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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / For the Doubters

For the Doubters

by John Cole|  February 10, 20096:49 pm| 69 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging

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In the last thread with Ginny and Guesly, there was some doubt in the comments section whether or not the dogs were actually watching the Super Bowl. Dad sends along this picture of the puppies watching the Westminster Dog Show last night, when a dog that looks like a neighbor’s dog was on the screen:

Click for a bigger image.

The defense rests.

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Reader Interactions

69Comments

  1. 1.

    SGEW

    February 10, 2009 at 6:53 pm

    Shopped. Pixels are all wrong. I have seen many photoshopped pics so I can tell.

    Wake up sheeples!

  2. 2.

    Joshua Norton

    February 10, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    Just remembered part of an old "how many dogs does it take to change a light bulb" joke that goes through all the breeds and their answers:

    JACK RUSSELL TERRIER: I’ll just pop it in while I’m bouncing off the walls and furniture.

    CAT: Dogs do not change light bulbs. People change light bulbs. So, the question is: How long will it be before I can expect light? Will you people hurry up?!

  3. 3.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    February 10, 2009 at 6:56 pm

    And they are apparently barking at the screen. Man, I love dogs.

  4. 4.

    Stuck

    February 10, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    And wisely put the screen on the high ground.

  5. 5.

    fledermaus

    February 10, 2009 at 7:08 pm

    Wait a second, I thought dogs couldn’t look up?

  6. 6.

    Zifnab

    February 10, 2009 at 7:11 pm

    @SGEW: Check the kerning! The kerning!

  7. 7.

    robertdsc

    February 10, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    So, the question is: How long will it be before I can expect light? Will you people hurry up?!

    Great. Perfect for a chuckle

    Nice TV. How big is it?

  8. 8.

    Michael D.

    February 10, 2009 at 7:18 pm

    You can tell it’s a Photoshop because no one in West Virginia has this kind of a setup.

    Now, if it was a 1978 floor model TV with a 14″ color sitting on top of it, then it would be believable!

  9. 9.

    passerby

    February 10, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    Cute!

    Maybe they can only see Hi-Def?

  10. 10.

    Andre

    February 10, 2009 at 7:20 pm

    The fact that we haven’t been provided with evidence that this is not a photoshop is further proof that the Obama Administration is a failure.

  11. 11.

    IncandenzaH

    February 10, 2009 at 7:23 pm

    My pug watches TV way too much. Always has. And we can’t put anything from Animal Planet on. Ever. She keeps jumping up toward the TV warning them from jumping out of the screen, or at least we imagine that to be the case. But maybe that’s just her way of showing enjoyment and recognition for what’s on the screen. Oh, to read a dog’s mind sometimes.

  12. 12.

    Stuck

    February 10, 2009 at 7:26 pm

    The Dogs were just barking at the empty mantle, so it was easy to add a photoshop Teevee. Or maybe the Teevee was already there and the dogs were barking at the moon, or the mailman and brought in the photo. Or was it nothing existed and it was all a pixelment of the imagination?

    Has anybody inspected the mantle top?

  13. 13.

    alhutch

    February 10, 2009 at 7:27 pm

    That is a great shot…and Bostons should be barked at!

  14. 14.

    shortstop

    February 10, 2009 at 7:28 pm

    Are they howling? How hilarious.

  15. 15.

    southpaw

    February 10, 2009 at 7:31 pm

    It is cute. Still, I don’t know that (1) dogs attentively watching images of other dogs proves conclusively that (2) said dogs had watched images of a human-dominated sporting event with a similar level of attention. But definitely cute.

  16. 16.

    lee

    February 10, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    For this evenings entertainment, please goto

    The Agitator

    (our favorite libertarian)

    And start reading the posts regarding the Illinois RLC.

    Then read the comments.

    Full of wing-nut fail.

    Looks like John beat me to it.

    Sorry

  17. 17.

    Mike S

    February 10, 2009 at 7:41 pm

    Think Progress has this up today:

    During the campaign, Barack Obama made clear that he supports the Freedom of Choice Act and would like to sign it into law as president. The pro-choice piece of legislation would essentially “repeal the Federal Abortion Ban and other federal restrictions on abortion care, as well as codify the protections of Roe nationwide.” Today on the floor of the Missouri House during debate on the legislation, state Rep. Bryan Stevenson (R) compared it to the Civil War:

    “What we are dealing with today is the greatest power grab by the federal government since the war of northern aggression,” Stevenson said, R-Webb City, referring what Southern states called the North’s attempt to end slavery in the 1860s.

    The remark caused a sudden gasp heard throughout the House’s chamber.
    Stevenson later apologized on the floor for any “offense” his comments caused. He was urged to do so by African-American Rep. Don Calloway (D), who pointed out that the Civil War helped abolish slavery and it was “inappropriate to refer to that war as the war of northern aggression.” (HT: Show Me Progress)

    And the GOP wonders why their minority outreach doesn’t work. I expect a full throated defense of this from Chairman Steele.

  18. 18.

    SGEW

    February 10, 2009 at 7:44 pm

    I prefer the "Treasonous Southern Slave Owner Rebellion," but that might just be me.

  19. 19.

    Jess

    February 10, 2009 at 7:52 pm

    I don’t know about tv, but my kitty loves certain pieces of music, usually melodic with strings. Especially the Persian/electro group Axiom of Choice. My last kitty liked Garbage–something about Shirley Manson’s voice really appealed to her.

  20. 20.

    Conservatively Liberal

    February 10, 2009 at 7:55 pm

    @Mike S:

    Makes sense to me, coming from a regional party that basically represents the south. Almost 150 years later and the south still can’t get over losing the war traitorous uprising, but now it’s the Republicans who are bemoaning it.

    The more things change the more they stay the same.

  21. 21.

    joe from Lowell

    February 10, 2009 at 7:59 pm

    “What we are dealing with today is the greatest power grab by the federal government since the war of northern aggression,”

    Damn Canadians. Fifty-four forty or fight!

  22. 22.

    Wile E. Quixote

    February 10, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    @passerby

    Cute!
    Maybe they can only see Hi-Def?

    There was an experiment done with octopi where they watched them respond to images shown on HDTV. The experimenter hypothesized that their visual system was so sophisticated that they saw standard TV at 24fps (this was in Australia) as a series of still pictures and hence didn’t react to it.

  23. 23.

    joe from Lowell

    February 10, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    Lowell honors the men who fell in the War of the Rebellion with a statue.

    It’s a wing-ed Nike, holding an olive wreath aloft, as if to place it on the brow of the downtown.

    Neener neener neener.

  24. 24.

    demkat620

    February 10, 2009 at 8:04 pm

    Is it just me or are those dogs getiing cuter? And why are there pillows behind the TV?

  25. 25.

    amorphous

    February 10, 2009 at 8:07 pm

    @Mike S: And he apparently went to Georgetown? How…?

  26. 26.

    John Cole

    February 10, 2009 at 8:08 pm

    So Ali Veltre or whatever on CNN just said the reason the market tanked is because they were disappointed they did not find out how the other 350 billion was going to be dispersed.

    Fucking welfare queens. They didn’t get their check so they had a tantrum.

  27. 27.

    lilly Von Schtupp

    February 10, 2009 at 8:09 pm

    Dogs can look up? D’oh! Someone upthread beat me to it!

  28. 28.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    February 10, 2009 at 8:10 pm

    I love the puppy pads that are in view, do they actually use them John or are they peeing all over the place (one reason that I got rid of all carpets in the house after hurricane Floyd) maybe your parents should get vinyl or hardwood floors.

  29. 29.

    demkat620

    February 10, 2009 at 8:10 pm

    @John Cole: Steve Pearlstein of the WAPO described it as pissed of because tractor trailers full off money were not sent to them today. He reminded Tweety it is not the gubmint’s job to make Wall Street happy.

  30. 30.

    Stuck

    February 10, 2009 at 8:15 pm

    Just got thru watching a press conference from today on cspan about a recent trip house wingnuts took to Iraq and Afghanistan. For some GOP general arrogance and specific disrespect to President Obama, you might want to watch. I only saw the last 15 min (it’s 32 minutes long) but listen to John McCue the ranking gop member of the HOuse Armed Services committee consistently refer to Obama as Senator Obama and when asked if he’d talked to the Administration about something, he replied – depends on which administration you mean with a smirk, and went on to describe his talks with military commanders. I didn’t hear any of them refer to President Obama, it was either the President, or CinC, or Senator Obama.

    Asshats, one and all.

  31. 31.

    SGEW

    February 10, 2009 at 8:22 pm

    O/T

    Ambinder has a very interesting post on the state secrets controversy.

    So as not to dirty up this joint more than I already have, I guess the appropriate thread is back here.

  32. 32.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    February 10, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    This is becoming sick people. A woman in the crowd at an Obama rally says she is homeless, so someone feeling sorry for them gives them a house to stay in. According to Malkin THIS IS BAD

    http://michellemalkin.com/2009/02/10/update-henrietta-hughes-gets-a-house/

    These people have fucking lost the plot. I mean really.

    Oh and check out the comments, these are possibly the most vile and evil racist fucks that have ever posted comments on a blog.

  33. 33.

    Laura W

    February 10, 2009 at 8:30 pm

    @SGEW:

    So as not to dirty up this joint more than I already have

    Fuckhead and I appreciate you filling in for us tonight.

    Jesus, John…I see your point about Campbell Brown’s doubling in size in the upper body area. Her chest is nearly as big as Olbermann’s head.
    BTW: That’s a super great photo of the puppies. Y’all should post it on one of those pet blogging blogs with high traffic.
    Er…

  34. 34.

    Nicole

    February 10, 2009 at 8:36 pm

    Two linkys to make you go awww, since the news is so depressing today. First to keep with the dog blogging theme:

    6 Utterly Loyal Dogs

    And because it’s nice to be reminded some people aren’t too good to be true:
    15 Reasons Mr Rogers Was the Greatest Neighbor Ever

    I actually cried a little when I read the part about Koko the gorilla.

  35. 35.

    jnfr

    February 10, 2009 at 8:44 pm

    Those dogs would rather have watched the Puppy Bowl than the Super Bowl. I did.

  36. 36.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    February 10, 2009 at 8:45 pm

    @Nicole:
    Damn that utterly loyal dogs thing had me blubbering like a baby. Thanks. I think.

  37. 37.

    John Cole

    February 10, 2009 at 8:51 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: So now private charity is bad? I thought that private charity was what they wanted instead of the welfare state…

    These are seriously unhinged people.

  38. 38.

    Stuck

    February 10, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    @John Cole:

    When ali turns a certain way the sheen from his waxed noggin paints a rosy picture that shouldn’t be underestimated. And has anybody seen him and Joe the Plumbumbler together?

  39. 39.

    OriGuy

    February 10, 2009 at 8:54 pm

    Today on the floor of the Missouri House during debate on the legislation, state Rep. Bryan Stevenson® compared it to the Civil War

    Maybe Rep. Stevenson should be reminded which side Missouri was on in the Civil War. (It wasn’t the Confederacy!)

  40. 40.

    Comrade Mary, Would-Be Minion Of Bad Horse

    February 10, 2009 at 8:55 pm

    “What we are dealing with today is the greatest power grab by the federal government since the war of northern aggression,”

    Damn Canadians. Fifty-four forty or fight!

    Hey, we only wandered around PA, we didn’t actually conquer it.

    And this a great comment from MetaFilter about Mister Rogers.

  41. 41.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    February 10, 2009 at 9:01 pm

    @Michael D.: Right outta the park!

  42. 42.

    mgordon

    February 10, 2009 at 9:04 pm

    My parents have the same wood burning stove miniature.

  43. 43.

    bago

    February 10, 2009 at 9:05 pm

    Eww. Now I have malkinstench.

  44. 44.

    passerby

    February 10, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    @Wile E. Quixote:

    Thanks for the link. That was a fascinating experiment. A naturalist guide at the local aquarium estimated an octopus’s intelligence to be approx. that of a cat. But in the study you linked to, an octopus has enough sense to open a jar of vegemite would seem to suggest they are smarter.

    I don’t understand her conclusion, though, about octopi not having individual personalities. Wonder how she was defining "personality".

    Interesting anyway.

  45. 45.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    February 10, 2009 at 9:13 pm

    @John Cole:

    We have not even begun to plumb the depths of the depravity that these people are willing to drill.

  46. 46.

    kay

    February 10, 2009 at 9:24 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    Read the whole thing. They think the house was a gift, and the taxes will "bankrupt the poor woman".

    It’s about tax cuts, really, that woman’s story, when you strip away the pork barrel gift-giving.

  47. 47.

    Church Lady

    February 10, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    John, I absolutely believe you. The dog show was on and Linus (our Lab) walked through the room, saw the dogs on the TV and went crazy, barking and jumping up and down. Yes, dogs definitely notice other dogs on TV. But then again, if they hear a doorbell ring on TV, they tend to bark at that, too.

  48. 48.

    Martin

    February 10, 2009 at 9:38 pm

    But in the study you linked to, an octopus has enough sense to open a jar of vegemite would seem to suggest they are smarter.

    The cat would threaten bodily harm until you did it. I think that makes the cat smarter.

  49. 49.

    Krista

    February 10, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    And because it’s nice to be reminded some people aren’t too good to be true: 15 Reasons Mr Rogers Was the Greatest Neighbor Ever

    I adore Mister Rogers. I didn’t actually watch his show as a kid, as I was more of a Mister Dressup fan (his Canadian counterpart). But as I grew older, I started to really appreciate Fred Rogers’ gentle heart, quiet wisdom and open acceptance and love of all human beings.

    In my wedding album, on the very last page, I printed out the lyrics to "It’s You I Like". I thought it was more beautiful and true than any love poetry I had ever seen.

  50. 50.

    Face

    February 10, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    We just babysat a dog that ignored all TV….unless the Nextel commercial came on, and she’d bark like mad at that nextel beep noize……go fig

  51. 51.

    AnneLaurie

    February 10, 2009 at 9:49 pm

    Stevenson later apologized on the floor for any “offense” his comments caused. He was urged to do so by African-American Rep. Don Calloway (D), who pointed out that the Civil War helped abolish slavery and it was “inappropriate to refer to that war as the war of northern aggression.”

    In Stevenson’s world, first the Dern Gummint took away his ownership rights to all the world’s Not-White-People, and now they’re trying to take away his ownership rights to every woman’s uterus. It’s not that he would actually be able to afford a personal slave, or that he could successfully dictate his wife’s/daughter’s/sister’s/neighbor’s reproductive choices, but what right does the government have to aggress against his God-given ownership rights?

  52. 52.

    Krista

    February 10, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    And John, I do believe you that the dogs were watching TV. I was just astonished that they were ignoring the camera. Anytime I try to take a picture of Gibby when he’s watching TV, he just turns around and sticks his giant Airedale nose right in the camera.

  53. 53.

    AlanDownunder

    February 10, 2009 at 9:55 pm

    25 frames per second might fool us humans, but it can’t fool a dog.

    If it’s not photoshopped, they’re either barking back at the speakers, or they’re retards.

  54. 54.

    Montysano

    February 10, 2009 at 9:59 pm

    Purty pitchers: why I live in Alabama.

  55. 55.

    Laura W

    February 10, 2009 at 10:12 pm

    @Montysano: Those last 3 waterfall shots are amazing. They are all great.

  56. 56.

    John O

    February 10, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    Alan Downunder,

    I used to subscribe to your theory, but after I got HD both my cats and the dog guests tended to pay a bit more attention to the TV.

    One of my cats clearly watched.

    So I’m not so sure. One thing I AM sure of is that most of God’s creatures are a little smarter, a little better at something us humans aren’t seeing, than we think.

    It’s in the who cares category for me, since critters are great fun to me pretty much across the board.

  57. 57.

    Calouste

    February 10, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    @Mike S:

    Maybe we should start a second War of Northern Agression.

    I mean, only after they lost the Second War of French Agression did the Germans stop moaning about their loss in the first.

  58. 58.

    former capitalist

    February 10, 2009 at 10:19 pm

    @passerby: Why would an octupus, or a human for that matter, want to open a jar of vegemite?

  59. 59.

    Jess

    February 10, 2009 at 10:43 pm

    @former capitalist:

    Win.
    I was just wondering the same thing. Not so impressed by the intelligence of octopi now.

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne

    February 10, 2009 at 11:29 pm

    One of our cats watches TV, especially if there’s a black-and-white movie on TCM. Sometimes we come home and discover she’s turned the TV in the office on (the switch is on the top where she can step on it, she’s not quite smart enough to figure out how to work an on/off switch) and we’ll catch her watching a movie. She’ll watch other stuff, too, but usually not for more than 15 minutes or so.

    Other cat couldn’t care less about TV.

  61. 61.

    Tattoosydney

    February 11, 2009 at 3:26 am

    @former capitalist:

    Heathen.

    You will never understand Vegemite unless it was put in your milk bottle from the age of 6 months.

  62. 62.

    gsp

    February 11, 2009 at 3:44 am

    You the man, Cole. Good to see a Boston on your site even though it’s on TV.

    Boy those dogs sure grew since the last time I saw them (when the dogs were on a neighbour/friend’s lap).

  63. 63.

    Cat Lady

    February 11, 2009 at 8:39 am

    There was a show on PBS in the late ’70s narrated by Robert Redford that was about caribou in Alaska being hunted by wolves. My husky sat and watched for an hour, getting closer and closer to the TV, tracking the wolves on the screen and would howl when the wolves did. This was way before high def and big screens. My husky was as dumb as a hammer about everything else, especially cars, alas. Also.

  64. 64.

    Mino

    February 11, 2009 at 8:44 am

    Apparently, the speed of the cat’s brain varies significantly and, in slower-brained cats, it is close enough to "get" the
    proper effect from a TV. I have a torby cat that has the slow brain; the others show no attraction.

    But I still don’t understand the rabbit, who kicks the sides of its cage whenever it hears Robert Plant sing.

  65. 65.

    donnah

    February 11, 2009 at 12:16 pm

    Our dog Wendy watches tv when there is a lot of action. Once, when a gazelle ran across the screen, she followed it and then ran around to the side of the tv to see where it went.

    My aunt had a Boston terrier many years ago who stood in front of their console tv and watched it devotedly. If any of us stood in front of him to block the screen, he would get up and walk around us so he could see again. If we blocked him a second time, (we tortured this poor dog) he would bark at us until we moved.

  66. 66.

    scarshapedstar

    February 11, 2009 at 12:38 pm

    My dog ignores the TV even if I play a video of him running around and barking.

  67. 67.

    ghinterm

    February 11, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    My dog (RIP) used to watch tv all the time. First dog I’ve ever had that actually saw images on tv. She got excited (ie barking at tv, bumping nose into tv, etc) seeing other animals, people fighting, and some sports, luckily not ones I watch. You could tell she was getting old when she got too lazy to get up when dogs were on tv.

  68. 68.

    Bob Weber

    February 11, 2009 at 8:16 pm

    The picture on the TV screen looks too good to be true. I vote Photoshop. That being said, I’ve owned many dogs and one actually would sit and watch television. All the others never paid any attention to the TV, not even to audio of dogs barking, and these were very territorial dogs who would bark as soon as any other dog in the neighborhood barked.

  69. 69.

    Griswald Goulton

    February 14, 2009 at 12:06 am

    Studies have been done on dogs watching TV, tests that I have seen seem to agree with my own experience.
    Dogs with a short snout and eyes more to the front of the head (Pugs) seem to be stimulated by fast moving things on TV, while German Shepherds seem to be disinterested.
    The tests were done with only a few breeds.

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