One of life’s few unpolluted pleasures is watching your pet experience a genuine Pavlovian response. Stephen, my handsome and wrinkly pit bull mix, brings me daily dinnertime joy when he bolts to his crate, clearly understanding when I touch the measuring cup that it’s time to feast.
A pup named Polly has gone viral for an equally sweet but way funnier reason: darting to her crate for bedtime upon hearing the closing theme music to the reality TV dating show Love Island. User "jonesbethc" posted the evidence on TikTok, showing Polly’s face perk up amid the pounding drums; then, when those slick synthesizers kick in, the dog looks back for confirmation and then obediently jumps off the bed and into her crate. "Polly knows the ending sound of love island means bedtime," jonesbethc wrote in the caption.
Based on the comments, a lot of fellow dog parents have a similar ritual with their furry friends. "When I say 'hello sky, turn off,' my dogs put themselves to bed," some wrote. Another added, "My cockapoo does this with the audible beep my Xbox makes when you turn it off."
The thread is filled with great responses:
"When I say 'Are you tired?' he goes straight to bed."
"Mine is the same except it’s when she hears the click of me turning my phone off."
"My dog does this, but when he hears me take my glasses off he knows it’s bed time."
"My dog used to do this to Grey’s Anatomy."
"Mine knows the sound of me turning off my PlayStation means bed."
"This is mine when I set up and close my laptop."
Max Dog On Computer GIF by CC0 StudiosGiphy
If you have a dog in your life, you probably know that they have other ways of experiencing television. And if you’re like my wife, you may even argue that your dog watches TV—as in, consumes it as a form of mental stimulation (and maybe even entertainment). There are plenty of videos floating around YouTube and social media of dogs trying to eat snacks off the screen or sitting attentively as they watch nature shows. The real question: What are they really doing?
The Guardian recently spoke to an expert on this phenomenon: Dr. Freya Mowat, a veterinary ophthalmologist and a professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison’s veterinary medicine school. In 2022, she conducted a worldwide survey of over 1,200 dog owners, documenting which types of visuals appealed most to pooches.
Netflix Popcorn GIF by TeamTOGiphy
"Most dogs most like watching dogs—just like people like watching people, I guess,” she said, noting that they like watching all animals. (Sadly for us, humans came in ninth out of 17 categories.) Because dogs’ eyes are more sensitive to movement than ours, they responded most to TV shows and films with lots of movement, particularly the sci-fi and action genres.
Seventy-eight percent approached the screen when interested, and 76% responded vocally. “We watch TV for enjoyment, for emotional realism, for whatever personal preferences we have,” Mowat told The Guardian. “I think dogs watch TV because they’re checking if it is real."
Since you can never have too much "cute dog" content in your life, I’d suggest revisiting this tear-jerking video of a blind-and-deaf dog enthusiastically greeting its owners.
