Animals on T.V.

[Lynda Kamrath]

We are again enjoying our puppy and the television.  When an animal comes on T.V. (and my husband loves Animal Planet), Harpo catches them immediately out of the corner of his eye and runs up to the screen.  He puts his nose right up to the animal and wants to interact but can't figure out how to do that.  He loved the bear program where the bear was eating all kinds of foods, but he loves any kind of dog or antelope also.  He just seems to love animals on T.V.  Our other dogs went through a stage when they watched television, but they seemed to outgrow it and then were only alerted when a dog was barking.  That always seems to get their interest.  There was also one video on my computer where the barking was so real that my dogs always came running when I played the video.  I wondered what the dog was saying.

[Melissa & Porter]

Did you change TVs since getting Harpo? Porter watches flat-screen plasma TVs at my ILs (though not with such engagement as Harpo). According to my husband, the reason he doesn't watch at home is b/c our older TV doesn't work the same for his eyes.

Pretty funny either way that Harpo tries to interact with the animals :-)

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

That is so cute!!! Tara doesn't notice much of what is happening on the t.v. but we don't really watch many animal shows. She does like to sit on my lap and watch (and listen!) to the videos on D.K. though. Especially the ones that feature dogs at play. I think she wants to join in!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

You know I never paid attention but our dogs grew out of this also. It is such a cute thing.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Peri still does it. She won't get really close to it like Harpo is doing, but if we are watching a dog show or animals are making noises, she turns to watch the tv, cocks her head and really listens intently for a while. Tooooo cute.

[Natasha]

When Rouser was a puppy, he would notice animals on TV. My DH started calling all TV animals "kitties," because it was usually some kind of tiger, etc. Not sure why he started referring to giraffes, rhinos, etc. as kitties, but it stuck.

To this day (at 2.5) if we say, "Rouser, Kitty" he looks at whatever TV happens to be in the room (even if we're at a friend's house). If there isn't an animal on the screen when he looks, he looks back at us with a "what are you talking about?" expression and then goes on with what he was doing.

At this point, he will drop everything and watch TV if it is some kind of big cat - I think it's because they are usually filmed stalking or running. He'll also look up if he hears a doorbell (yes, in his puppy phase he would run to the door but now he knows the difference between TV doorbell and our doorbell) or a dog barking.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Vern is very aware of any animals on TV. I blogged awhile ago about trying to watch "Best in Show" and he barked and growled through most of the show. My daughter was watching her wedding video and said her dog (French Bulldog) came running when he heard my voice. They do keep us amused, don't they??

[Camilla and Darwin]

That is so funny! Darwin also loves watching animals on T.V.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Luca hates animals on TV and still wants to attack them although I can usually get him to relax a bit nowadays. I really miss watching nature shows without effort.Calla shows no particular interest.

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

Seda was riveted to the TV when Animal Planet showed a pack of dogs in the wild. She would growl and bark at the dogs if they barked. She is very cute and fun to watch. Webber will look at the screen but he doesn't interact with the animals the way Seda does. He is older and wiser...

[Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY]

Yes, I have to say that Zoey loves animal planet as well LOL

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

We are watching Dog Genius on NAT GEO right now and Rosey is very interested but Bandit is sleepin thru it all

[Patty, Roxy & Spencer]

When we first got Roxy she would sit on the ottaman and watch TV with me. She especially liked animal programs. She would get up close to check it out if it was a dog or maybe a horse. Sometimes we would watch dog training shows together. Now she barks at all the animals especially dogs and horses. Sometimes if someone on TV is talking roughly or high pitched she takes notice and may bark. Of course the door bell ringing or someone knocking will set her off. And of course, when Roxy barks, Spencer barks. He has never really watched like her, but sometimes I catch him staring at the TV for a bit. He usually ques off Roxy. I love watching Westminster and other dog shows so I have to put them upstairs away from the TV before I can watch any animal type program. My husband loves the Western Channel. I can usually tell if he has it on and I somewhere else in the house because all this barking starts. I think, oh, Western channel, cows, horses, etc! It is really funny that some pups really take to the TV.