What Colors Can My Dog See?
It’s no secret that dogs have keen senses. But, what exactly does the world look like in their eyes? Can they see everything we can? Dogs’ eyesight is definitely interesting to learn about for pet owners, especially considering many people wonder if their dog is color blind or not. Read on to find out more about what the world looks like from your furry friend’s perspective!
Doggie Color Blindness
The first thing to understand about your pooch’s color ability and eyesight is that dogs’ eyes are different from human’s. Cones in the eyes help to differentiate between different colors. Human eyes have three cones while pups only have two. This means that we are more able to identify colors than our dogs. Humans can identify three color combinations (green, blue, and red) and our canine companions are only able to identify two (blue and yellow). Doggie vision is referred to as dichromatic or two-colored due to the color combination identified.
Color Blindness Explained
Color blindness affects both humans and animals. Color blindness is described by the inability to see certain colors or differentiate specific colors. This condition is caused by an abnormality with color-receptors in the eyes.
Humans are affected by two different types of color blindness. The first is red-green and the second is yellow-blue color blindness. Color-receptors determine which type of color blindness someone is affected by.
Pooches have a yellow-blue two-colored vision which means their eyes most resemble those of a person who is red-green colorblind. This means that dogs can differentiate between yellow-blue colors very well, but are unable to distinguish red-green colors.
Colors Dogs See
Dogs are dichromatic which means their world-view is much different than humans, even some humans who are colorblind. Instead of being able to view the world on a rainbow color scale, dogs have a unique view that is dominated by yellow-blue colors. To pups, colors leaning on the blue scale, like violet, are dominated by blue shades while reds and greens tend to dominate as brownish to grayscale. A dog’s color scale is not completely limited but is mostly dominated by yellow-blue colorings.
Unfortunately, your dog can’t see the world the same as you, but that doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate what they can! Dogs have the nickname of “man’s best friend” for a reason! And even with their color blindness, dogs love you all the same.