Do dogs see in colour?

Answer 1

Dogs are said to have dichromatic vision -- they can see only part of the range of colors in the visual spectrum of light wavelengths. Humans have trichomatic vision, meaning that they can see the whole spectrum. Dogs probably lack the ability to see the range of colors from green to red. This means that they see in shades of yellow and blue primarily, if the theory is correct. Since it is impossible to ask them, it is not possible to say that they see these colors in the same hues that a human would. Whether or not the ability to see some color is important to dogs or not is hard to say.

Answer 2

People say no but at least my dogs I can say can see the difference in colours. My one dog has two identical stuffed bears that he uses lets say as his girlfriends when he gets an urge . The only difference in these two bears is the color. One is brown and the other is a grey color. I will tell him to go bring the grey bear and he will get the grey bear. or i will tell him to get the brown one and he will get the brown one. Same with his and his sons food dishes , they are exactly alike except for the color , one is blue and the other is red and they both know which dish is theirs. Another example is I have two laser lights , one is blue and the other is red and the blue light neither will chase but the red light they go nuts after. The pads they sleep on also are two different colors and they know which is which but that could also be from the smell but I really dont think so because I have watched when they will go and drag thier mat out of the extra room and they will just look and grab they dont sit there and smell which is which. I have Dobies . I know that they say that dobies are the only dog that actually knows how to reason and knows the difference between right and wrong so maybe its just Dobies that can see colors. I have no idea really but I do know for a fact that mine can see colors.

Answer 3

Here is what good old Wikipedia has to say:

"Sight
Dogs were thought to be dichromats and thus, by human standards, colour blind. New research is now being explored that suggests that dogs may actually see some colour, but not to the extent that humans do. It has also been suggested that dogs see in varieties of purple/violet and yellow shades. Because the lenses of dogs' eyes are flatter than humans', they cannot see as much detail; on the other hand, their eyes are more sensitive to light and motion than humans' eyes. Some breeds, particularly the best sighthounds, have a field of vision up to 270° (compared to 100° to 120° for humans), although broad-headed breeds with their eyes set forward have a much narrower field of vision, as low as 180°."

Answer 4

Yes dogs ARE color blind, they see in two colors instead of three exactly the same as some color blind people. The difference between a dogs eyes and ours is that a dog has fewer cones (collect color) and more rods (collect light) so a dog sees colors about like a color blind person, and sees at night about like a person using night vision goggles.

We see "VIBGYOR" (Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red)
dogs see "VIBYYYR" (Violet, Indigo, Blue, Yellow, Yellow, Yellow, and Red). The colors Green, Yellow, and Orange all look alike to dogs

Answer 5

Dogs are red-green colour blind. They see a brighter and less detailed world when compared to humans. Peripheral vision is better than humans (dogs see more of the world), but distance is not judged quite as well. Dogs excel at night vision and the detection of moving objects. These differences in visual ability make sense in light of evolutionary theory. Good depth perception and visual acuity are necessary for a primate (from which humans evolved) jumping from tree limb to tree limb. Good colour vision enabled this primate to choose the ripest and most nutritious fruit. The canine, on the other hand, is well adapted as a nocturnal hunter of camouflaged prey.

COLOUR~Dogs see something like a human deuteranope, that is, they are red-green color blind (occurs in 4% of male humans). Simply put, this is due to having only two cone types rather than three (light sensitive cells include cones and rods).

DETAIL OR ACUITY~Since dogs have no fovea (or area with 100% cones), their estimated eye for detail is (roughly) six times poorer than in an average human.

NIGHT VISION~Dogs have much better night vision for two reasons:


The have more rods (which enable night vision).
They have a structure called the Tapetum Lucidum
This is a reflective surface behind the retina (area including the light sensitive cells) that reflects light back through it (gives the eerie shine at night).

SENSITIVITY AND MOVEMENT~Dogs are better able to detect movement.

DEPTH AND FIELD~Due to the placement of the eyes, humans have an overlap of the field of each eye of 140; in dogs, it is about 100. This results in the dog having limited ability to accommodate (focus on items at different distances), but a wider overall field allowing them to see more of the world.

Answer 6

If memory serves me right, the thinking is that dogs only see blue and yellow or red and yellow (couldn't remember for sure) because they have many less of the cones (color vision cells) than people. On the other hand, they have many more rods (low light and motion detecting cells) so they see much better in the dark and they can detect much smaller motions than humans.

Answer 7

I would swear they do as mine goes crazy if he sees a bright yellow colour. He also knows the difference between two differently coloured toys which are otherwise identical.

Answer 8

Many people think dogs are coulour blind but they're not. They do see very differently to humans though. As we see most of teh colur spectrum we see contrast very easily; we'd seea red ball on green grass very clearly but would find it harder to see a green ball on the grass. Dogs see movement more clearly, so they'd see a moving green ball on teh grass more easily than they'd see a still red ball. They can still see the red ball like we can see the green ball, but they concentrate on movement where we concentrate on contrast.

Answer 9

No, dogs only see "shades", black, white and grey.
The theory that they must see colour because they chase the postman is a myth, this is purely becasue they are actually protecting their territory.
Hope this helps!

Answer 10

like the vet stated, they can't see all shades, but I don't think this makes them colour blind.

Just colour challanged