Game of Bones! Study reveals dogs' favourite TV programmes

Daily Mail​

17-07-2025

Many dog owners enjoy snuggling up on the sofa to watch their favourite TV show with their pet.
But if the remote was in your dog's paw, what would it choose to watch?
According to scientists from Auburn University in Alabama, the answer is probably something featuring animals.
In a new study, the researchers surveyed more than 450 dog owners about their pets' viewing habits.
The results revealed that almost half (45 per cent) of the dogs reacted when they saw an animal on TV.
In particular, the pooches took note when they spotted another dog barking or howling on screen.
So, if you want to give your dog the ultimate movie night, it's best to stick on something like Bluey, Scooby Doo, or Crufts.
'Companion dogs experience a meaningful, object-filled world when they view television,' the researchers said.
While most dogs are regularly exposed to televisions, their preferences for content have remained unclear until now.
Writing in their study, published in Scientific Reports, the research team, led by Lane Montgomery, wrote: 'Because companion dogs are regularly exposed to televisions, it is pertinent to understand how dogs behaviorally respond to and interpret these types of stimuli from a welfare perspective.'
To get to the bottom of it, the researchers recruited 453 owners, whose dogs ranged in age from two months to 16 years old.
The participants were surveyed about their dogs' TV viewing habits.
This included whether the owner tried to teach the dog to watch TV, the average number of hours per week the owner's TV is switched on, and the average number of seconds the dog pays attention to the TV.
An analysis of the results revealed that on average, the dogs watched TV for 14 minutes and eight seconds in any one sitting.
Other animals were the dogs' favourite thing to watch, with 45 per cent responding to animal content such as barking or howling.
The researchers also found that the dogs' personalities influenced their viewing preferences.
Dogs reported by their owners as excitable were more likely to follow objects on-screen - for example during tennis or football matches.
Meanwhile, fearful or anxious dogs were more likely to respond to non-animal stimuli on screen, such as car horns or doorbells.
'The results suggested that dogs respond to television stimuli based upon both categories of stimuli (i.e., animal, non-animal) and upon types of behavior (i.e., behavior that suggests attendance to the stimuli versus behavior that suggests some expectation of the movements of the stimuli),' the researchers wrote.
'In addition, individual differences in temperament impacted the types of stimuli that dogs engaged with.'
While the study might seem light-hearted, the researchers say the findings could have important implications.
'These temperament differences could inform training approaches to rectify problem behaviours towards TVs,' they concluded.
WHAT ARE THE TEN COMMONLY HELD MYTHS ABOUT DOGS?
It is easy to believe that dogs like what we like, but this is not always strictly true.
Here are ten things which people should remember when trying to understand their pets, according to Animal behaviour experts Dr Melissa Starling and Dr Paul McGreevy, from the University of Sydney.
1. Dogs don't like to share
2. Not all dogs like to be hugged or patted
3. A barking dog is not always an aggressive dog
4. Dogs do not like other dogs entering their territory/home
5. Dogs like to be active and don't need as much relaxation time as humans
6. Not all dogs are overly friendly, some are shyer to begin with
7. A dog that appears friendly can soon become aggressive
8. Dogs need open space and new areas to explore. Playing in the garden won't always suffice
9. Sometimes a dog isn't misbehaving, it simply does not understand what to do or what you want
10. Subtle facial signals often preempt barking or snapping when a dog is unhappy