Canine Screen Time 

Some dogs might enjoy the new season of Netflix’s “Squid Game,” but what they get out of it depends heavily on their personality and the kind of content on screen. 

“The personality of the dog influences their viewing habits,” Jeffrey Katz, a psychology professor and lead author of a new study on the topic, told Popular Science. 

The study was launched after scientists at Alabama’s Auburn University wanted to understand how dogs interact with television, and what factors influence whether they watch it. 

In their paper, Katz and his team developed a novel questionnaire called the Dog Television Viewing Scale (DTVS) and asked pet owners how their pups reacted to stimuli on TV. 

Questions included how frequently the pooches would bark, growl, paw the screen or even respond to other dogs, non-canine animals, and humans. 

More than 450 participants confirmed that their dog watched TV, with a majority saying their pet responded more to animal content – especially the visuals or sounds of other dogs. 

But their response depended on their personality: For example, excitable dogs were more likely to chase, bark at or try to follow animals on screen, sometimes even looking behind the TV to figure out where the critters went.  

More anxious pups, on the other hand, were triggered by sounds, such as doorbells, human voices, or vacuum cleaners. 

Meanwhile, some dogs even appear to develop preferences.  

Study co-author Lane Montgomery observed this firsthand with her own 3-year-old Catahoula leopard dog named Jax.  

“He is especially a fan of dog shows,” she told Science News. 

The authors noted that breed, age and sex didn’t particularly affect a dog’s TV behavior. Still, they believe that more research is required to understand what keeps pooches glued to the screen. 

Other researchers suggested that our animal friends are just watching because we are watching: Sitting together for shared screen time may offer companion bonding, even if the content itself isn’t always meaningful to the dog. 

“We’re sitting on the couch with them, and it’s an enjoyable, companion-level thing to do,” Freya Mowat, a veterinary ophthalmologist who was not involved in the study, told Popular Science.