Dogs Watch TV
Dogs can see images and pictures in a similar way to humans. Dogs do have a limited colour palette, though, so they see blues and yellows the best. When you’re watching a movie on a big TV screen, dogs can see the pictures in their limited. This means that dogs can discern between people and animals on the screen.
TV Sounds
In addition to watching the pictures on TV, dogs can hear the sounds the TV makes. Dogs have much better hearing than humans. They can hear up to four times farther away. They can also hear higher frequencies, and they can differentiate between sounds. When a doorbell rings on the TV, it can sound like your actual home doorbell is ringing to your dog.
Reasons Dogs Bark at the TV
The reason why your dog is barking at the TV will differ depending on the dog and what’s happening on the television at the moment.
Confusion
Some dogs bark out of confusion. Your dog doesn’t understand the concept of a TV like humans do. This means that your dog gets confused when he runs around behind the TV and can’t find the animal or people that were on the screen.
Excitement
When dogs get excited, they tend to bark. Dogs can get excited while watching TV because of all the interesting sounds and images.
Habit
Some dogs are sensitive and bark at lots of moving objects. It stands to reason that they’ll also bark at moving objects on the television.
How to Stop Your Dog From Barking at the TV
No one wants to have to deal with a barking dog when trying to wind down for the night and have a quiet family movie night. If your dog frequently barks at the TV, you’ll have to implement some training to teach your dog that the TV is nothing to bark at. Once you’ve trained your dog to be quiet around the TV, you’ll be able to enjoy your family movie nights in peace again.
Reward them for Being Calm and Quiet
The best and easiest way to start training your dog to be quiet during TV time is to simply reward your dog for being calm and quiet. Pay close attention to your dog. When a sight or sound comes on that your dog would typically bark at, you want to immediately reward him for remaining quiet.
After you’ve rewarded your dog, allow him to look back at the TV. When he still remains quiet, reward him again. Keep repeating this process until the sight or sound is gone from the screen. The key is to ensure that you are rewarding your dog with a small treat right after another in order to keep him calm.
The idea of this training method is to teach your dog that the sight or sound on the screen isn’t scary. This is actually teaching your dog that the sight or sound on the screen means tasty treats are coming!
As you continue training and your dog gets used to this training protocol, he should start to look at you when the sight or sound comes on the screen. At this point, you can wean him off the treats. You can give him an occasional treat just to ensure that he understands that he still gets rewarded for being calm and quiet when the TV is on. Eventually, he should become calm and relaxed when the TV turns on.
Keep Him Occupied
If your dog really struggles with sights and sounds on the TV, it may be best to keep him occupied entirely. Keeping him busy with a puzzle game or frozen Kong would ensure that he’s distracted and doesn’t have time to focus on the sights or sounds. Pairing this fun activity filled with tasty food will also help him be calm around the TV.
Exercise First
Just like with people, dogs need to have some form of daily exercise. Otherwise, they become bored and can even become annoying or destructive. When you know you’re going to have a family movie night, it’s best to exercise your dog beforehand. A few rounds of fetch in the backyard will tire him out so that he’ll relax comfortably during the movie and not be as tempted to bark.
Conclusion
Not all dogs bark at the TV, but when they do, it can be very disruptive. Dogs bark for a number of reasons, but it’s mostly just because they’re excited or confused. Barking at the TV isn’t a problem for your dog, but it may be a problem for you when you’re startled or can’t hear the TV.
If your dog has particular sights or sounds that he barks at, it’s best to work on a training protocol so that he can learn to ignore those sights or sounds. If he still can’t calm down while you’re watching TV, try offering a puzzle toy or frozen Kong to keep him occupied.
Movie nights should be fun for the whole family. Make sure you incorporate your dog and use training techniques and toys to keep him occupied so that everyone can have a relaxing and quiet night together.
