at least not so far. No studies have identified some programs as being more attractive to dogs than others either. Based strictly on their owner’s comments, a dog’s taste in television shows can be as diverse as a human’s.
You have to wonder if they sit beside us staring at the screen wondering why we want to stare at the screen but eager enough to fit in that they are willing to do it too; especially if they don’t see what we see on the screen. Now, unless your television is on mute, they can definitely hear what transpires and identify the source of the sounds. Maybe that is the attraction.
Some dog owners leave dog-oriented DVD programs or channels such as Animal Planet on for their pets while they are away. This does seem to help dogs that suffer from mild separation anxiety. Shows with normal household and neighborhood sounds can also help young puppies adjust to noises they will hear in their day to day lives. DVDs with frightening sounds such as the vacuum can also be used to desensitize the animal. You start by showing the DVD of the vacuum on mute and gradually, over a period of days, increase the volume until it is at a normal sound level for that particular appliance. Sound effect CDs have been used with a similar effect when coupled with positive experiences for dogs with fear issues.
DVDs geared towards canine viewers tend to feature short segments (3-6 minutes) of grassy fields, bouncing balls, tummy rubs and other fun activities. Apparently they work best when the television is at the dog’s eye level. It is still unknown what the appeal is for the dog though. When your dog sits with you and watches television, chances are good that you don’t watch a doggy DVD. Yet, they still sit and watch.
Many report that they put the television on while cooking and can leave the room and come back to find the dog watching, so it can’t just be to keep people company, can it? But why does a dog like watching Oprah?
If your pet enjoys watching the television, there is no real harm in it. This does not mean you should just turn it on and leave them staring at it for hours. Dogs need exercise and interaction with people for their mental and physical health. Being a couch potato isn’t good for either one of you.
In the end, there is no way of knowing why they watch television or even if they are actually watching the pictures or just trying to understand why it emits noises and what those noises mean. Some likes seem obvious, a retriever that likes to watch nature shows about animals seems logical. The poodle that enjoys Downton Abbey might be harder to explain.
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