Dogs do, in fact, watch and enjoy TV!
Canine companions don’t just watch television. According to the boffins at Auburn University, there are things they do and don’t like about it, based on their unique personalities.
The US study, which was published in Nature Scientific Reports, surveyed around 500 dog owners, of which 88% said their dog often watched television.
Herding dogs (e.g. collies and cattle dogs) were the most commonly represented breed group, followed by sporting dogs (e.g. labradors, golden retrievers and spaniels).
Owners were questioned on their dog’s general TV habits, the average number of seconds their dog would attend to the TV at a time, the kinds of reactions the dog would exhibit and how impulsive their dog was.
They were also specifically asked to evaluate how their dogs responded behaviourally to seeing humans, other dogs, non-dog household pets, non-household animals and inanimate objects on TV.
While television engagement was not influenced by exposure to TV or the dog’s sex, breed group or age, some measures of temperament did impact dog engagements.
“Notably, [Dog Television Viewing Scale] scores were best explained by components related to the types of stimuli (animals, inanimate objects) present on the television and the types of behaviour the dog exhibited (following behaviours, stationary behaviours),” the researchers wrote.
“Furthermore, measures of certain temperament traits assessed by dog owners, namely excitement and negative reactivity, were predictive of component scores.
“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.”
This humble Back Page scribe can confirm that her parent’s dog, Lumpy Frank, has been known to enjoy watching horse dressage of an evening.
Horses are the only stimuli to which she responds.
Is Frank hiding her equine heritage?
The running theory is that Frank believes she too is a horse and is practising her serpentines and footwork in secret.
She is a notably stupid animal, but sweet nonetheless.
If you would like to study the viewing habits of Lumpy Frank, email Holly@medicalrepublic.com.au.
