Can Dogs Watch TV?

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My five year old daughter wants to know if her dog can watch TV. (Sinna Sordillo - California)
Many people claim that their dogs watch TV. A lot of these dogs will actually follow the movement of objects moving around the screen and may also bark. However, the dog does not interpret the television the same way we do. The dog cannot determine what any object on the screen actually is. For example, if we can see a video of a dog running around a field, your dog will see a dark object moving around the screen and this may grab his attention and make him "watch".
The sounds of the television are also likely to gain the attention of the dog, and because they can pinpoint the directional origin of any sound they hear, they will naturally look at the TV. Most dogs, however, will differentiate between the sounds of, for example, a dog barking on TV and a real dog barking. Although unapparent to us, there will be a distinct difference which will render the TV version unimportant to your dog. Remember also, that the dog's most important sense, that of smell, is not present in television and may affect his reaction to stimuli such as the TV that is lacking scents.
My dog watches TV, too. The only time he perks up is when there is another dog on the screen. Also, when we play home videos of my Dad's dog (whom our dog LOVES), he goes crazy...
I have to disagree, I have a 5 year old pug that watches t.v only when an animal pops on screen, be it a real one or a cartoon, he will bark and growl at it follow it off screen and will search for it behind the t.v
Im not sure if that is the case i have a staffordshire bull terrier and i was reserching why my dog likes to watch tv. thats how i got here. it will sit and bark at the tv so i turn it on in the morning and likes to watch childrens tv (cartoons ect). but when the kids get up she wont even bother with tv all the time they are there. once they have gone school back to tv. she even trys to sit like a person lol its very funny to watch ill take some pics. Maybe ill send her school to.....
I have had a different experience with one of my dogs, a standard poodle. She will go crazy when she sees animals on the TV and will look behind the TV. Even if there are no sounds from the TV. In addition, she will get excited when she saw a video of my jetski, which she likes to ride. None of my other dogs have reacted to TV.
I had an Irish Setter who reacted very strongly whenever a dog was on TV, running to the back of the TV looking for the dog. We first noticed it when we were watching a dog movie. Then it got to when ever there was a dog on TV. If he was in another room and heard a dog barking on TV he would run in the room and stick his face up to the screen and watch it and then run to the back of the TV to try to find it. Where ever he was in the house, if we saud "puppies on TV" he came running into the room and stuck his face in the tube.
I have to completely disagree with that answere. I have three dogs,two muts and a pure bred Rott, and have noticed that the mutts could care less about what is on tv. However, the Rott perks up and watches the screen when dogs are on. I've put shows with other animals on, he doesn't react the same. I've also shown dogs on screen with the volume completelty off, and he still picks them out. So to say it's because of the sound can't be true, and if it were simply dark figures moving across the screen, why wouldn't he react to a car, horse, cat, or any of the many other moving objects on tv? It may be true that not all dogs watch tv, but to say that all dogs can't decifer whats on the screen seems to me to be untrue.
Maybe it is just the movements and sound that attract a dog to the tv, but my female yellow lab is obsessed with the movie Bolt and Animal Planet lol.
It's a lie! My bulldog loves Dr.Who!! (he also leans a bit to the left politically, but we've agreed to not discuss religion or politics at the dinner or poker table)
I must also disagree. My 3 1/2 year old Scottie, Bailey watches TV religiously. As soon as I reach for the remote, he is perched in front of the screen. He watches drama, action, commercials and of course loves the Animal Planet. When an animal, dog, cat, buffalo, or whatever, happens to be on TV, he barks, growls, whines, and dashes to the window looking for the animal he sees on the TV. However, he hasn't always watched TV. We started to notice his TV watching behavior about a month or so ago. My husband told me the Bailey was watching TV and I thought he was joking. Well, low and behold, he was serious and right on point.
Bailey seems to like TV so much, that I put his booster seat in front of the TV so his neck doesn't get stiff from looking up so much. And now, when the TV comes on, he walks over and gets into he seat.
This morning my Siberian Husky/Golden Lab cross showed me that there is no doubt he can see clearly what is happening on an lcd screen.
I was at the computer, watching a video my wife made of me trying to teach the dog to retrieve one of two sticks where he has to differentiate between the two and retrieve the correct one. Anyway, he was lying on the floor on the other side of the room when I started the video. It was obvious that it was the sound of my voice that attracted his attention but he came over and started to watch. When I threw the stick, it landed off screen and his eyes not only followed the stick until it left the screen but he began looking for the stick under the computer desk right below where it would have landed if that were possible. If it were the sound of the stick landing that he was following, he would have looked at the speaker but he did not. He looked where he thought the stick should have gone.
This is only a 19" lcd screen and it is up on a desk so he was watching from an angle well below the level of the screen and his eyes were no closer than 2 feet from the screen.
I must also disagree. Our labradoodle not only gets very excited by videos of animals on our TV (even without sound), but she also gets excited by still pictures of dogs on the screen. I discovered this by accident when I hooked up my computer to our TV screen and she saw a photo of herself on my desktop. She mostly ignores the TV, but definitely notices when there are animals (especially dogs) on the screen. She starts jumping up to see the screen better, barking, and running to the room behind the screen, looking for the dog. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen it myself.
We have a 6 month old male Scottie and hes been watching the Westminster dog show each night, tonight on Comcast ON Demand - and I mean watching, very intensly, and very close (from a foot away) with 100% attention - reacting to each dog too - barking at various times He never EVER watches the TV for other shows. He's definitely intepreting the images as dogs - probably not unlike seeing a dog out our giant picture window who happens to be walking by, meaning smell is not an element
Seablood:
This sounds like a not-too-happy situation. You need to become the 'Pack Leader', claim the TV, etc. as yours and let your pet watch at YOUR convenience.
We've gotten a lot of good info & techniques from watching "Dog Whisperer". That guy, Cesar, really knows (& loves), dogs. It's worth a look. Best wishes.
I have to disagree. My dog seems to recognize the difference between people and animals on the tv, even with the sound off.
Not only that, but she will ASK me to turn the tv on, she sits in front of the tv in my office, starting at it, and then bark, look back toward the tv... until I turn it on for her.
I had a beloved German shepherd that would, once in a while, glance at the boob tube, but, for the most part, couldn't care less about what was on the tv. That is why I was so shocked when my new border collie took complete control of the living room, Tivo and all! Wolfie will actually nip on my toes every time I put my favorite news programs on instead of his favorite Animal Planet pet shows. I have a backlog of about 9 hours of my own favorite programming on the Tivo that Wolfie won't let me watch! I'm besides myself because I can't even watch the tv in the other room--he insists I be there with him watching America's Funniest Animals. I have video footage of him watching his shows, and they are hilarious ! But those animal shows can be tedious for a human after 10 straight hours. Help!
My dog Jinja certainly does watch TV.. not just when there are animals,still or moving but children too.. especially pocoyo..the little boy dressed in blue...Jinja jumps up at the tv screen and watches and turns her head side to side and wines when he talks because i assume she wants to lick him all over like she did with our live budgies..she loved them so much she misses them as when the first died she wined because she couldn't see him...she barks at the dogs and watches them move and jumps up and growls at them but the children distract her from play as she likes to listen to their voices...I have videos of Jinja watching tv..we just love to watch her for ages ..jinja is so amusing..we all love her to bits..
My 2 year old Bichon Frise does indeed watch TV, and when there is a dog, cat, lion, etc. on the screen, she starts growling and then runs up to the TV and starts jumping and barking until they disappear. She use to look around the TV to see where they went. Baby Girl will quiet down and sit and see if they are viewed again. The animals do not have to be moving or making any noise. Since she has been brought up around horses, when she sees one, there is no reaction from her. But she watches TV alot. I have two Bichons, the one year old could care less about TV.
My dog's attention was captured by a barking dog on TV. The dog ran off screen, at which point my dog got up and went behind the television looking. I will never believe that he wasn't "watching", even if only for a minute or so.
sorry, but i beg to differ. my female mongrel is able to "recognize" numerous commercials that have various animals in them. when she hears the commercial on tv, she comes running into the room.
she also sees not only other dogs and cats, but she sees various animals as well. she can also see animals that are shown in cartoon form. i've witnessed her growling at animals that are outlined only. this means she can easily identify the shapes on various animals and not because they were just movements on the screen.
she gets excited when people fight or argue on shows, she lays there and watches Law and Order, and she would actually growl at Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm.....(not that i blame her.)
she loves to watch kids on tv too. when she's laying down, her eyes are always on the tv. as i type she's growling at the dogs on The Dog Whisperer. in fact, her growling and carrying on gets so bad, i avoid channels with animals as much as i can.
Dr Glover:
I am afraid you are absolutely wrong with your statement "The dog cannot determine what any object on the screen actually is". We have a terrier who watches a significant amount of television, couple of hours a day minimum. He watches many things run by, flash by, pop in and out, but only until a dog is the object of the motion will he get excited and jump down and attack the television screen. He will sit motionless watching animals on television. People? He doesn't much care. Watches, but does not react. But should a dog, an angry, mean looking dog appear, he will get into his defensive posture, follow it on the screen, bark at it if necessary, and attack the screen. I will be happy to submit video to corraborate this. Our other dog, a collie, doesn't even know we have a television.
So, I respectfully disagree with your opinion. I have facts to prove otherwise.
Best wishes for an enjoyable 2009.
Scott K Lowe
Butler, PA
I have two dogs, and 8 yr old Jack Russell cross and an 8 month old pedigree foxie. We all watched the movie "Eight Below" on TV a month ago and my older dog has grown up with TV and seems to love watching it. He became very upset when in the movie mentioned above the huskey's get attacked by a Lion Seal and had to move away from the TV and was very distressed by the events that happened to the dogs on TV. I used to think he didn't really comprehend what was going on but now I think its different. Was interesting to watch but a bit disturbing as well.
I've watched my border collie pretty closely while he's sitting in the livingroom. For the most part he ignores the tv, but occasionally he'll see something that catches his eye. It is almost always a: 1)another dog 2)a horse 3) a cat
I know its not just the sounds because he ignores dog barks and such and only seems to care if a dog is doing something interesting, like diving or fetching (which are fun things for him to do).
I sat down and watched Babe with him once and he even cocked his head several times when the dogs talked to each other and seemed bothered when the sheep laughed. He took almost no interest in the pig, but he's never seen one in real life.
He only started taking interest in horses on tv after he met one.
To be fair, he's the smartest dog I've ever had and can even play the magic cup game (we hide his ball under 1 of 3 cups and move them around...sorta slow). I'd say he's above average for a dog.
Actually, a recent study showed that dogs can distinguish TV/computer images of dogs. A whole spread of breeds of them, even! However, without motivation (a treat) most dogs would ignore the images since they had no smell or interaction.
My Papillon can tell the difference between dogs & people on tv with the sound off. When she sees dogs she starts to bark, whine & chase her tail. It's the funniest thing.
My Westie watches tv and can distinguish between people and animals even when there is no sound! If he sees any animal on the screen, moving or sitting still, he will go nuts and bark at the tv. He can definately tell the animals from people!
One of my dogs, a Chihuahua/Feist/Beagle spayed 4 year old female mix, is the funniest, all legs little thing you've ever met! She is babysitter to the younger dogs who have come into our home and can understand complex comands like instead of having to break up telling her to get a toy, take it to her crate and then come back to me, I can just tell her the whole thing and she will do it. Our other dogs have trouble with that. Anyway, my point with this is, she reacts to certain things on TV. Namely, puppies or dogs in trouble. Mostly to the sound, yes. But there have been times when she has just reacted to a certain picture of a dog being up on the screen and it is only puppies and hurt dogs, when I watch the animal rescue shows. She doesn't react much when it is in a movie or TV drama if she reacts at all. She has been known to get up and put her paws and nose on the TV and to try to look around the other side for those puppies, but she's stopped looking for them after a few times. But just goes to show you never know what your dog will notice and what they won't! I still can't get her to sit!! She's too stubborn.
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I have a jack russell and everytime there is a dog on tv, wether it barks or not, he will get excited and run up to the tv and bark at it and jump up and down trying to play with it.