What Dogs See When They Watch TV

You look over across the room and notice that your four-legged friend is watching the television.  What do you think is going through their mind?  Do you think that they are seeing what we see or even hearing what we hear?  These days, with the evolution of television and more high-resolution and digital broadcasting, dogs can literally see a brand-new picture, with much more clarity than before.  There are many studies that dive into how dogs process images and what gets their attention to begin with.

Is there any proof that dogs are invested as much as we are?  There have been studies that have shown that dogs can pick out pictures of other dogs apart from humans, and group them into categories using only visual clues.  There are even channels specifically designed for dogs which have more frames per second than regular television.  Dogs can process visual information faster than humans so what they see is quite different from what we see.

Dogs also have a different field of view which means that different parts are seen at any given point in time along the visual plane.  This ability to monitor movement is another reason dogs can see and paying attention to the television.  Keep in mind that they may not know exactly what is going on within the program, but they are able to see the action that is taking place.  It is the dog’s curiosity which keeps them glues to the television!

Perhaps it is the sound of the television that really gets your dog’s attention.  Once the noise has their attention, and they find out where the sound is coming from, they begin to focus on images.  The next time you hear a dog barking or the sound of a squeaky toy on the TV, pay close attention to your dog.  You may be able to put the pieces together and determine what they are doing and WHY they are doing it!