Pets

There’s now a TV channel just for dogs. 

It’s called DogTV, it’s a cable network just for man’s best friend, and it launched last week in San Diego.

According to the co-founder Ron Levi, a lot of people laugh and think it’s a gimmick – but there’s actual science behind it. And he says, it’s a great opportunity to makes dogs happier while they’re home alone during the day – which is actually the most stressful time for pets.

Levi, who’s actually a cat owner, came up with the idea after watching how depressed his pet seemed as he got ready for work. So, like a lot of pet owners, he decided to leave the TV on. Then, he realized that the concept could apply to other pets as well – and spent the next three and a half years researching specialized content. 

Originally, programs included things that humans thought would appeal to dogs, like barking, but that only irritated the dogs in the test group. The shows now avoid loud noises that scare dogs, and definitely don’t show their arch enemy, cats.

DogTV has created nearly 800 programs for dogs, each around three to five minutes long to fit with a dogs’ limited attention span. 

The programs are designed to “relax, stimulate and expose” dogs to situations they come across in daily life, like car rides and trips to the park. Other programs include nature scenes set to soothing music, and dogs sleeping or resting.

While San Diego is the only city that has DogTV at the moment, cable carriers Cox and Time Warner are in talks to bring the programming to other cities in the next few months. 

But DogTV isn’t free. Since it can’t run advertising – since dogs don’t have money – the channel will cost $5 a month. But isn’t that a small price to pay to keep Max and Lucy happy and content while you’re gone all day?

And with over 78 million dogs in the U.S., that’s a lot of potential subscribers.