How sensitive is your dog to sights & sounds on TV?

[silhouettestable]

My dogs will occasionally pay attention to what's on the TV, but mostly ignore it. Lightning however, gets upset when I watch any of the animal rescue shows that are on Animal Planet (i.e. Miami Animal Police, Animal Cops Houston etc.) I think the sounds of other dogs in distress (the barking, yelping etc.) must bother him. Of all my dogs I would have thought Flash or Thunder might be bothered by shows like that since they came from a shelter and the sounds could stir up memories, but Lightning's never been to one. It took me a while to figure out what was going on with him, at first I didn't clue in that it was the TV that was making him act all clingy at times. He's normally a very confident dog, but there would be times I'd be sitting watching TV and he'd start trying to crawl all over me, and if he couldn't get into my lap he'd climb up over the arm of the armchair, and wedge himself behind me. Sometimes he'd even shiver and before I figured it out I was a bit worried that maybe sometimes I had him outside for too long and he was chilled. I've gotten used to his behaviour now, but occasionally I forget. A few days ago I had a couple of friends over and they usually don't mind sharing the couch with Lightning. Because he was being very pushy about it though (not taking No for an answer when they told him), they wanted him to stay down. He was relentlessly crawling up onto them, and more than once I physically dragged him off and made him lay down. He'd get right back up and try again. Then the light came on and I realized what was on TV. Turned it off and problem solved, he relaxed and stayed down where he was told and behaved himself. The only time he ever acts like that is when one of those shows come on. Anyone else ever experience something like this because of the TV?

[1sheepdoggal]

I have one dog, that if he hears a dog bark or whine on TV that will get up and stare at the TV. I think he must be a bit far sighted, as he gets so close we have to tell him to get out of the way. he also barks at the TV when he hears them, but none of my BC's pay any mind to it. They just look at him as if to say,....Stupid poodle!

[Shetlander]

Quinn is drawn to movement and certain sounds, especially of animals. He'll watch dogs sports on TV and also seems interested in nature shows. When he was a youngster, he would knock the tuner off the shelf in his excitement. Once it was over a bear lumbering by. A couple of times it was during agility runs. Last year, he seemed mezmerized by the sound a leopard makes. Just 20 minutes or so ago, he was watching lions hunting on Nature. The combo of sound and movement is the most likely to grab and hold his attention.

[Mojo]

Godiva has never, ever paid attention to the TV. No matter what sounds or sights are made by it, she either doesn't care, or somehow realizes they're not real.

 

The first time Mojo heard a dog whimper/bark/growl on the TV, he did get up in kind of a huff, but you should have seen his facial expression as he looked this way and that for the origin of the sound, and then eventually turned to stare at the set with what looked like great puzzlement, and then relief. He lay back down, and has never paid attention to the TV since.

 

Now here's something funny: a recent issue of Bark magazine featured a close-up, frontal head shot of a Border Collie mix on its cover that happened to resemble Mojo quite a bit, and the photo was large enough that it was about life-size. I was just taking out the magazine to look at it, when I happened to hold it up in front of Mojo's face, just teasingly, to say, "Look, this dog looks like you!" Well, imagine my surprise when he suddenly lunged at the magazine with a full-on growl, only to stop short about three inches from connecting with the most incredulous look on his face. He then carefully inspected the magazine, and when I turned it over for him in my hands, he sighed and lay back down. His visual acuity and generalization skills must have been good enough to have recognized the colorful blobs of ink on paper as a dog initially, but once he got close enough to smell the paper, he realized it was not a real dog. He did the same thing when he first saw himself reflected in a mirror--did a complete double-take, and then never paid attention to himself ever again. Poor unsocialized thing--finally getting to experience life in the real world for the first time after all these years!!

[hillfarm]

Oh boy this is a good topic. Diva is super sensitive to ALL sounds. Yes, even the ones on TV, the dogs barking don't bother her but any kind of squeeking noise? Like the Dyson commercial? Yup shes there staring at the TV. Thunder on the TV? She's got big pupils and that oh no not again look on her face. Yelling people on the TV, shes hiding in the bedroom. She shows a great deal of interest in the animal rescue shows, but then again so do my persians, everyone seems to like to watch those.

 

Diva is so sound sensitive indoors that if the cats claw the couch Diva runs and hides cause she knows the cats are going to get scolded. The persians being the evil schemers they are love to knock things off the shelves just to watch the dog run for the bedroom. Diva is such a good dog she never even gets scolded, but you'd think she was yelled at constantly the way she reacts to these kind of noises.

 

I have tried to reassure her when she gets spooky, but have made no progress there. Thank God we solved the lightening issue by simply putting a blanket over her when it thunders. Otherwise she would spend the early summer in hysterics. It still worries me to leave her at home if I have to when its summer storm season, not sure what would happen if she was left alone outside with no where to hide, gives me the willies just to think about it.

 

On the other hand she is a super confident herding dog and is top dog among my females.

 

I was a little worried Rags might pick up her flightiness being around her all the time but he is so laid back that nothing bothers him, wish his attitude would rub off on Diva sometimes!

 

Actual TV watching is mostly done by the cats, some shows, like Bull riding just seem to mesmerize them. Not sure if its just the movement or the actual bull riding that gets them but they sure do love watching!

 

lisa H

[Ninso]

Lok pays no attention to the TV unless a dog is on it. Shortly after I got him I was watching a program about wolves. He got right close up to the TV and growled at them. I changed the channel and he seemed confused. He looked behind the TV and even in the bedroom that is behind where the TV is in the living room trying to find the wolves! If there is a noise on the TV similar to a bark or a whine (whether it actually is or not), Lok will growl or bark at the TV.

 

Now here's something funny: a recent issue of Bark magazine featured a close-up, frontal head shot of a Border Collie mix on its cover

 

Haha! I recently borrowed a magazine with a Border Collie on the cover. Lok saw it when I was reading it and started at the face on the cover for awhile before deciding it wasn't a real dog.

[painted_ponies]

If there are real animal sounds on the TV, both girls will prick up their ears and look at the screen. The only time they got real excited was when I watched the Breed All About It episode with the border collies. When they heard whistles and commands and sheep sounds they came running.

[MrSnappy]

My dogs pay no attention to television at all, even though I rarely turn it on so it could be considered a novelty. However, once I had Westminster on, and when the herding group and then of course the border collie came out, Tweed hopped off the sofa, walked to the tv and watched the border collie. When they switched to the next dog, he lost interest. I thought it was a coincidence, but he did it again when a stockdog trial came on the tv. He watched the whole thing, and lost interest during commercial breaks.

 

Since then, he has never shown an interest in TV unless agility, flyball, or stockdog trials are on it.

 

The other dogs all ignore the tv completely.

 

RDM

[Anda]

Ouzo sometimes shows a minor interest if Animal Planet is on and there are dogs barking in a shelter or at the vet. He even gets off the couch and comes closer to the TV to watch the animals, but if the scene changes for even a fraction of a second, his interest is lost.

 

If I point it to him, he seems fascinated when predators are shown hunting, such as big cats or wolves, he seems to be into all the action and probably want to offer some advice, too He's never barked at anything on tv.

 

Aaa, sirens on TV make him very alert and he proptly picks up a toy and goes on the balcony to watch for the incoming ambulances/police cars/fire trucks. He usually is back within 5 seconds, with a disapointed look on his face - but where did my cool cars go?! This is the dog who wanted to be a firefighter when he grew up

[herdcentral]

My BC likes to sit on the couch with me and watch agility DVDS. She loves watching it when the dogs are performing but isnt interested when it is only people on the screen. My other dogs will prick their ears if a dog barks but otherwise ignore it.