Suzuki sees the world as Fido sees it

Dogs don’t just see the world from their own, lower-to-theground perspective, David Suzuki says in the opening moments of Toronto filmmakers Donna and Daniel Zuckerbrot’s charming, lighthearted The Nature of Things program A Dog’s Life.

Dogs have an innate, almost uncanny ability to read human emotions, an understanding that dates back to humankind’s origins. Oddly, A Dog’s Life tells us, we may not be as astute at reading dogs’ behaviour. “You’ll be amazed at what they can do, and what they can’t do,” Suzuki says, early in his introduction. That may sound obvious — a little like saying dogs get along with cats about as well as sheep herders get along with cattle ranchers — but there’s much in A Dog’s Life that will surprise and delight even the most well-informed dog lover.

As University of Western Ontario PhD student and canine researcher Krista Macpherson points out in A Dog’s Life, we have learned more about dogs in the past 10 years than in the previous 100. (8 p.m., CBC)

■ Undercover Boss Canada calls it a wrap, so to speak, on its fourth season with a look behind-the-scenes at the foodcourt eatery Wok Box. Ratings have held up, and the concept continues to impress. W Network ordered 30 new episodes back in 2012, to be split into three seasons. It seems almost certain that the Canadian Boss will be back for more. (9 p.m., W Network)

■ It’s Thanksgiving, Americanon The Big Bang Theory, as the gang gathers at Mrs. Wolowitz’s house to celebrate the occasion, over the strenuous objections of spoilsport Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons), in an outing called The Thanksgiving Decoupling. (8 p.m., CBS, CTV)

■ It doesn’t matter how many hit TV shows J. J. Abrams helped create, or how many hit movies he’s directed: he’s no match for Stephen Colbert, as he’s about to find out when he guest stars Thursday on The Colbert Report. (11:30 p.m., Comedy Network)