What do dogs do when we leave them at home alone? And above all, how do you prevent that, out of boredom, frustration and separation anxietydestroy everything or do they keep a concert of howls that lasts hours? The ideal would be not to leave them alone, of course, but not everyone can afford it. One of the most often adopted solutions is that of Leave the TV onperhaps on a program that transmits rotation dogs (or a type TV show Lassie).
Well, for the first time a research team (of Auburn University, Alabama) tried to investigate the dog’s vision habits with scientific methods: What does it like, what disturbs them and what is the link with their character. The results are published on Scientific Reports.
Put a dog in front of the TV. To tell the truth, that of the Auburn is not the first study ever on the relationship between dogs and TV: in 2013 one came out that showed the link between Fifoni dogs and response to the noises of TVwhile even in 2001 a team showed that A third of dogs barking every now and then on TV. Nothing systematic, in short, while the US team created a “scale” to weigh the habits of the dogs in front of the TV: how long they spend, how they react and what …
Citizen Science. THE’index It’s called Dog Television Viewing Scale (DTVS) and was provided with hundreds of volunteers, who compiled it based on their dog’s behavior. 453 of these volunteers has produced useful responses to the study, based on the behaviors had during a vision session at least 14 minutes long.
The analysis of the questionnaires provided some interesting answers, and at least a very predictable: Dogs prefer to watch other dogs on TV, and only in second order are they passionate about other non -human animals; of humans, on the other hand, cares relatively little.
The tastes of dogs. The most interesting conclusions, however, concern the link between the personality of the dog and television tastes. For example, 45% of the dogs involved barking on TV in response to their like: a good percentage, but remains a 55% of the subjects (the majority, therefore) that has not had any reaction At the sound of another dog. Another constant concerns dogs with a fearful character: it is much more likely that they respond to non -animal sound stimuli, for example a bell or the sound of an engine.
Subjective choice. On the other hand, the dogs described by the masters as “easily excitable” tend to follow the objects on the screen as if they were not in 2D but in 3D, something that instead It affects little to the calmer dogs. Finally, watching so much TV does not make the desire to the dogs who love it: He never wanders (almost) never. The fact that there is no apparent bond between age, race and sex and TV preferences makes the authors conclude that Each dog has his own tasteswhich can be partly anticipated knowing its character and individuality. In short, If you know your dog you should also know what his favorite programs are.
