That’s all. Do they?
I think the factual answer to this would have to be “Some do and some don’t.” My dog Dottie watches TV all the time, whether there are dogs or other animals on it or not. The others couldn’t care less, unless a TV dog barks or something, and even then they think it’s a real dog.
My dogs generally don’t watch TV unless a barking TV dog gets their attention. Then they may watch for awhile, especially if it’s a video of family members. The dogs think that a dog on TV is just like a dog outside a window – sometimes they will run to a window to try to get a better view of the TV dog. They bark & growl at TV dogs. Sometimes they will run back & forth across the room, chasing a running TV dog. They can get totally freaked if the camera zooms in on a TV dog, creating a giant dog.
Here’s a cool article I found, which may explain why some dogs are interested in television, and others aren’t. Dogs’ Eyes and some relevant parts:
And a little further on:
And anecdotal: My dog rarely paid attention to television, and I noticed the times he did, were initiated by something aural. Usually horses neighing or galloping. He was a long nosed dog, so him not really caring about the images makes a bit more sense after reading that article.
I had a small spaniel that was mostly indifferent to TV, but would react whenever there was an ape or monkey shown on a nature show. She went ballistic one time when an orangutan appeared in a Walkman ad.
Something about imitation humans, I guess.
Absolutely. I have a standard poodle. She goes crazy, running up to the TV and barks, when that black and white dog on the allergy commercial shows up on TV. I have to change the channel. Same thing happens when I put on Animal Planet. No question about it …
My parents’ Shih Tzu (as short a nose as there is outside the Pug) never gave the television a second thought, visually or aurally (great word). Though, his Shih Tzu-sized brain may have played a role here.
I have been assured by various dog “experts” that dogs can’t even see television pictures, let alone recognise their own kind. This is palpably nonsense - our dog barks at the television whenever there’s anything vaguely dog-shaped on it.
Experts don’t know jack. Barbara Woodhouse confidently asserted that dogs can’t bark while lying down. Hers may not have done, but mine certainly do!
The “black and white dog” is a Boston Terrier, the smartest and best behaved breed of knuckleheads in existence. Damn cute too.
Duchess doesn’t watch cartoons or sitcoms, but she does like reality programs and I am sure she watches daytime talk shows when The Wife and I are at work…
We’ll hold off on the smartest dog argument in this thread … truce?
Wow. I’m glad my little snookums isn’t alone (or weird).
She’s a mini-schnauzer – I’m not really sure if she would be considered short- or long-nosed; perhaps medium-nosed. She does the same thing – she doesn’t care about TV in general but will wake up and go sit in front of the TV if there is a dog on the screen. Sometimes she goes nuts (if the dog is running or barking) but normally she just watches. The other day, I actually felt bad about changing the station and started to wonder if other dogs did it as well.
and of course there was that recent work in which it was shown that some cats can see TV but not others, depending on the refresh rate of the screen.
Mind you these guys seem not to have noticed http://kittyshow.com/x_about_us.htm
Buster not only watches tv, he seems to enjoy it. Then again, he’s a boxer, so the short nose is there.
The only way he can see the tv, is by putting his head on the arm rest. Most of the time when we’re spending quality time on the couch, he’ll just snuggle up, but sometimes, things happen that catch his interest and then he’ll be in tv viewing mode for 15-30 minutes. I have no idea what his little doggie brain gets from it, but it must be something to keep his interest going for such a long stretch.
I’ve also noticed that he growls whenever he sees a horse on tv. He’s never seen a horse in real life, and it’s not like they make a lot of noise, the way dogs do with their barking. Even with the sound muted, he’ll growl when he sees a horse.
More anecdotal, but even stranger. I caight him sitting in front of the mirror, staring at it. Nothing unusual about that. But he wasn’t staring at himself, he was staring at me, sitting on the couch in the living room, some 7 yards away. Possibly, he was trying to figure out how I could be in two places at once.
[MPSIMS] He enjoys sticking his head under water and blowing bubbles, will gladly eat oranges and drink white wine. I have a very strange dog [/MPSIMS]
Thanks to the OP, I’m having a lot of fun with my dog. So far I’ve established:
[ul]
[li]Dog doesn’t pay attention to TV unless TV dog starts barking or whining.[/li][li]Dog develops a hatred for barking/whining TV dog and will growl at TV dog every time he appears on the screen thereafter. The hatred is maintained for at least a couple of days (more time needed to determine duration of hatred).[/li][li]Dog does not respond to video of himself or my other dog.[/li][/ul]
Next: How will dog respond to video of himself barking? Stay tuned.
[QUOTE=lainaf]
Thanks to the OP, I’m having a lot of fun with my dog. So far I’ve established:
[list]
[li]Dog doesn’t pay attention to TV unless TV dog starts barking or whining.[/li][li]Dog develops a hatred for barking/whining TV dog and will growl at TV dog every time he appears on the screen thereafter. The hatred is maintained for at least a couple of days (more time needed to determine duration of hatred).[/li][/QUOTE]
Not true, the volume can be on mute, when my Chanel sees that black and white dog on the allergy commercial, she goes nuts!
They aren’t called America’s gentleman for nothing!
Is it me or does it seem that BTs are in quite a few commercials?
-babs, mom to two graphically pleasing Bostons.
My post was referring only to my dog’s behavior. Sorry, I thought that was clear from the context. However, your dog’s behavior supports my hyposthesis that at least some dogs can distinguish between various TV dogs, and that a dog’s reaction (e.g., burning hatred) toward a TV dog will persist.
Baxter! Baxter’s a big hit around our house. My bichon frise loves that ad, and any ad with dogs unless the dog is in the vet’s office. (Those flea remedy ads.) He also loves horses, so the new Texas tourism campaign is good for him. He will simply sit and stare with (what I consider to be) a happy look on his face. He also likes to watch music videos. (No joke, as I type this he is looking intently at a Floetry video. And not even a good one.)
What my dog hates, hates, visibly, demonstrably hates (other than Oprah, good boy!) is any ad or show which features a ringing doorbell. He doesn’t run and bark when our real doorbell rings (he comes to one of us as if to say “someone is here, go, look, it’s new peoples!”) but when a doorbell rings on TV he gets nuts. He barks, he cries, he comes and looks at me as if to say “it was loud and awful, mommy!” Double plus ungood, those TV doorbells.
I think my 75 lb Standard wants to have him as a morsel … 
My dog does, but only the “Animal Channel”