The following article includes pertinent information that may cause you to reconsider what you thought you understood. The most important thing is to study with an open mind and be willing to revise your understanding if necessary.

Can Dogs Watch TV?

Now that we've covered those aspects of dogtraining, let's turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.

It’s adorable to see a dog watching TV with the family. It is quite amusing to see them staring intently at the screen, following all movements seen in the screen. They do so many things that indicate that they are aware of what they are seeing: scratching at the screen, barking at animals, ears and body popping in attention when something interesting is seen on screen.

But then again, experts beg to differ.

Through research, it has been found that a dog’s eye has different amounts of photoreceptors compared to us humans. There are two photoreceptors in the retina: rods and cones. The rods are responsible for night vision, peripheral vision, and perception of black and white. The cones on the other hand, are responsible for day vision, central vision, and color perception. A dog’s eye is mostly made up of rods, and only has 10% of cones. How does this relate to vision?

A dog perceives the world differently. They see mostly black and white, and can only appreciate color when their nose is already touching an object. Meaning, your dog will not realize that you’re wearing a pink shirt unless he’s already all over you. Also, your dog perceives movement differently compared to humans, and some claim that a lower refresh rate will only make viewing harder for dogs.

Still, if dogs cannot watch TV, then how come this skateboarding dog knows how to play a video game?

A dog’s interest may be captured by a sudden movement in the screen, or a sound from another animal. If they see another animal on screen, they react by barking and wagging their tail. And, if you hook your TV to a video camera and shoot your dog with it live, your dog will react to his image by growling and barking. That means a dog can still perceive objects even in 2D.

But dogs do not watch TV if the family is around. Their attention is mostly riveted on the actions and motions of the family that he’s guarding, so your dog would mostly just ignore the TV. However, the sounds and sights in a TV can be highly beneficial for your dog if he has separation anxiety.

A human’s eye is appreciative of a TV screen if the refresh rate is around 50Hz-60Hz. On the other hand, the refresh rate for a dog is around 70Hz-80Hz. For us, the TV may be running smoothly. But for dogs, the screen is just like watching an old movie, with the film highly scratched and worn out. Aside from that, a dog mostly relies on his hearing and smell. Sights and sounds are secondary for him, and his sense of smell is the most important of all.

This signifies two things: 1) your dog can be somewhat uninterested what’s on the tube for it’s not stimulating his sense of smell.

2. If you make your dog addicted to the tube, his sense of smell would not be stimulated enough and it can eventually dull a somewhat sharp perception. If you notice that your dog is watching too much TV, you must lessen his tube time and stimulate him by bringing him outside the house, or presenting him with something new every now and then.

There is still some debate going on over a dog’s ability to watch TV. What’s important is that you let your dog be a dog by letting him act like one and not love it too much when he’s "acting human" by watching the tube. As with humans, a stationary dog can have health problems related to lack of mobility and stimulation, so play with him every once in a while. You are your dog’s best entertainment system, and you will gain more of your dog’s adoration by letting it stay that way.

There's a lot to understand about dogtraining. We were able to provide you with some of the facts above, but there is still plenty more to write about in subsequent articles.