No more bored pets – special TV shows keep them happy

People love their dogs and the feelings are warmly reciprocated. But what happens when the owners go to work…guilty humans, lonely dogs. Now there is a dedicated cable TV channel in America, with movies made specifically for your dog’s watching pleasure.

Originally conceived in Israel and now sweeping the USA, Dog TV offers the answer to the problem of what happens to a pet when it is left all alone while you’re at work. As one expert commented; ”Dogs are the most companionable of all animal species, they crave company and socialisation and when they are left on their own for long periods of time, often indoors, they either become lethargic and just lie around, or they find things to amuse themselves, which are more often than not destructive. You can’t blame your pet for trying to find stimulation.”

According to Dr. Nick Dodman, director of the Animal Behavior Clinic in Department of Clinical Sciences at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in Massachusetts, many pet owners leave the TV or radio on when they go out so their pets have company.

However, research with analogue TV indicated that dogs could only see a flickering screen. Now digital TV, high-definition cameras, and enhanced production have changed the way dogs perceive the images, while big screens allow them to see from anywhere in a room.

Because dogs’ senses differ from those of humans, the producers have made colour adjustments to allow for dogs’ red/green colour blindness; have muted the sound and added music specially written for dogs. The experts say that dogs definitely recognise and react to sounds so the audio is tailored to avoid disturbing sounds like gunshots, explosions and high frequency sounds.

DogTV offers an eight-hour block of on-demand cable TV programming which is changed regularly to provide variety. Top of Form

Based on dogs’ sleeping pattern studies, programmers alternate footage and soundtracks designed for stimulation, relaxation and exposure throughout the eight hours. Relaxation segments feature sleeping dogs and nature scenes, accompanied by dog lullabies. Stimulation includes dogs running, playing and surfing, animation and a lot of panting. The idea behind this part of DogTV is to get a dog moving, even if it is home alone.

And what about cats? Feedback from pet owners in USA indicates that there is a market for CatTV and this may be the next development.

The only thing they haven’t worked out yet is how to get dogs working the remote!

If your dog is spending a lot of time in front of the TV, you’ll want to make sure they’re well insured – learn more here.