There’s a reason your dog hates you watching Severance
It's the dark thriller TV series we can't get enough of, but our dogs think different
As you're settling down to watch the latest episode of Severance, it might be worth keeping an eye on your pet.
While we've been enjoying the latest happenings at Lumon as the second season gets underway, it seems our dogs might not be such fans.
On Reddit, one user noted that when they sat down to watch the latest episode of Apple TV's Severance, their dog's behaviour changed. Instead of acting calm and placid like normal, they were whimpering and pacing while the TV show aired.
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Others have said similar, with some people on TikTok revealing their dogs 'went into hiding' while the show was on the TV, only returning once it had finished.
We know a dog's hearing can be much stronger than ours, but could it be that the soundtrack and noises from the TV show are impacting our pets?
Why is the Severance soundtrack impacting dogs?
Courtney Campbell, a veterinary surgeon, explained to The Washington Post: "It can be very stimulating. We all know from having a dog whistle when we were younger that they can hear ... in higher frequencies. They’re way too high-pitched for us to hear, but dogs can hear that."
The Emmy-award-winning show wasn't created with the intention of upsetting pets.
However, Jacob Ribicoff, the rerecording mixer for Severance, has now given his thoughts and commented on the weird phenomenon. He shared: "Even though [executive producer] Ben Stiller and the team tend to favor low end sounds, I consistently used some high pitched sounds.
"These would happen around the elevator transitions, the high pitched beep for the card scan, the elevator dings (which are airplane alert dings), and the fritzy sound you hear when you see the characters’ eyes fluttering at the moment of transition [between selves].
"That sound is a combination of crackly static and tiny, sharp, high-pitched tones."
He added: "The key in this show is to go from the ordinary to the surreal, which can be creepy and unsettling."
Is it just noise that's affecting dogs?
Freya Mowat, a veterinary ophthalmologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison’s school of veterinary medicine, has also revealed it could be down to what the dogs are seeing rather than hearing. The way our TV shows are put together could be confusing our pet pooches, and mean they struggle to understand it isn't real.
She explained: "We totally know it’s a virtual space and we’re just enjoying it.
"Whereas, I would say for the most part, dogs don’t make that strong reality versus virtual differentiation."
She also revealed that the way we react as viewers could also be putting our pets on edge.
She shared: "Your actions as the human in the room are often way more salient to the dog than anything else that’s going on, because you have an extremely strong social bond with your animal, and you may be somewhat unaware of that."
If you're finding your dog is having a strong reaction to Severance (or any TV show for that matter), then the Dog's Trust suggest looking at rewarding relaxed behaviours and offering them treats when they show signs of being calm and not reacting.
Topics: Dog, Entertainment, TV And Film, Pets, Science
Niamh Spence