Recently, I was entrusted with pup-sitting the family dog, which became a little sticky when I made plans to hang out with my girlfriends. This pup is still young, and has recently become the only dog of the house, so she’s still figuring out how to enjoy her own company. I was worrying about what to do, and how to best make her feel comfortable being alone for a few hours, when I remembered what my parents had gotten in the habit of doing: leaving the Disney Channel on for her.
When I first heard this, I laughed it off, because it certainly sounds ridiculous. But the more I thought about it, the more I was willing to give it a shot. Many fellow pet owners have recently attested to me that leaving sound on for their pets reduces their anxiety when home alone. Just a few weeks ago, I was over at a friend’s house and we discovered most of his older brother’s YouTube searches were for 24/7 Cat Entertainment Livestreams. We got a kick out of the mouse-running-in-and-out-of-holes-in-the-wall livestream, in particular.
I was a little worried that the overstimulation of cable TV would be a little too much for our neurotic pup, so instead of leaving the Disney Channel on, I tried leaving one of those 24/7 Bluey livestreams on. In case you haven’t heard of those, there really are 24/7 streams of Bluey episodes that are constantly running on YouTube. I only know of them because, when Bluey became television’s newest It Girl, I’d try to find episodes online and had to wade through several constant livestreams just to find one free episode. It’s definitely more than a little dystopian, but I figured it was worth a shot for a few reasons.
First of all, the “Dog Entertainment” videos tended to be of things that would overstimulate her, instead of calm her down, like videos of squirrels running around, or other dogs barking at each other. My poor baby would hate that! Second, my parents watch so much TV that just the sound of a regular old TV show would probably be soothing for her. Third, I only found out about Bluey in the first place because this person’s dog loved it so much:
So I bit the bullet and left my sweet child alone with a non-stop Bluey barrage. And you know what? That little weirdo loved it.
I came home a few hours later to paws, kisses, and more paws. We had a love-fest, where I apologized profusely for leaving her alone. I figured she wouldn’t be able to leave my side after the terrible ordeal I put her through, oh what a bad mama I was going out to the beach for drinks, etc. etc.
But you know what? That dog got over it real quick, because she had more Bluey to watch. She grabbed her chewy-stick and sat on the couch, facing the TV, and just got right back to work. She was relaxed as could be. And I, wiped from a full day of babysitting and being social in Los Angeles (a.k.a. lotsa driving), kicked up my feet and watched it right there with her.
And that’s how I spent my Mother’s Day. Dogs love the cartoon about dogs—who’d have thought?
(featured image: Nickelodeon/Ludo Studio)
