Does your dog watch the television?

[Littlefloof]

Context: I don't have a telly, so visiting my parents who have a reasonably large flat screen TV in the front room is something of a novelty for the hound.

On Christmas Eve we (me + mum & dad) were watching the beautiful documentary "The Last Igloo". Shadow was half asleep with one eye vaguely checking out what was going on around her, until the sled dogs appeared. For the rest of the programme she was on alert in case they turned up again - she also tried to climb on the sofa next to mum (which she never normally does, she's not a cuddly dog) to get a better view.

Something similar happened during the documentary yesterday on the wolf family in the Alps. She was much more interested in the she-wolf and cubs than in the shepherd's dogs.

Does anyone else have a documentary-loving dog?

 

[meleeka]

Mine watches ones about rescue dogs but doesn’t appear to be interested in anything non-canine.

 

[YorksG]

Our Rotter does, even knowing which adverts have dogs on them! Her late sister broke my dads TV when she "kissed" a sheep on Countryfile (Our telly is well above Rotter height). The labs don't seem to be able to see it the same. The Rotters started watching when they were about six months old, but so far the labs aren't showing any interest. We tend to not watch animal programmes anymore, as she gets ridiculously over exited by them! The late Rotter watched all of Badminton cross country and appeared to be warning the horse, on the replay, that it was going to fall, having seen it do just that! They both got very upset when watching some goslings falling off a cliffe, we had to turn that one off, as their distress was awful

 

[rabatsa]

My GSD watches programmes but the greyhound ignores everything.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Hopefully the link will work. It’s very difficult to watch anything with animals on and if he hears the music from an advert with animals in, he runs in. He gets very stressed and has to be on someone’s knee for security. Weird dog. Bear watches but isn’t bothered.

 

[PurBee]

Not my dogs, but my cat sits on my lap and loves watching utube videos of horses!

Strangely she’s also into detective crime tv episodes

 

[teddypops]

My collie likes anything with horses especially jumping. He loves horses! The terrier watches dog agility but gets a bit over excited.

 

[LadySam]

Not a dog, but my dear departed Russian Blue cat. When I first got him as a kitten the RSPCA was running a tv ad featuring abandoned kittens. He would investigate all around the living room for the source of the distressed mewing. Later, I discovered he was a fan of ‘Boobahs’ - a sort of Teletubbies spin off. He loved the colour and movement and if I tried to change the channel I‘d get the paw and ‘no, go back, I was watching that’.

I realised he was gay when he got totally into Liza Minnelli in ‘Cabaret’. A mother knows and doesn’t judge.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I had a cat that always watched Pet Rescue. My young collie likes watching TV.

 

[paisley]

Not really. Not even for the sheep! One questions the whippet genes!

 

[MissJigs]

One of my springers loves anything with David Attenborough or snooker. The other one couldn’t be any less interested.

 

[TheOldTrout]

Yes, I've got photos of Blue watching a programme about New Zealand wildlife - there was a parrot he was very interested in. Our previous dog once hurled himself in fury at the TV screen when he saw the sheep in One Man and his dog.

 

[satinbaze]

Meera loves watching Secret life of the Zoo. Especially the chimps and Meerkats

 

[Keith_Beef]

My dog used to sing along to the Emmerdale Farm theme, and used to like One Man and His Dog.

My parents had a cat who liked to watch snooker. When a ball fell into a pocket, she'd dive under the TV to try to catch it.

 

[TheresaW]

Luna seems to know when other huskies are on the TV, but rarely shows interest in anything else.

Bo loves to sing along whenever the Dandy Warhols are on the radio.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

My cat loves watching tv when we’re watching a David Attenborough type program

 

[ponyparty]

Yes Frank does - shouts at any animals that may be on TV to get out of his house! How very DARE they just appear in his living room?
He also growls at baddies (or whoever he perceives to be baddies - not always correct!) in a TV program.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Whilst making tea in the kitchen, I had to tell Zak to stop moaning at the TV in the lounge. I told him he wasn't obliged to watch dogs on the telly! ?

 

[JennBags]

Yes, the Westie will attack any animal on the TV, so nature documentaries are out for us. She also doesn't like aggression or violence although has got more used to that. The collie does look at the TV sometimes but doesn't show much interest.

 

[Chiffy]

Yes, all mine do from time to time. Crufts, For the love of dogs, etc and also the horse racing and some show jumping Or cross country, not dressage though!!

 

[scats]

Two of my dogs have never been bothered, but Lily-Rose was absolutely mesmerised by the horses when we had Olympia on the TV. It was the dressage she most liked, she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen. She occasionally watched the showjumping too.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

There is an episode of 'Frost' where a police dog gets injured and appears to be dead. The Rotters were quite upset by that but then the dog appears at the end with its front leg in a 'sling'. One of the Rotts managed to get her 'arm' over the sofa arm trying to work out how the dog could get it leg up there. We have seen them mimic what they see on TV quite often, including when they were about 6 months old watching polar bear cubs tumbling in the snow and then practising the same moves in our living room. They also, before they were a yr old, saw a cayman following otter cubs down the Amazon(?) and went and hid their faces in the crate. The narrator told us that the cubs escaped but I'm not sure that the Rotts understood that.
The remaining Rotter keeps the pups back from the TV when animals are on, I assume to keep them safe.