DirecTV is offering a free trial of DogTV this week, the cable channel to keep your doggies entertained while you’re away.
I don’t see myself subscribing to this, but I gotta say, it’s very relaxing. Hell, I’d rather have my toddler watch this than loud, fast animated characters with flashing eyes. Animal Planet is way too scary for dogs (and people), what with the accidents, injuries, and trips to the vet.
When I looked at DogTV yesterday for a few minutes, they were showing some dogs swimming in a pool and retrieving objects. A little while ago there were some shots of antelope-like creatures just standing around. Then close-ups of ducks swimming in a pond.
Right now there’s a break with some slowly flickering blue and green shapes on the screen, as though they’re being reflected in water.
Okay, now it’s a guy fishing on a gentle seashore, sounds of gulls, other birds, and waves, very slow solo piano in the background.
One presumes there won’t be any commercials. Commercials combined with a smart dog having access to a computer and an amazon password could be costly.
Good grief… this is almost hypnotic… I may have to sign up for it… for me.
OMIGOD. Too much: video of puppies sleeping in a pile and a big dog watching them from a ways off… Now a dog just wandering slowly over a bright green hillside… The puppies are stirring and rearranging themselves, snuggling, dozing off again… big German shepherd on the crest of a hill, cirrus clouds in the background…
I’m getting a warm fuzzy feeling all over. Seriously.
I’m sure cats would like it or any sentient being, really.
I signed up for it… after the two-week free trial, then a month free, then $4.99 per month. I think I might wind up enjoying it more than The Newsroom at 1/3 the cost.
Right now they’re showing a long shot of a woman and two dogs walking (one is running loose) beside a pond with bright autumn leaves on the trees… now doggies running on a beach and retrieving stuff from the water (it’s two corgis)… dang! They’re cute! They run fast on those stumpy legs (sorry, Your Majesty: corgis have stumpy legs)… now a cocker spaniel at home sniffing around the patio, then chasing a ball and being petted by his humans, now back in the house and up on the sofa, now being FAWNED over by four people… don’t get much better than this… now a dog being taken for a walk by his human. The camera is at dog’s-eye level for these. The scenes are about 30 seconds to a minute, long enough so you don’t have the sense of fast cuts, but not too long that you lose interest.
This is mesmerizing… like reading lots of haikus, one after the other.
They’re showing a rushing stream and melting icicles…now a fireplace…back to the stream with bird sounds.
Uh-oh!! Visiting the vet! Greeting other dogs in the waiting room, sniffing butts. Called to the examination room…getting weighed. Geez, the camera is right down on the floor.
I don’t know that Sadie will like Dog TV any more than she likes anything else, but I kinda like it. I love Too Cute and the other pet shows on Animal Planet.
Had a collie that loved the Home Shopping Network because when they cooed over how beautiful some overwrought cocktail ring was and she’d flick her tail and grin, as if to say, “Yes, I am beautiful, aren’t I?”
I wonder what the old “non-humans are automatons and you are anthropomorphizing them by thinking they can even see the TV screen.” Probably, “non-humans are automatons and you are anthropomorphizing them by thinking they can even see the TV screen.”
It’s sort of cute and mesmerizing…they just had a guy on there playing with a dog (tug-of-war with a rope toy, some light wrestling, etc.). This channel seems like a good idea!
I have to wonder how interested dogs would be in any TV without Smellovision. I mean, yeah, they can see and hear, but smell is still a huge chunk of their sensory input. Maybe it’s sort of the equivalent of radio for a human?
That’s exactly what would happen in my house. Our Jasper will even run to the tv and bark at CARTOON DOGS. Sometimes he’ll hit the screen with his nose. But that’s when we’re there and can call him off.
In the house, if we say “Where’s the dog?” he looks at the tv screen.
I turned it on this morning and for the last 10 minutes, they’ve shown an adorable puppy SLEEPING. Occasionally a human hand comes into the picture and pets him. Gentle, very slow piano music in the background.
This is the antithesis of fast-action-loud-quick cuts-buy this!-shoot 'em up TV. It’s like watching an aquarium, but a little more interesting because the scenes change.
I want to watch this every night before I go to bed. I don’t think Winchester would care for it–I’ve never noticed him noticing what’s on the television. He doesn’t even look up if we’re watching something with barking dogs. But now I have to find out if we have this channel.
