Do Dogs Enjoy Movies?

Flow was one of the greatest cinematic success stories of 2024. The movie, which follows a black cat and its animal companions trying to survive a flood in a post-apocalyptic world, won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, making it the first independent film to do so. But Flow hasn’t just won over humans; dogs seem to love it, too. Social media has been flooded with videos of canines appearing to “watch” the film. That raises the question: Do dogs get anything out of watching images on a screen, and what is it about Flow specifically that seems to entrance them?

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently investigated the matter, NPR reports. For their 2024 study, they asked 1246 dog owners to examine their pet’s behaviors around screens. Eighty-six percent (1077) of participants stated that their dogs appeared to watch the content. Additionally, most animals exhibited behaviors associated with excitement. Seventy-eight percent of canines walked up to the screen, while 76 percent vocalized. Perhaps unsurprisingly, seeing animal characters evoked the strongest reactions. The four-legged participants seemed most engaged when their fellow canines appeared on screen. 

Furthermore, the study indicated that various factors, such as age, eyesight, and breed also influenced interest levels. Sporting and herding dog breeds were more likely to pay attention to televisions; the same was true for younger dogs with healthy vision.

One reason dogs may be more interested in media starring animals is the audio component. In the case of Flow, the usage of real animal sounds might explain its popularity among pets. A real cat, lemurs, and a baby camel were called in to voice the film’s animal cast. Matiss Kaza, producer and co-writer of Flow, also suspects that these sounds are what the pets watching at home are really interested in.

Even if you catch your dog watching TV, they aren’t seeing the same visual information you are. For starters, people only need 16 to 20 frames per second to see on-screen movement, while dogs require at least 70. Dogs might be more drawn to modern TV sets because they usually have faster frame rates and produce smoother pictures than older models. The species is also great at detecting movements across screens because of their sharp peripheral vision and numerous rod cells. Since dogs can only see blues, greens, and yellows, media featuring these colors may stick out more to them. In short, media with animals, a frame rate over 70, and a blue, green, and yellow color palette is most likely to get your pet’s attention.

Research suggests that dogs do engage with screen content, but whether or not it can relax them, as countless YouTube videos claim, is still unclear. The University of Wisconsin-Madison study, which documented over 75 percent of dogs barking or whining at the TV, actually points to the opposite. If you’re curious about how dogs react to music on its own, here’s what the science says.

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