The lazy brown dog watched the quick ______ jump over the _____.
February 26, 2014 9:42 AM   Subscribe

My useless dog Truman seems to really enjoy watching a certain type of scene on TV. We've been stuck inside all winter and I know he'd rather be running around in big grassy fields. Please help me find some youtube videos for him to enjoy!

What seems to captivate him most are aerial shots of things moving quickly over green space, so that's what I'm looking for mostly.

Things that have totally captivated him:
-Nature videos of African animals running during a chase
-The scene in that one episode of Downton Abbey where they all go out on a fox hunt and you see all the dogs running followed by all the folks on horses
-Eye in the sky traffic cam footage
-A shot from a documentary on ants showing leafcutter ants carry cut leaves

He also watched this greyhound video about 20 times without taking his eyes off the screen.

So what I'm looking for is: 1) movement 2) usually of animals 3) as seen from above or at least from a distance 4) over a landscape that allows plenty of color differentiation from the animals.

And longer videos are better so I don't have to watch the same thing on repeat over and over!
posted by phunniemee to Media & Arts (18 answers total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
I don't know about dogs, but my cat likes similar things, and she was very much captivated by footage from the winter Olympics.
posted by Helga-woo at 9:44 AM on February 26, 2014


FENTON! remixed.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:50 AM on February 26, 2014


Dog TV on You Tube!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:52 AM on February 26, 2014


Best answer: Sorry if this is super obvious, but if you search "sheep herding" on youtube, there are a bunch of videos that meet all 4 of your criteria.
posted by baniak at 9:54 AM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


there's a business idea lurking in your question. you could monetize a channel "cattv" that consists entirely of birds and mice doing birdy, mousy things, and it would amuse and keep out of trouble your kitties. dogtv would be dogs, cats and rabbits. as long as cable companies continue to bundle channels, animal-haters could still be forced to pay for your content!
posted by bruce at 9:58 AM on February 26, 2014


In the "African animals running vein": my cat is totally into Big Cat Diary.

There's also the Hard Workin' Dog segment from Sesame Street, which is shorter and not too great in quality, but it's got lots of doggy running and the best song.
posted by Metroid Baby at 10:04 AM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


If Truman liked the greyhound video, you might interest him in Meatball. I warn you, though, you'll be exhausted after just one viewing!
posted by janey47 at 10:12 AM on February 26, 2014


My cat also liked some of the winter Olympics, but what she really enjoys is anything with birds or scurrying critters of any kind, big or small. She is especially aware of sounds. There was a show on once with local birds, and that really caught the cat's attention.
posted by mermayd at 10:34 AM on February 26, 2014


Aww.
It had to be said.


Ok to justify this comment, maybe this might entertain your dog nearly 3 whole minutes?
posted by glasseyes at 11:59 AM on February 26, 2014


Does he pay attention when you play video games? I've seen dogs go nuts for the cursor on Wii Sports, Mario jumping, etc and such.
posted by radioamy at 12:21 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Useless! He looks very useful.

Does he know any tricks? Can you teach him the names of his toys and play hide and seek?

Dog boredom has been a big problem around here since November. It's a hard season for smart dogs.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 12:43 PM on February 26, 2014


He might enjoy watching horse racing; just don't let him bet.
posted by essexjan at 12:52 PM on February 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


My dog Doctor loves Winged Migration, to the point that I had to buy it for him. But then, he's pretty much obsessed with birds, so YMMV.
posted by trip and a half at 12:56 PM on February 26, 2014


My cats really loved the Planet Earth series and Brother Bear. They also really like scenes of foxes, river otters, and bears, particularly if they're hunting.

I highly recommend Winged Migration...it's lovely, he'll LOVE it, and you can leave it on in the background.
posted by jrobin276 at 1:59 PM on February 26, 2014


Oh yes, my cat also enjoys One Man and his Dog. It's a British show of sheep dog trials. I bet if you plug that into YouTube you'll find some gems.
posted by Helga-woo at 3:06 PM on February 26, 2014


Aerial America? It's on the Smithsonian Channel, and maybe Netflix. It's got lots of, um, aerial footage, some of which involves things moving across the landscape. The landscapes themselves are often visually interesting.
posted by mollweide at 4:18 PM on February 26, 2014


My dog likes professional bull riding.
posted by Dr. Zira at 8:20 PM on February 26, 2014


Response by poster: So far sheep herding has been a tremendous hit! Have yet to move on to other things, but I'll check back in when we do.
posted by phunniemee at 10:10 AM on March 1, 2014


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