Before leaving for work each day, many pet owners leave a radio or TV on at home to keep their pets company. Now you can go one step further with a TV channel developed exclusively for canines.
“DogTV was created to reduce the stress level of home alone dogs,” according to the company website. “Separation anxiety is one of the most common behavioral issues in the US, in which the dog finds it difficult to be separated from its owner…..”
The founders believe DogTV “is creating a better world for the dog, so he will feel less sad and less stressed when left home alone,” and the “relaxing sounds, special music and fun visuals, provide the perfect company for dogs so that they never have to feel alone again.”
Based on years of research by some of the world’s top pet experts, special content was created to meet specific attributes of a dog’s sense of vision and hearing and supports their natural behavior patterns. Unlike the “olden” days when television screens were analog and all dogs could see was a flickering screen, digital technology allows dogs see the same screen as humans.
Dogs see mostly in yellow and blues
Special consideration has been given to canine sensibilities. All the colors have been amped up to suit canine eyes which don’t really see red or green, with a greater emphasis on contrast and brightness. The sounds have been manipulated to appeal to sensitive doggie ears.
There is a loop of three programming segments designed by animal behavioral experts: stimulation, relaxation and exposure. The stimulation phase shows dogs running around playing, accompanied by the sounds of dogs barking and the high-pitched squeaky toys. This is a lot of fun to watch for both human and canine alike – you can almost feel your heart rate dropping as the dogs happily cavort.
The relaxation phase is meant to mellow out the dog for naptime, while the exposure programming has been designed to help acclimatize pets to certain challenging scenarios like busy city streets, noisy car rides with kids, doorbells ringing, and someone running a vacuum cleaner.
Channel developed by pet experts
The specialty channel is built around a core team of pet experts that includes a scientist, a dog trainer and an animal rights activist. The chief scientist is Professor Nicholas Dodman, program director of the Animal Behavior Department of Clinical Sciences at Tufts University in Massachusetts, and author of several books about animal behavior and sensory perception.
Star of Animal Planet’s popular TV series, It’s Me or the Dog, Victoria Stilwell is a well-known dog trainer who shares her knowledge to help tame unruly pets at the same time counseling families on their pet issues. Animal rights activist, pet trainer and radio broadcaster, Warren Eckstein, also a bestselling author, believes that our relationship with other humans will benefit if we learn to give love unconditionally like our pets.
DogTV coming soon to a town near you
Currently available in San Diego, California on COX (channel 2635) and Time Warner (channel 148) as a pay channel for $4.99 US per month, DogTV is gearing up for a full U.S. launch. If you want to know when the channel will be available from your cable-satellite provider, you can subscribe to their mailing list.
So be forewarned, if you choose to subscribe to DogTV, you may find the cat and the dog fighting over the remote, or worse, hiding it from you. If you start having dreams about chasing rabbits, it might be time to change the channel.