All About Your Dog's Color Spectrum
As a pet owner, you may wonder what the world must look like through your dog's eyes. Does your dog see the same shades of yellow, red, and blue as you? Are dogs color blind? Are the colors blurred or just as clear? Do dogs have visual defects as humans do?
It’s great to be interested in the way your canine friend functions. Here is all you need to do to know about the colors your dog sees, how he sees them and what this can mean for you as a dog owner!
Today guide, we will discuss:
What Colors Do Dogs See?Can Dogs See The Color Red, Green, Blue, White, Or Black?
What Colors Do Dogs See Red As?
How Do Dogs See The Color Black?
Can Dogs See Fluorescent Colors?
How Do Dogs See Colors?
Which Color Can Dogs See The Best?
Can Dogs See Color With Color-Blind Glasses?
Can Dogs See Colors Like Humans?
At What Age Can Dogs See Color?
Do Dogs See Some Colors Better Than Others?
What Does This Mean For You As A Pet Owner?
What Colors Do Dogs See?
How Many Colors Can Dogs See? Dogs are dichromats meaning they can only have two cone cell types in their eyes, i.e., blue and yellow. Compared to this, humans have three cone cells that help differentiate between shades of red, blue, and green.
The cone cells in the eyes are a type of "photoreceptor cell" that allows you to perceive colors around you in bright lighting.
Since dogs have two types of cone cells in their retina, they only see two colors, blue and yellow. So if you were worried that your dog might only have a diluted black-and-white vision, fret not! Their world is actually quite colorful!
Can Dogs See The Color Red, Green, Blue, White, Or Black?
Dogs only possess two types of cone cells, so they can only clearly distinguish between the colors blue and yellow. The other colors, such as red and green, may seem dim and discolored.
This is somewhat similar to colorblindness in humans. Besides the colors blue and yellow, everything else is in shades of gray.
The color red may appear more brown-gray or black. The color green may appear a bit yellow to them. However, they can see the color blue pretty clearly since blue and yellow colors dominate their vision.
Your dogs can also see the colors black and white as humans do, along with shades of gray.
What Colors Do Dogs See Red As?
Even though red-colored toys are some of the most popular types for dogs, dogs do not see the colors red or orange as we do.
Then what colors do dogs see red as? To them, it appears as a dark brownish-gray or black color. If the color falls to shades of orange, it may appear yellowish to your dog.
The next time you throw a new red dog toy across the lawn and your dog doesn't follow; it's probably because the red and green grass all seems gray and yellow to him. Luckily, most dogs also have a great sense of smell, so they can pick up on scents from their toys pretty quickly.
How Do Dogs See The Color Black?
Initially, people assumed that dogs could only see in black and white. Now we know that dogs can see blue and yellow along with shades of black, white, and gray.
Dogs can see the color black, maybe even better than humans do. This is because of the rod cells found in the retina of your dog's eyes.
The eye's retina isn’t just composed of cone cells; it also has "rod cells." Unlike cone cells which help you see colors in the light, rod cells are specifically meant to help you see better in less light.
Dogs have much more rod cells in their retinas than we do, and they can easily see in the dark.
Can Dogs See Fluorescent Colors?
What about fluorescent colors? Your dog can see fluorescent lighting, but this depends on the color of the lighting itself. If the color is yellow or blue, your dog can see it. If it is any shade other than yellow or blue, it will appear gray to your dog.
Pet owners tend to ask this question because some dogs appear uncomfortable around fluorescent lighting. This actually has nothing to do with color. Fluorescent lighting may flicker and buzz, which can be disturbing to your pet; that's all!
Dogs tend to pick up on their buzzing and flickering much more consciously than we do, which makes for an uncomfortable environment.
How Do Dogs See Colors?
If you are wondering how dogs' eyes work, it is quite similar to humans. Their retina, as we mentioned, consists of two types of light-sensitive cells.
The cone cells provide color perception in light, and rod cells allow dogs to see in dim lighting. Dogs, in general, are colorblind; they can only see the colors blue and yellow and can also differentiate between shades of gray.
Apart from this, their eyes are structured slightly differently than humans. Their eyes aren’t set straightforward like humans but instead are at a 20-degree angle which increases their field of view and peripheral vision
However, on the downside, they do not have the same depth perception or visual acuity as we do. They have a 20/75 vision meaning they must be at least 20 feet from an object to see it well as a human standing 75 feet away would.
To make up for this, Mother Nature gave dogs excellent motion sensitivity so they can quickly pick up on any small movements you make. They also have a very keen sense of smell, allowing them to navigate quite easily, even with less visual acuity.
Which Color Can Dogs See The Best?
Before we discovered the structure of a dog's retina, mankind believed dogs had a mono-color view of the world.
However, now we know that their retina comprises yellow and blue cone cells. This is also why the two colors most dominating in a dog's color vision are yellow and blue.
Blue and yellow are also the colors they see best and the ones they will be most attracted to. The next time you plan to get your pup a new ball or chew toy, try going for a High bounce blue or yellow-colored one like our handmade yellow Emoji ball or cute yellow star !
Can Dogs See Color With Color-Blind Glasses?
Colorblind glasses come with specifically tinted lenses that allow a colorblind person to see colors a lot more accurately. For red-green color blindness, they help enhance the user's perception of red and green.
But will these glasses work on dogs?
Unfortunately, they will not, as human eyes are built slightly differently.
This is because humans are trichromats, we have three cone cells in our eyes, but one or the other cone cell type may have abnormal sequencing, which causes color blindness.
Dogs, on the other hand, lack the red cone cells entirely! This is why color-blind glasses won't work on them.
Can Dogs See Colors Like Humans?
No, dogs cannot see the same colors as humans do. Humans have three types of cone cells: red, blue, and green which allow us to see these colors and their different shades.
In total, humans can see around one million different color combinations. This is because each receptor cone is sensitive to different wavelength ranges on the visible light spectrum and can register hundreds of different color shades.
On the other hand, dogs only have two types of cone cells. They do not see the entirety of the visible light spectrum. Their cone receptors can only detect blue wavelengths and yellow wavelengths.
At What Age Can Dogs See Color?
New pups are born with their eyes shut tight. They don't open their eyes until they are at least 2-3 weeks old. Once their eyes slowly start to open, they may still have limited sight. Their visions develop over time.
At first, everything looks blurry and hazy, and your pup probably won't move around much. By the 4-week mark, their eyes start to perceive colors a lot more clearly.
Do Dogs See Some Colors Better Than Others?
Yes, dogs see yellow and blue much more clearly than other colors. This is because dogs have yellow and blue cone cells in the retina of their eyes.
Most dogs won't even see red or green colors at all. Say you look at a rainbow; for a dog, this would appear as a mix of dark yellow, light yellow, gray, light blue, and dark blue. They do not see the colors red, orange, green, or violet like we do.
What Does This Mean For You As A Pet Owner?
You know now what the world looks like from your dog's eyes. As a pet owner, you can now take steps to use their color perception and provide visual enrichment to their life! You should get him blue or yellow colored dog toys that your furry friend can see better while playing in the grass.
If your dog is participating in agility training, try using poles and boards that are painted blue or yellow so he can navigate around them better!
There you go; now you know if a dog can see colors, how they see colors, and how many. Using this information, you can become a more informed pet parent and better facilitate your dog when it comes to playing and other activities.