It may bother you to know that in many ways your best friend can’t see nearly as well as you can. But before you start pulling the curtains on the windows and replacing all the red things in your house with blue for your friend’s visual comfort, remember that overall, vision isn’t quite as important to our dogs as it is to us.
Dogs rely far more than we do on their hearing and especially their sense of smell, and their abilities in both of these areas leave us in the dust. In fact, if Fido knew how pathetic your own sense of smell was compared to his, he might feel sorry for you. After all, there are so many amazing fragrances that you are missing out on – how do you live??
What colors do dogs see humans?
It is not true that dogs cannot perceive different colors simply because they do not share the same ability to appreciate color as humans do on the full color spectrum. They would not be able to see the color of an object in its “true” form.
For example, the color red appears to a dog as a very dark brown-gray, almost black shade. To a dog, the colors yellow, orange and green all appear yellowish. Our four-legged friends have excellent blue vision, yet they mistake purple for blue.
What colors can dogs see?
Maybe they can’t see the whole rainbow, but it seems your dog can see a few colors very well: blue and yellow. “Most dogs can’t see much red or green at all,” explains Dr. Satchu. While they can see several colors, the nuances of those colors (like the difference between plum and purple) are likely lost on dogs. Maybe that’s why dogs love bright yellow tennis balls so much: They see them clearly against the gray or brown that dogs see when they look at something green, like your freshly mowed lawn. That’s something to keep in mind when choosing your dog’s next puzzle toy. If you want to see the world through your dog’s eyes, download the Dog Vision app and take a look.
However, the color spectrum of dogs includes colors that humans cannot see, says Dr. Satchu. “The other ‘color’ that exists that humans can’t see but dogs is ultraviolet, which means ‘beyond violet.’ We’re still evaluating the real purpose of this vision, but we think it’s related to the ability to absorb any kind of UV light-containing material, like urine and blood, that helps search the natural world,” she explains. When you think about how UV light would contrast against the gray-brown background of the forest, it makes sense that your dog’s vision is adapted to help them hunt. After all, we all know that dogs have superpowers.
- Zay Satchu, DVM, Chief Veterinarian at Bond Vet
What do dogs see?
Want to see how your dog sees the world? There is a fun app for your phone called “Dog Vision”.
After you load it, you just point your phone at something and it will show you what the object, or scene, looks like to your dog. Try it… it’s a real moment!
What is color blindness?
This topic actually dates back to the 18th century when English scientist John Dalton conducted some of the first studies on congenital color blindness. Dalton became aware of the phenomenon of color blindness because both he and his brother could not recognize some colors, confusing red and green and pink and blue.
The most common color blindness defect in humans is red and green perception. It’s mainly caused by abnormal color-detecting molecules called cones in the retina (but we’ll talk about that later).