Dog Eyes: Can Dogs See Colors?

Many dog owners all over the world have already wondered whether dogs see colors or at night.

You may be surprised to find out that much of the general understanding of dogs' color vision, for example, is false.
These myths are due to insufficient research in earlier days of science which stated that dogs would not be able to distinguish between colors.

Which Colors Can Dogs See?

The myth of dogs being color blind or only seeing a tiny spectrum of gray to white is still widespread.

Although dogs cannot see as many different colors as us humans, they can see some.
This difference in color perception is mainly due to the lower amount of photoreceptors called cones that are responsible for the detection of different colors.

Not only does the amount of cones matter but also the type of cones.
Humans, in general, have three different types of cones which let them see their full range of colors they are used to.
Dogs, however, only have two different types of cones what causes them to see fewer colors than us humans.
Human color blindness is caused by one kind of cone missing inside the person's eye.

To put it simply, dogs do perceive colors, but only hues of blue, gray, yellow and dark yellow, which looks closer to brown.

If you want to be sure that your canine sees the toy you want him to fetch, you should choose a blue or yellow one.

Can Dogs See In The Dark?

The ability of dogs to see in the dark is solely dependent on the number of rods in a dog's retina, which also contains the color-sensitive cones.

Dogs may have a worse vision in the dark than cats, but it's still said to be five times better than that of us humans.

The so-called tapetum-lucidum, which is a fine tissue behind the dog's retina, reflects the light that passed the retina back onto it to give it a second chance to detect it.
This process is responsible for the glow in the eyes of dogs and cats under dim conditions.

Due to the comparatively high amount of rods in their retina and the tapetum-lucidum, dogs can see around five times as well than humans in the dark.

Although dogs may see much more than us in the dark, you should make sure not to ever leave your dog in extremely dark areas.
Canines will see as little as humans under bad conditions.

Do Different Dog Breeds See Differently?

The sight of dogs primarily depends on how close the canine's eyes are together.
The closer they are to each other, the easier it becomes for the dog to evaluate the distance of a given object it sees.

Sighthounds, for example, have a rather narrow field of view and therefore a larger overlap in their sight which makes them better at perceiving depth.
Their snouts are generally lower, to give as much view as possible.

This kind of sight is similar to that of predators, which makes sense if you think about wolves, to pick a closely related example.

Other dog breeds might have eyes that are wider apart from one another and deeper inside the dog's skull, which resembles the field of view of herbivores such as that of deers.
This kind of view is way broader, which helps with detecting potential predators, but also less focused.

This is one of the reasons for dogs' 80/20 visual acuity - which means that if dog holders could see something 80 feet away clearly, dogs would need to come 20 feets close to see it with similar clarity.

The color perception of the field of view that overlaps is also more effective.

Different dog breeds see differently. Their field of view mainly depends on the height of their snout and the depth of their eyes inside the skull.

Conclusion

It's a fact that dogs see colors, just not as many as us humans.

The so-called cones are photoreceptors responsible for detecting color.
Dogs only have two different types of cones, which impairs their color perception to the same degree as colorblindness does among humans.

Their color perception might be worse than humans, but they are still capable of seeing hues of blue, gray, yellow inclusive dark yellow, which looks similar to brown.

If you want to be sure your dog sees its toy, pick one of a yellow or blue color.

Canines have - compared to us humans - many rods in their retina, which are responsible for detecting light.
On top of that the tapetum-lucidum, a thin layer behind the dog's retina, reflects light, that has passed the retina and gives it a second chance to perceive the image this way.

The glow in the eyes of dogs and cats under dim lighting conditions is caused by the tapetum.

Dogs' ability to see in the dark might not be as strong as of cats', but they are still able to see around five times better than us humans in the dark.
Nevertheless, you should not leave your dog in pitch-black rooms.

The dog's field of view is mainly dependent on the depth of its eyes inside the skull.
Generally speaking, the deeper the eyes are in the skull, the wider the dog's field of view is.

Besides that, a low snout is also favoring an unimpeded field of view, which explains the general appearance of sighthounds.

Different dog breeds possess different visual perceptions.
It depends on whether the dog breed is closer to a predator or a herbivore.

Have you ever doubted your dog's ability to see colors? Chances are your darling had problems with distinguishing colors apart from another.

I'm looking forward to reading about your experience with this topic in the comment section below!