TV Programmers Seek the Elusive Dog Market 199
HonorPoncaCityDotCom writes "Stanley Coren reports that a number of new television stations are providing programming specifically designed for dogs and while many people report that their dogs completely ignore what is visible on television, with modern resolution and quicker imaging, more dogs have become potential television viewers. The increase in dog viewership is primarily attributed to the way the dog's eye works. The image on a standard television screen is updated 60 times per second and since a human's flicker fusion frequency is only 55 Hz, the image appears continuous and the gradually changing images give us the illusion of movement. However dogs can discern flickers at up to 80 Hz so with the increased availability of high-resolution digital screens that are refreshed at a much higher rate, the images are less likely to appear to be flickering to the canine eye. Presentation factors are also an issue. Dogs are most likely to respond to images that have been captured at the eye level of a dog with a low camera angle where there are moving things like animals or birds. But even if that requirement is fulfilled, most dogs do not watch television because the TV is normally placed at a comfortable eye level for human beings and dogs do tend not to scan upward, and therefore do not notice the TV images. All of which brings us to DogTV, the first cable network to deliver 24-hour programming for dogs that lets you flip on the channel while you go out for the day as your pet is stimulated, entertained and relaxed. 'If the dog wasn't enjoying it, he would find something else to do, like nibble on the end of a sofa,' says veterinarian Ann E. Hohenhaus."
Aquarium Chanel (Score:5, Interesting)
Ad supported? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:why ? (Score:3, Interesting)
If it were pitched as a premium channel or similar add-on to basic cable, you could also go the 'buy this unless you hate your dog and want it to suffer while you neglect it home, alone and afraid, and probably peeing on your sofa!' angle.
Heck, just look at the success of that 'Baby Einstein' dreck: somewhere between fuck-all and overtly negative effects(once somebody actually bothered to do some research, well after the selling had started) and they still moved a zillion units by telling parents that plunking their little spawn in front of the TV could be done without guilt.
Re:wealth brings stupidity (Score:5, Interesting)
Because, of course, helicopters are cat-allergic, right? The rotor sneezes and disintegrates as soon as a cat comes anywhere near.
In other words, get a grip. Not all emergencies are alike. If you have a small pet in your arms, there's no reason at all for the rescuers to tell you to forgo it. Heck, what you're arguing is pretty much life over quality of life. Yeah, we'll rescue you at any cost, but $DEITY forbid the rescuee has a living thing with them to comfort them. Being displaced in an emergency is obviously no biggie for you and you will stomach it like a big boy, right? You should have rotten for a couple of weeks at the superdome with all the other "ingrates" to get a humanistic perspective.
If it was an emergency where the rest of my immediate family would be already dead, and I had a choice of being rescued with our cat or perishing with him, I'd probably choose the latter. Say what you will, but our cat always knows when there's something wrong with one of us, and he sometimes works quite hard at comforting us. When my wife got back from a C-section, the cat would walk directly across her scar, massaging it. He kept at it for weeks. Nobody prompted it, it didn't see the scar directly, and so on. He just knew what to do. I have plenty of other examples like that. Just because it's not human doesn't mean it's life is worthless. Just to preempt what might be coming: no, I'm not freeing any lab monkeys, thank you very much, it'd be a retarded thing to do. Neither is our cat a "member" of our family. He's our cat. He gets his food and water, his vet check-ups, has a few small toys [kittyhooch.com], and is kept indoors. He treats us with care, and we do the same, but we don't go overboard. He scratches a couple of designated dining room chairs, we don't have any pet furniture.
This is a really, really *bad* idea (Score:4, Interesting)
Quick, hold up your hand if you laughed when your puppy first encountered a mirror! It's hilarious: "OMG there's another dog in the room". Depending on the dog, they will be fooled once, twice, maybe three times - that's it. Afterwards they realize that there's nothing there, and ignore it. It's the same for television. We have a herding dog, and the first time he saw animals on television (I think it was sheep), "OMG, I gotta go herd". Second time, he looked and then yawned. He didn't look a third time. Anyone who pays attention to their animals will have seen this. They know what's real and what's not. Things that are not real are not interesting.
There are already far too many dog owners who think that dogs are like furniture: there when you want them, and otherwise they can be ignored. Dogs need activity, they need interaction with their owners, they need a job to do (especially the working breeds). This stupid idea is going to make bad dog owners even worse: They will think they've done something to keep their dog busy, and will feel even less obligated to actually take proper care of their animals.
Why not for cats? (Score:2, Interesting)
I doubt dogs can tell gender. To thread hijack - my cat watches my LCD TV often. He gets confused by panning shots, loves birds and sort of recognizes cartoon animals if they have realistic animal noises. He is scared of any doorbell like noises as he is shy, but seems curious about dogs more than scared. Unless it is birds he doesn't really stand under the TV tranced. He loves watching duck or goose hunting and I think understands most of what is going on now, kind of freaky. He also has a word for birds sort of an 'ack ack' that he has taught our other cat and will run in to our room in the morning talking about them when he sees them.