After four years of development and a trial roll-out in San Diego last year, the first TV network aimed at dogs will launch nationwide on DirecTV in August. The network, designed for pups of all breeds, will broadcast short video clips in three categories: relaxation, stimulation, and exposure, designed to help habituate dogs to domestic life.
鈥淭he dog-approved programming content was created to entertain, relax and stimulate stay-at-home dogs,”聽 . “So owners don鈥檛 come home to ripped-up couches, shredded magazines or a favorite pair of heels chewed to bits.”
DogTV has worked with several industry experts to help develop its programming, and cites a survey conducted by the American Kennel Club and IAMS showing that nearly half of dogs show “some interest” in what’s happening on the TV screen, according to their owners.
While older TV sets鈥攚hich produced only 50 frames a second鈥攚ere inscrutable to our canine friends, dogs can “probably see the new TVs just as well as they see the world in general,” Ernst Otto Ropstad, an associate professor at the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science who specializes in animal vision, told .