Last Updated on February 25, 2023 by asifa
We have often wondered if dogs can see in color or only in black and white. Well vets used to believe it was only black and white, but recent studies have shown that dogs have some color vision. They can’t see as clearly and as wide as we do, but they have 20% as many cone photoreceptor cells as humans.
If we could only ask dogs to participate in an eye chart or to select certain colors, then we really could know what exactly they can see. But there is behavioral evidence to suggest that dogs can see in different shades of yellow and blue and cannot see colors ranging from red to green. So they live in a world made up of yellow, gray, and blue.
What makes this fun is that most dog toys are made in red or orange, making it difficult for the dog to see them. So if you see your dog running past your toy or having a hard time finding it, it may not be because his eyesight isn’t healthy or he’s stubborn red green color blind test. You most likely won’t be able to see it against the green grass.
The visual acuity of a dog is also less developed than that of a human. The belief of the experts is that dogs only belong to 20-40% of the visual acuity of a human being. For example, certain objects that humans can see may appear blurry to your dog, even if you judge him from the same distance.
On the other hand, canines can see in much dimmer light than a human’s. They also have the ability to detect movement. That ability serves them quite well when out in the wild so they can hunt at night among their camouflaged prey.
A dog can outperform humans visually in another way. They also have a wider degree of peripheral vision, which contributes to their natural ability as hunters. This allows them to see their prey even if it is moving quickly.
So even though we call it “color blind,” the truth is that even a human who may be color blind is not really color blind. It simply means that they cannot see certain colors, and this is what happens with a dog. There is no reason to feel sorry for dogs, because what they lack in seeing in color, they have the privilege of having a great sense of smell.
