I've often heard dogs are colorblind, is this true?

Answer 1

BOTH answers are correct, depending on context.

When a man is tested in the military, or for a commercial driving license, the chart tests for color blindness. If he is deemed color blind, it means he can't see the diference between red and green, but only sees them as shades of brown..that is the human condition known as color blind.
However, dogs do not differentiate between red and green, so by human standards, yes, they ARE color blind.

But, some people think that the term means that color blindness is seeing only in black and white...dogs DO see other than black and white and shades of gray..so, they do see color.
They see yellow, blue, and tans/browns very well, and some shades of purple..but they don't diferentiate red from green.

So, do they see color? YES
Are they color blind by human terms? YES
Do they only see black and white? NO
this is a fun site, that shows a color chart comparing what dogs see, to what humans see.. It also tells you how they know> http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/DrP4.htm

Answer 2

Dogs see colors just about the same as a colorblind human. They have problems telling the difference between red, green and brown but they do have some color vision.

They do have much superior night vision than humans. That's their trade-off for the full spectrum color vision that we have. Comparatively, humans have pretty bad night vision!

Answer 3

Appears dogs can distinguish shades of colors.Funny thing is,they often bond with same color dogs in a kennelsituation,the golden ones with other goldcolored ones,and the blacks with blacks.That kind of makes you wonder,dont it?

Answer 4

Scientists say this because they have not found the part in a dog's eye that facilitates the ability to see colors.

Answer 5

No it's not true.
Dogs aren't completely colour blind, they just can't see colour as well as humans can.

Answer 6

Yes, dogs are color blind. They see shades of gray as other animals do.

Answer 7

Not true.