Latest news with #LaneMontgomery
Gizmodo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Your Pooch's Personality Influences How They Watch TV
When a doorbell rings during your favorite TV show, does your dog leap up and start barking or cock their head inquisitively? According to a new study, the answer to this question may be linked to your pup's personality. This doesn't just apply to TV shows meant for human consumption. In recent years, dog-specific TV programming has become a popular enrichment tool among owners who want to keep their canine companion calm and entertained while they're out of the house. Today, there are many TV shows—even entire cable networks—designed for dogs, but the science behind them is limited, Lane Montgomery, lead author of the study and a PhD candidate at Auburn University, told Gizmodo in an email. She and her colleagues investigated what drives dogs to exhibit certain TV viewing behaviors, finding that temperament plays an important role. 'A dog's interactions with televisions can be both positive and negative,' Montgomery said. Understanding the factors that influence TV-watching behavior in canines can help increase positive reactions and prevent negative ones, depending on a dog's unique personality and the stimuli presented to them, she explained. The researchers recruited 650 companion dog owners to participate in an online survey that asked about their dogs' TV viewing habits. This included questions about whether the owner trained their dog to watch TV, the average number of hours per week the TV is on, and the average number of seconds the dog spends watching TV. The survey also collected demographic and behavioral information about each canine participant. The final sample of 453 companion dogs ranged in age from two months to 16 years old and included both purebreds and mixed breeds. Montgomery and her colleagues assessed the dogs' reactions to animal stimuli, non-animal stimuli, and the extent to which they followed objects on screen. Their findings, published Thursday, July 17, in the journal Scientific Reports, suggest demographic characteristics such as age, sex, and breed do not influence dogs' TV-viewing behavior, nor does prior TV exposure. Rather, it appears that the type of stimuli and dogs' temperament traits, such as excitability or anxiousness, shape how they interact with TV. The researchers found that dogs are generally more likely to react to seeing or hearing animals on-screen than other stimuli, with about 45% always responding to dog noises such as barking and howling. Fearful or anxious dogs, however, were more likely to respond to non-animal stimuli such as car horns or doorbells. Owners who described their dogs as excitable more frequently observed them following objects on-screen as if they existed in real life. 'Practically, this study helps inform what types of dog-specific programming would be most valuable for dogs,' Montgomery said. For owners, understanding how different canine temperaments respond to TV stimuli could help them select the right programs for their pets or inform training approaches to correct problematic behaviors toward TVs, the researchers concluded. The authors note that the findings may not be representative of all dogs, as all survey respondents were pet owners whose dogs regularly interact with TV. Going forward, Montgomery hopes to examine these results in an experimental context. 'Studies have begun to do this, but it would be interesting to conduct additional research concerning how personality and television stimuli interact and how these findings translate into a real-world context,' she said. Such work would further inform best practices for using TV to enrich the lives of companion dogs.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Game of Bones! Study reveals dogs' favourite TV programmes
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
