The personality of your pet pooch could well be affecting how they respond to TV shows, according to new research, and the findings may prove useful in informing the care and training of our animal companions.
A team from Auburn University in Alabama identified 453 dog owners whose canine pals had expressed an interest in the TV. Data on this behavior was gathered through questionnaires distributed to the owners.
Dogs with more excitable personalities were more likely to follow on-screen objects, while those assessed as being more fearful or anxious were more likely to respond to non-animal stimuli on screen, such as doorbells or cars.
“These results suggest that television viewing habits may be predicted by aspects of a dog’s personality and that dogs may represent objects in the 2D television format similarly to the 3D environment,” write the researchers in their published paper.
Related: Are Dogs Replacing Babies in Countries With Declining Birth Rates?
How dogs perceive what’s being shown on television in relation to events in the real world isn’t clear. The few studies that do exist are rather limited in terms of sample size and scope.
As a group, the dogs represented in the study were far more likely to respond to other animals on screen than objects such as cars. Canine watching sessions tended to average out at just over 14 minutes, the researchers also found.
The study also noted several factors that didn’t make a difference to dog viewing habits, which included age, sex, and breed. How long a dog was exposed to TV didn’t seem to make a difference to their responses to it either.
What’s more, there was little difference between auditory and visual stimuli, the researchers found. In other words, the type of stimuli (such as a dog or a car) was much more important than whether it was seen on TV or just heard.
“Further evaluation of these behaviors could result in appropriate application of television interventions in shelters based upon individual dog temperament, maximization of the utility of television programming as an enrichment tool for companion dogs, and screening of television programming that could be a potential stressor for companion dogs,” write the researchers.
It’s worth bearing in mind that the study concentrated on dogs that actually showed an interest in television in the first place, and relied on reports from owners, making it more difficult to expand these results to dogs in general.
However, the Dog Television Viewing Scale (DTVS) developed by the researchers certainly shows promise as a way of better assessing what dogs are thinking about when they watch television. It can now be used to gather more data about canine viewing habits.
Together with earlier studies, the new research adds some much-needed understanding to what dogs think about the TV, and the shows you choose to put on. With networks for dogs already up and running, it seems fair to look into what they’d prefer to watch.
“These results inform toward the perceptual experience of companion dogs and potential dog welfare interventions,” write the researchers.
“In practice, engagement with television could provide dogs with an enriching, meaningful experience.”
The research has been published in Scientific Reports.
