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A Shaggy Dog TV Story. · Mark and Pete

• 0:05
  A shaggy dog TV story. Welcome to Mark and Pete, where
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  at last, at last, we have television for dogs.
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  We all love dogs, especially here on the Mark and Pete Show.
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  We are Mark and Pete 2 blokes with half an opinion.
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  Here's our first thought. The idea of TV for dogs may be a
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  canine fad as the hounds fight tooth and claws, but the idea
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  drives you barking mad, so it's best to just.
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  Press Pause. Yes, well of course and you'll
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  see if your little paws are out there, you may be watching
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  YouTube Siesta Dog TV. Yes, a couple from Spain have
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  decided that this is a good idea.
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  Videos of dogs looking at all sorts of different doggy
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  activities. There are cartoons and much fun
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  to be played across the screen. Now Mr. Pete, you are a dog
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  owner, you are a dog lover and you have been for many, many
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  years. What say you about this idea to
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  entertain your little pet? Now there's two sides to this
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  Mark. This is a very serious issue.
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  Of course. Yes, I do love dogs.
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  I have a dog in the studio with me now, as you know, who's just
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  in a siesta. He's sleeping nicely.
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  Now the this particular dog and other dogs that I've owned, I
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  would love, I'd love to them to have calming TV to reduce their
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  anxiety, which is one way I think way.
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  One reason for producing that's put forward to help them to
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  sleep, to have a siesta. However, my dog pays absolutely
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  no attention and none of the dogs I've owned have given any
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  attention to screens. He just sees them as flickering
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  lights. However, that doesn't mean that
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  this wouldn't work because there's also in television,
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  whether it's a YouTube channel or a conventional channel, you
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  have sound as well. And he does respond to sound,
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  particularly that of other animals, maybe some a cheerful
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  little puppy dog sounds or sounds of a dog seeping and
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  snoring, right might induce him to become.
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  I think that would be more of an effect.
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  It's the the the the I've noticed that The thing is, he
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  doesn't respond to the visuals. A screen, it being flat just
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  looks like, you know, some lights shining at him to the to
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  the dog, but sounds he will respond to, particularly if he
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  recognise a voice. So you could maybe have maybe be
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  better for me to just record myself, say there's a good dog,
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  go to sleep now. Yes, he's just responding now.
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  There's a good dog, that sort of thing.
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  Yes, well now here's a here's a little bit of interest.
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  So a couple of years ago a study from Canine Behaviour Centre Yes
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  at Queen's University Belfast looked at the reaction of 50
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  dogs in a rescue centre to different screens.
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  Now what it found was the dogs spent only 10.8% of the total
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  available viewing time looking directly at the television
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  monitor. Exactly, exactly my point.
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  One of the the reporters said, and the researcher said the dogs
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  in this investigating directly and relatively little attention
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  towards the television monitor monitors and habituated to their
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  presence with a short period of time, meaning it didn't hold
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  their attention. Now there will be some points of
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  difference here because as you say, when you look at a screen,
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  it's not just the visual, it's the audio that comes through it.
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  Now I think that the two really go in harmony for human beings,
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  but for dogs we've got a different obviously experience
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  here. And then and I think that the
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  other thing is, is that the way that dogs see the world in
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  colour or black and white and the audio, the pitch of sound,
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  of course it's different. You know, dogs can hear things
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  that are higher pitch than a human being and so on.
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  Now, I think that this is, let's be honest, let's be, I think
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  it's a, it's a great idea. Now, some owners who apparently
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  has subscribed to this particular TV channel saying
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  it's a great idea. Some, some of their little
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  puppies and some of their dogs love it because remember, it's
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  not just actual footage of dogs. So there are cartoons on it as
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  well, so. The.
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  Actual visual image is slightly different, but but either way,
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  I'm going to say I think this is a bit of ATV stunt and I, I
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  must, I must ask you. So you're, you're not somebody
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  who subscribes to this idea. I I I suspect.
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  No, I don't think it's going to be.
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  Looking. At something else, yes.
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  I don't think it's it's effective.
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  I don't think it's effective for a dog because they don't look at
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  the screen. I think there is an issue that
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  you sort of alluded to there about the dogs responding or
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  being able to hear high pitch screens which are high pitched
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  sounds which can emanate from TV's and computers.
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  So it may well be preventing them from relaxing.
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  It's just a possibility that I mentioned.
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  I don't think research has been done on that.
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  But what this does show though is I have a different view on
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  it. It shows the love that people
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  have for their animals, for their dogs, and an expression of
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  love is good. That's this sort of love.
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  It's really for many dogs actually.
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  And a love that you show to the dog.
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  The dog sort of shows it back, but then he goes and craps on
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  your carpet, you know, I mean, dogs, not speaking from
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  experience, obviously, but dogs you see are are excellent for
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  you learning to love without them being able to contribute to
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  yourself in return. It's a great way for children
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  growing up to learn how to care for people and to love them, to
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  love a dog. Now I say the dog dogs don't
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  love you back in that way. They're not able to take care of
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  you, but they do love you back. I mean, I guess if we behave all
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  behaved more like dogs, then we the, the world might be a better
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  place. You know, dogs always rush to be
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  the first one to greet someone who comes to the door and then
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  greet them enthusiastically. They love going for long walks
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  and enjoying the time time outside.
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  And then they're able to sleep almost anywhere and just relax.
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  I mean, if we were more like a dog, maybe we would have a
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  better life. But dogs are dogs being loved.
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  It's think it's a good side. It's a healthy thing in society.
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  Not everyone loves them, but so many people do.
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  It shows that they're loving people.
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  It helps them to develop their sense of compassion.
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  So an expression of that is this YouTube channel with a siesta
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  for dogs help helping them to see whether or not it works.
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  I like that the impulse comes from a love for the pet that you
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  own. Well, according to the owners of
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  the channel, they say that the video content is mental
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  stimulation for your pets and that is something which is of a
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  benefit. But I can't really see this
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  working. I think that for any dog just
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  simply glued to the TV, surely after hours they'd just be
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  completely dog tired.