Dogs who love TV

Your dog might get excited, concentrate hard or seem totally unmoved but what’s happening on TV. Here’s why.

Fast moving images
The quality of the visuals on television varies depending on the number of images per second. The more there are, the better the quality. At 55 images per second and up, we perceive action as continuous as opposed to a succession of static shots. However, dogs, who have more developed sight that humans, perceive continuous motion from 75 images per second. Because television has a normal rate of 60 images per second, your dog sees a succession of rapidly flashing images. This can explain why they get excited when they see something on-screen that grabs their attention, such as an animal.

Fido has no reaction. None. 
If dogs can perceive up to 75 images per second, why do some react to TV while others don’t? Could it be based on breed? Maybe not, no scientific study has shown a link between reaction to television and dog breed. Instead, how a dog behaves in front of a television screen seems to be explained by a dog’s personality, or their type of intelligence—dogs don’t all analyse visual images in the same way and don’t have the same types of intelligence. A hunting dog, for instance, may be more interested in on-screen activity than others. 

TV watching habits appear to be unique to each dog. If your dog loves to curl up and watch TV with you, count yourself fortunate and enjoy these shared moments!