A recent study shows that some dogs have a genuine interest in what you play on the TV. Some owners leave their dogs at home with the TV on in order to keep them company, and a comparative psychologist, Jeffrey Katz, was surprised to see channels that were entirely meant for content for dogs. Some with soothing, calm music for them, and others with things to catch their attention, such as doorbells or barking. Everyone assumes that dogs don´t truly understand what is happening on the screen, however scientists were curious and tried to debunk this assumption.
Studies from all over the world have proven that dogs don’t see the world the same way we do. They have a natural trait called dichromatic color vision, meaning that they only have two color-sensitive cells in their eyes, while humans have three. Dogs are capable of distinguishing up to 10,000 different colors, compared to the one million that we can see. Dogs also have a faster flicker-fusion rate, which means dogs see videos as flashing still images rather than continuous movement in a film.
In order to find out more about how dogs perceive the TV, Katz and his colleagues sent multiple surveys out via Facebook and email lists, and they received 453 submissions from dog owners all around the US. In these submissions, people answered about what sounds or objects their dogs responded to. Some common dog reactions are barking, wagging, growling, or even chasing.
¨My dog Lucy she´s a corgi… She doesn´t react to that kind of stuff a lot; she is more responsive to things that are physically moving or making sound right in front of her.¨ Said Noah Jimenez, a dog owner here at ERHS.
About 45% of dogs seemed to have responded to images or sounds of other dogs on the screen. Results also showed that dogs with a more active and excitable personality tended to follow other animals or dogs moving on the screen. Dogs with a more anxious or shy temperament, however, seemed to react negatively towards the sound of doorbells or doors opening.
¨ I guess dogs kind of have a taste of their own… who knew.¨ Said Lina Valdez, another dog owner in our CNUSD district.
