Finally, DOGS get a TV network of their very own - entertainment, while they guard the house

According to DOGTV CEO Gilad Neumann the concept" can act as a cure for the gnawing emotional distress that many housebound animals experience."

“Dogs spend many hours alone at home every day,” says Neumann. “As we work harder and both household members usually go out to work, dogs spend a lot more time at home. They’re very lonely, they’re bored, they suffer from separation-anxiety often and people look for solutions.”

Pet experts have long recommended that pet owners leave televisions or radios on for their lonely animals, said Neumann, and now there are shows optimied to grab hold of the animal’s attention, he tells Forbes.

Part of the deal includes changing colors to fit a dog’s eyesight. “Dogs are color blind,” Neumann explained. “They can only see blue and yellow, they can’t see red and green like humans do.”

"DOGTV’s accentuating certain colours may seem slightly bizarre for a human audience, but for canines it’s the difference between fascinating television and the kind of boredom that makes chewing up every pillow in the house seem like fun," says Forbes.

Content categories include relaxation, stimulation and exposure.

Exposure serves the purpose of providing dogs with a type of stress inoculation, Neumann explained. “We expose dogs to more challenging situations like doorbells, vacuum cleaners, riding in cars, children—things that they tend to be more stressful around. With the right volume of content we help them, basically, deal with it better.”

The channel is four years in the making, based on over 40 studies on animal behavior and senses, and the opinions of a three-person team of animal experts – Nicholas Dodman, Victoria Stilwell and Warren Eckstein. Another two years were spent on content development and testing the channel in the San Diego market.

DOGTV’s Direct TV launch will make the channel available in over 20 million households, 24 hours a day.

With dogs in about 40% of U.S. households, Neumann and Jasmine TV feel this idea will be a winner, especially since the company owns all of the content.

. Getting advertisers to pay for commercials watched only by pets"would be a truly Herculean if not Sisyphean task." says Forbes

.

But there will be an evening prime time block of content aimed at pet owners, focused on tips from the company’s team of pet experts. “During that time there’s an opportunity to do sponsorship and commercials,” said Neumann.