Do dogs see colours?

Hi. Ive got a wierd question. Do dogs see colors? My pup seems to dislike black color especially black shoes or slippers..he keep barking or growl at them. I thot dogs only see black and white. Anyway, Niki seems not taking his meals well, he ate breakfast late this morning and now still havn't eat his lunch.. just a few bites only.. but now still sleeping.. he's only 3 mths plus now. I feed him moring at 7am, 12 or 1 pm and 7pm in the evening.. im kind of worried now that he's skipped his lunch..

 

i saw a show on dogs eyesight and according to this show they can see colours. some colours more than others. they also said that some breeds of dogs are short sighted and others long sighted.

 

I believe that a dog's vision can be related more to human red-green color blindness than strictly black and white. Dogs also have better night vision than humans, but they can't see detail as well as we can. Their eyes are also geared more toward movement (motion detection).

Here is a fairly technical page about dog vision: http://www.workingdogs.com/vision_coile.htm

And this one is a bit easier read: http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/davis2.htm


Jamiya

 

Actually, it appears that there's some evidence that certain dogs do see more detail, more like human vision; whereas other dogs don't see as clearly, but have better perpiheral vision. Someone on another board posted this a couple days ago, very interesting: http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/ ... transcript

 

i believe they do see in colour. i mean common, they have better eyesight at most things than us! i mean comon, if you think about it, how would they find a color ball perfictally in a green grass if they couldnt see in color?

 

I agree .Sam goes with me on trips and one time I changed at a rest stop from a blue shirt I had spilled coffee on to a yellow one and he was looking out the window for me and he was searching the people (I watched him to see if he had a reaction to the change ) well ,I also put a hat on and yep ,sure enough he spotted me real fast and started to wag his tail .That is when I know he has seen me .I have been watching dogs for years ,really interested in this subject ,seeing which toy they choose ,what the colors are and the bright ones they go for first .I do believe they can see very well .I have no reason to think otherwise .

 

see, that makes sence. i think most animals need it... but remember!!! they are a desendence of the wolf and i also think the wolf would need color vision to tell the diff. between prey.

 

As I said, I believe the research supports that they see color as a red-green color-blind human would. That doesn't mean they don't see ANY colors. Go to the second link I posted above and look at the spectrums there.

Also, color isn't the only thing that allows one to discriminate between objects. There is also brightness and contrast, etc.

Anyway, I was just quoting the research. It all has to do with rods and cones and such. Better night vision means less color vision. It's a biological trade-off.


Jamiya

 

I have looked at all the research ,still I cannot see through my dogs eyes and truth be told neither can they (researchers ) ..it is entirely possible that what they find is not the entire situation ,they look at how far apart a dogs eyes are ,shapes ,etc .But what thy don't know is just how mch they can see or what God gave them the ability to see .A blind man has extra senses ,does not mean he sees .in my opinion a dog can very well .Not fighting about it ,just my conclusion from studying my own pets .

 

I certainly don't think their vision is lacking in any way that hampers them. Whether they can see in color or not we'll never know for sure, although the evidence points to greater night vision and motion detection because of the number and placement of rods and cones in their eyes.

Now, it could be that if you suddenly had the vision of a dog and a dog suddenly had your vision, neither one of you would be able to "see" very well! We are adapted to what we have. Dogs see in the way that is best for them, and they probably supplement their vision with smell, auditory cues, etc.

My daughter has a pet short tailed opossum. They are nocturnal critters, with the huge black eyes. I have read that they do not see very well in the light at all. I have seen evidence of this when I put his favorite food in the cage. Even if I hold it out close to him, he does come straight for it - he sniffs from side to side and closes in on it that way.

And then again, I have also seen Nala (dog) toss nuts that fall from the trees in the backyard. She grabs one in her mouth and tosses it in the air and then runs after it. But it's funny - when she drops it, she doesn't pick it right back up. She snuffles around on the ground until she finds it again, even if it is very close to her. It's almost like she can't distinguish it on the ground or something. But she can see ME and my hand signals and the agility equipment just fine...

If you were to lose your 3D vision, your brain would learn to compensate for it to an extent. Dogs brains are made to interpret dog vision, and human brains are made to interpret human vision.

Don't you just wish you could be your dog for a day, though, and know what it's like?!


Jamiya

 

I understand what you are saying .
And yes I do wish I could be my babies for a day !

 

I have noticed that my dogs dislike the color blac as well, if a black kid or adult is walking down our street my dog will go crazy. Mabey my dog is racist or somthing :shock:

 

lol qwertyhimself! I think my dogs hate black too, or the tone anyway. We were walking in the park and this couple came walking past decked out in religeous black capes from head to toe- and you should've seen my dog!!! It's like he was seeing ghosts, he was freaked out. Also, I put some black gloves on today and my pup wasn't too sure about them- she kept looking at them suspiciously..
About dogs vision: I saw recently on a pet show here that dogs with longer noses have wider peripheral vision, and this goes hand in hand with the desire to chase things, as they see things run right across the length of their view. Dogs with shorter noses see less of something running past them and don't care too much about chasing it.
I don't think my dogs have great vision, as I spy on what they're doing from my back glass door. I can stand right there and watch them- and they don't see me unless I move. They'll instantly see me when I make a move. Sometimes Bender looks up to the door as if he senses I am there (or maybe he does that anyway when I am not there- hoping that I will be soon) but he just stares straight past me.
If you think about it, their strength for vision should lie in movement- in the wild they'd have to find other animals to eat. All creatures have evolved to have strengths in areas that best assist in their survival. I am starting to read a book now about the evolution of humans and dogs and how we may have influenced each others evolution. It's pretty interesting, I remember hearing a theory that said that if we hadn't befriended the dog (or the dog hadn't befriended us) that we may never have evolved to be able to speak.
We didn't require the need to have a keen sense of smell, as the dogs had that for us with their long snouts, and with their longer snouts could never use vocal complexities like we can. It makes sense for nature to evolve beings into better versions of themselves... and if you can't get that in one species- why not team them up and make them work for each other? I'm sure there's many obvious examples of this but can't be bothered thinking of any. Anyway, that was just a theory I saw (on TV again!) may not be true but is some food for thought.
Going off the subject again!!!

 

Quarty I dont think your dog is racist. Maybe just not used to black people. I had a dog like this once, we didnt take her many places so she didnt have any contact with other races, and we where at the bank one day and she went nuts. With a little more socialization this no longer bothered her. But I just think its something different to them and they might not understand and possibly get a little scared.

 

LOL, every time I hear about the motion detection vision, I can't help but think about the T-rex on Jurassic park.


Jamiya

 

LOL Jamiya!!!!!!! :lol:

 

i didnt see this post until this morning and I just asked my husband yesterday if dogs can see color, the reason is Jake got a new ball this week-end, a bright red white and blue. It was in a corner diffilcutl to see but really stood out becasue of the color. I pointed to it Jake saw it, and ran over to it. I think if it was his tan ball he wouldnt have seen it.

As for vision. Wylie is amazing, I can throw her frisbee in the the pitch dark like 15 feet and she can catch it

honeybear

 

I got this from a site I used to belong to. It says: This is a human site, but canine vision is similar to red/green colorblindness in humans.

cool link
www.visibone.com/colorblind

 

Wow.. that's cool! I didn't know canines can actually see colors! I thot their world consists of only black and white. Thanx folks! for all your information. It's kinda interesting to know what they are seeing thru their eyes.. other than the paranormal sights..hehe.. :roll: Niki sometimes bark at something in the air or empty space which I dun see anything at all.. kinda scary.. :? It's as if there's "something" there.. it's funny coz Niki dun bark much..