Israeli company launches TV channel for canines.

Television really is going to the dogs, thanks to an Israeli media company, haaretz.com reports.

Canines in San Diego, California, will now have a chance to be entertained by TV images of happy dogs, people playing soccer and relaxing piano music while their owners are at work. All of this can be accessed through a television network intended solely for dogs that was launched on Monday. "We love our dogs so much that we feel guilty about leaving them alone at home," said Gilad Neumann, CEO of DOGTV.

He said the content is backed up by research, which shows that the programs shown on the network relax dogs and stimulate their imagination, thus keeping them healthy and satisfied.

The network is operated by Jasmine TV, a subsidiary of Yossi Uzrad's Israel-based Jasmine Group international holding corporation.

Unlike other channels, every frame and every sound on DOGTV has been calibrated for all dogs, said Nicholas Dodman, the network's chief scientist and program director of the animal behavior department of clinical sciences at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

Dodman said the network provides the visual and audio stimulation dogs need during the day, since dogs left home alone tend to be depressed. This is expressed in a loss of appetite or lack of interest in playing, especially when the house is empty.

The digital TV channel, which will run 24 hours a day, is currently being offered for free. It is broadcast by Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications.

In Britain, meanwhile, a dog food commercial is targeting the dogs rather than their owners for the first time, the Daily Telegraph reported on Monday.

The commercial will feature sounds that are too high-pitched for the human ear to hear, and is expected to have man's best friend barking at the screen whenever it airs.