Our Dog's Favorite TV Show

I just read a post by Connie Vines on Romance Gems that made me tear up because it brought to mind our amazing dog, Frosta.

She was a miniature poodle and was the 7th birthday gift of our youngest daughter.

Darling Daughter of course named her. She wanted to call her She-Ra, Princess of Power, after her favorite cartoon heroine.

I cringed. “Here, She-Ra.”

One of She-Ra’s Power Princess friends was a superhero chick named Frosta. I thought Frosta could kind of be nudged into Frosty, an appropriate name for a white poodle.

So the compromise worked, and Frosta became a part of our household. She was the smartest dog I’ve ever seen and had a vocabulary the equal to a toddler’s. Bed, cookie, walk, ride, sit, stay, heel, lie down—dozens of words and hand signals.

Frosta’s Favorite TV Show

I’d always read that dogs don’t really “see” television because their vision process “works” differently than ours.

However, one day I was flipping channels, with her lying next to me on the couch. The theme music came on with a boy calling, “Lassie.” I had landed on a cable station that showed the really old black and white Lassie TV show.

Lassie barked and came running. When Lassie barked, Frosta jumped up, off the couch, ran to the TV cabinet, and looked up at the TV.

As long as Lassie was on screen, Frosta gazed raptly at the TV. I told my husband and daughter about it, and they laughed. Hubby said it was a coincidence.

A couple of days later, the same thing happened when he was flipping channels. I decided to conduct a Lassie experiment.

I placed a footstool in front of the television and turned it on at the scheduled time. The minute Frosta heard the theme music, she came running. She jumped onto the footstool. Tail wagging, she barked when Lassie barked. Then she sat on the footstool and watched the entire 30 minute show.

It was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen—until I said, “Lassie,” and Frosta would bark and wag her tail.

After a few days, I always placed the footstool in front of the TV and turned it on so Frosta could watch her show. I took a picture of her on the footstool, watching Lassie. I guess the picture is in one of the dozen boxes of photographs. I’ll have to look for it.

Takeaway Truth

“A dog will teach you unconditional love. If you can have that in your life, things won’t be too bad.” —Robert Wagner, Actor