What Your Dog Watches On TV Can Reveal Their Age & Vision

It’s easy to anthropomorphize our dogs, especially when they sit in a silly position, or look up at you with yearning eyes over the meal you’ve made for yourself. They can easily follow your gaze, and the unmistakable look of ‘being caught’ doing a bad thing is a universal expression that dog owners across the world are all too familiar with.

But what if we were to take it one step further? What if, we could say for certain that they had preferences just like us. Wouldn’t you be interested in what kind of TV shows your dog would pick, if their adorable paws could work the remote control?

New research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Veterinary Medicine has shed light on this fascinating topic. Don’t worry, the study's primary focus was to address a long-standing issue in veterinary medicine rather than turning our furry companions into couch potatoes.

Led by veterinary ophthalmologist Freya Mowat, the study aimed to identify the factors that influence a dog's interest in interacting with video content, such as age and vision. The goal was to develop more sensitive methods to assess canine vision, which has been lacking in veterinary medicine.

The study, recently published in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, revealed that dogs are most engaged when watching videos featuring other animals. Content featuring other dogs was particularly popular, but even shows like Scooby Doo can capture a dog's attention.

To gain a deeper understanding of dogs' on-screen preferences, Mowat created a web-based questionnaire for dog owners worldwide to report their canine companions' TV-watching habits. Participants provided information about the types of screens in their homes, how their dogs interacted with screens, the preferred content, as well as details about their dog's age, breed, and location.

The questionnaire also included four short videos showcasing subjects of potential interest to dogs, such as a panther, a dog, a bird, and traffic moving along a road. Owners rated their dogs' interest in each video and how closely their dogs tracked the moving objects on the screen.

With 1,600 responses from dog owners across the globe, Mowat found several interesting highlights. Age and vision were related to a dog's interaction with screens, while sporting and herding dog breeds appeared to watch all content more than other breeds. Surprisingly, humans ranked ninth out of 17 predetermined categories, indicating that dogs find other animals more appealing to watch. Additionally, cartoons engaged over 10% of dogs, and movement on screens strongly motivated dogs' attention.

Mowat plans to build on these findings by developing and optimizing video-based methods to assess changes in visual attention as dogs age. This research aims to enhance our understanding of visual aging in dogs and improve their quality of life. Furthermore, studying dogs' visual aging compared to humans may provide valuable insights into environmental or lifestyle factors that impact visual aging.

Intriguingly, dogs could even serve as sentinels to our health, alerting us to potential age-related vision changes before they manifest in humans. By prioritizing canine health, we can ensure our four-legged friends lead healthier and happier lives as they accompany us through their old age.