Not only do puppies respond to television, but watching the tube may have a positive role in their development.

Researchers conducted controlled studies which exposed puppies to video images between 3 and 5 weeks of age. This was based on the principle we commonly call ‘socialisation‘ – that exposure to stimuli in puppyhood (particularly from about 3 weeks until  12-14 weeks) creates adult dogs that are less fearful and less anxious, and so impacts upon the temperament and coping style of the dog. The authors said, “puppies that are not exposed to particular kinds of environmental stimuli during this period have an increased likelihood of developing a fearful response to those stimuli, which may present clinically either as inappropriate avoidance behaviour, fearful withdrawal, or fear-related aggression”.

Because puppies at 3-5 weeks show no sign of fear when approaching objects, but start to have fearful responses at 5 weeks, and most puppies will display fear often as 7 week olds, it was theorised that exposing puppies to stimuli at 3-5 weeks may help shape future behaviour in a positive way.

Particularly, these researchers considered that puppies raised in sterile kennel environments (i.e. Dunbar’s ‘lemon puppies’) could be bettered though audiovisual stimulation. In other words, television as a remedy to the sub-standard socialisation in kennels.

In this experiment, puppies were raised in a ‘commercial’ establishment in a barren pen, with two meals a day, housed with mum.

The experiment used 7.16 minutes of video were 50% ‘animate’ (people, dogs, etc) and 50% ‘inanimate’ (such as traffic, vacuum cleaner, etc).  The television was played as ‘normal’ – not loud and not with modification to the colour composition of the screen.

Do puppies ‘do’ TV?

The first part of this research was to determine if puppies would view the television at all, considering that the images flick over at a high speed, which dogs should be able to recognise more like a sequence of still images rather than the motion that people.

48 puppies were tested, 23 males and 25 females, between 3.5 weeks-5.5 weeks (26-39 days) old. The puppies were of three different breeds: Maltese, Boomer (“small to medium crossbred dog with a mainly white coat”), and Jack Russel Terrier. The puppies were tested in groups of three in a 2.4m square area. Their behaviour was recorded on video, and each individual puppy’s behaviour was noted.

The researchers concluded that the puppies did respond to the television. In the control, they used a blank television (turned on but only playing black and playing no sound), and the puppies orientated and reacted to this less than half the times the experimental group orientated and reacted to the television playing footage.

So, yes, puppies do ‘do’ TV!

 

Are TV watching puppies also explorers?

The next part of the research was to determine if TV-watching puppies are more exploratory to their non-TV-watching counterparts.

The test group included 29 puppies from 9 different litters, that were boomers and JRTs. This group were exposed to the audiovisual for 30 minutes each day for a period of two weeks. The control group inlcuded 34 puppies from 9 litters, that were boomers and maltese, and they got a blank television (that was on, but only black black, soundless footage) for 30 minutes each day for two weeks.

These dogs were then tested in the same TV-viewing-area for orientation towards familiar (things seen on recorded videotape) and unfamiliar (stuff not seen on video) things.  A few hours later, the dogs were tested again, but in a different area.  Both of these interactions were recorded and interactions noted.

At 36 days (5 weeks), the exposed group made 75% less visits to the objects. That is, they explored less.

At 7-8 weeks, the pups were tested again.  The exposed puppies were less interested in exploring and investigating objects.  That is, they explored less.

And so the paper concludes: “Exploration can be instigated by motivational systems that are independent of fear or anxiety.  Some authors would suggest that an increased level of exploration results from the fact that a novel situation has rewarding properties, leading to the puppies demonstrating a higher level of curiosity-driven exploratory behaviour or that the level of deprivation experience by the control group compared to the exposed group has resulted in an extension of the approach period, and therefore that the puppies were actively seeking stimulation. However, the results of the third experiment indicate that the inreased motivation to explore was largely associated with fear.”

 

Are TV watching puppies less fearful?

Six litters were used to test fearful responses in pups who had previously been exposed to audiovisual.  These six litters compromised of: 2 Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Litters, 1 Jack Russel Terrier litter, 1 Beagle litter, and 2 Jack Russel Terrier x Beagle litters.  Like other studies, they were exposed 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks to the audiovisual, while the control were exposed to a television showing black and no sound.

These animals were put in an unfamiliar environment and their interactions with somewhat-familiar items (i.e. items from video tape) and unfamiliar items.  Their interactions were recorded and behaviour analysis took place.

Exposed puppies held their ears in a more neutral and sometimes partly held back way, while control puppies had their ears “partially and maximally back”.  When looking at the tails of the pups, control puppies moved their tails more and held them lower than the exposed puppies.  Puppies that were exposed to the video were less likely to have a crouched body position, and less likely to run.  Rats often run when experiencing a ‘high level of emotional reactivity’, so conclude the same for dogs.

 

What did we learn?

The study concludes that, firstly, yes, puppies pay attention to audiovisual playback at 3 to 5 weeks of age.  Additionally, daily exposure to audiovisual stimulation results in behaviour changes when these pups explore unfamiliar objects and environments, at least up to 3 weeks after exposure.

Why pups exposed to audiovisual stimulation are more confident is not known.  The pups could be benefiting from the experience itself, or may be noting items in the video and becoming desensitised to them.

 

Further Study

As all research does, this research calls for more research! But particularly indicated further research into uses for audiovisual in increasing ‘coping strategies’ for dogs.

The biggest flaw in this study is the discrepancies between breeds used in this research.  At one stage, 9 litters (8 boomers and 1 JRT) were used as experimental, and 9 litters (3 maltese and 6 boomers) were used as control.  This is really not suffice as a control, as breeds are known to behave in different ways.

It would’ve been great if these dogs could’ve been studied for a greater period of time, to see if these early life experiences made a difference into adulthood.

Furthermore, I wonder if there can be ‘too much of a good thing’. Is it possible for puppies to be exposed to so much television that it actually retards their social development?

 

Implications

Because puppies orientated towards the television, it is clear that puppies aged between 26-39 days can detect the visual and auditory stimuli originating from the video.  As the study says, “Expousre to video images may therefore be a means to decrease the enormous discrepancy between the limited range of stimuli that many kennel-reared puppies are exposed to in their maternal enviornment, and the great variety they are expected to adapt to during the rest of their life in modern society.”  Breeders can use television and video to improve the behaviour of their pups.

What I find particularly interesting is how simple this would be to implement, but also how this could also be easily enforced if needed.  I have often wondered how we could legislate that breeders have to provide socialisation to their puppies, and this may be an easy way to do so.  For example, we could necessitate that puppies are exposed to television from 3-8 weeks on a constant basis. Anyone tending to a breeding facility would be able to note whether a TV was running with the puppies and act accordingly. It’s such a simple way that large breeding facilities could use to improve socialisation at their facilities.

 

After reading this study, I had no hesitation in turning on a telly for my puppies.

 

Reference:

Pluijmakers, J., Appleby, D., & Bradshaw, J. (2010). Exposure to video images between 3 and 5 weeks of age decreases neophobia in domestic dogs Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 126 (1-2), 51-58 DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2010.05.006