Opinion: The day the ad man stole your best friend

One dog dominating the family's TV viewing, 'Yes we will watch Beethoven again' | Taro the Shiba Inu

(Featured in The Bournemouth Rock - March 2nd)

“When a man’s best friend is his dog, that dog has a problem,” American author Edward Abbey once said. 

The unbreakable bond between man and canine companion at one point was utterly undeniable it stretched throughout life, literature and even videos. 

Consider all of the things that wouldn’t have happened had it not have been for one man and dog...  

Would the world have been as humorous a place without the Youtube sensation ‘Ultimate Dog Tease’ or Bizzle the dog-man's insatiable appetite for DairyLea Dunkers? Could Chance have found his way Homeward Bound if not for the love of owner Jamie? Or even hopeless ‘meddling kids’ Shaggy and Scooby, would they have caught countless criminals if one of them was absent? 

And what about that meadow, would it have been mowed if not for the eponymous one man and his dog*? 

Answer: I think not.  *Google it, for the love of outdated references! 

Soon this unspoken agreement between man and his four-legged friend may truly be over… 

And all thanks to ITV broadcasting the UK’s first-ever commercial aimed to pester your pooch.  

The adverts in question uses sounds and noises set to the frequency of 16,000hertz that are only audible dogs and a miniscule handful of humans. Scientists testing the advert for pet-food company Purina found that dogs: “pricked up their ears and paid attention to the product being advertised.”  

Which then presumably gives the illusion that the dog favours a certain brand and ‘wants’ that dog treat, snack or toy - sending it’s uneducated owner into a spending frenzy. 

This first of its kind ad was shown during the 7.15pm advert break of Emmerdale on Feb 13. Produced by dog food makers Bakers Complete it spoofed the Great Escape, showings dogs hijacked a van full of treats and ending up suspended over a cliff with the snacks on one side and the dogs on the other. 

On YouTube one man filmed his dog’s response to the advert. His Yorkshire terrier reacted by barking at the screen while happily dashing around the room, before getting a toy without any command.  

This for someone unaware of this terrier tempting advert, would think that their pet was trying to tell them something. 

Somewhere right this second, there will be a person out in a supermarket stocking up on the food they believe their pet is in awe of.  

Don't let the ad-man steal your adorable animal | Jordon Cooper

And if advertisers have this power to communicate with our pets through sound what else could they make them do? Poop on the carpet, piddle in your tea, run away from your loving home? Howls of horror! The possibilities are worrying and endless. 

Leading us to a world dominated by ad-men and women who would steal your Labrador’s litters and convinces your mad mutt to abandon you, all for a quick sale. This grim reality faces all pet owners – it may have started as just barking for the moment but in the blink of an eye you’ll be pet less and without any way of preventing it…  

Well that or you could just never turn your television off mute…