Dogs and cats have long been darlings of the internet. But after decades of playing the stars of myriad silly/goofy/cute videos, many of our beloved fur babies are stepping out from in front of the camera and sitting pretty in front of screens.
Relax, there are still plenty of cute animal videos littering the internet — but, now, there’s also a growing stream of content being made specifically for them, per The New York Times.
A new breed of couch pet-atos
On YouTube, numerous hourslong videos of squeaky toys, close-up birds and squirrels, and playing puppies have garnered millions of views, presumably all from this new demographic of four-legged viewers.
- One video of an animated mouse from TV BINI, a YouTube channel for dogs and cats, has amassed 152m+ views.
Streaming service DogTV, which provides a variety of “scientifically designed” canine content, offers users access to premium videos for $9.99/month or free content through a new ad-supported tier (how effective those ads are is less clear…).
Meanwhile, Roku offers apps like “Relax My Cat” and “Happy Dog TV.”
OK, but why?
Interest in the genre, which has been promoted as a way to help soothe and stimulate anxious and bored pets, has surged in the years since the pandemic, when ~23m households adopted pets, as many owners have been forced to return to the office and leave their separation-anxiety-riddled pups home alone.
- DogTV, which launched in 2012, added ~388k subscribers between mid-2020 and late 2023.
The concept sounds a bit ridiculous, until you remember that most Americans consider their pets family, and average US pet spending hit an estimated $157B in 2025.
Plus, other pet-entertainment businesses and trends, like music for pets and dog-friendly movie screenings, have also emerged in recent years.
So what’s next, dog remotes?
The idea doesn’t actually seem too far-fetched, if you ask NYT’s Emily Anthes.
Especially when considering that animal-centered tech, with interfaces designed specifically for their use, already exists.
- UK-based Joipaw makes video games meant to help aging dogs stay sharp. Using a saliva-resistant touchscreen, dogs can boop the console to play games like whack-a-mole and receive treats when they win.
- The “DogPhone” by animal-computer interaction researcher Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas lets dogs autonomously videocall their owner by approaching the sensor-embedded device.
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