do dogs see color or black and white?

Answer 1

Black and White

Why can't dogs see color?
Popular wisdom has it that dogs are color-blind, but recent research suggests that a dog's world is not all black and white. To understand what dogs can and can't see, it helps to have some basic knowledge of vision in humans and other mammals.
We began by searching on "dog vision color," which took us to a page from the National Hunting Retriever Association site. Summarizing a 1995 article originally published in the Journal of the Veterinary Medical Association, the page describes the fundamental design differences between canine and human vision. Our vision is optimized for seeing in bright light, while dogs, like many other predators, see best in dimmer light.

How Vision Works describes the anatomy of seeing and the role of the retina, a structure at the innermost layer of the eye that senses light and sends visual information to the brain. Two types of photoreceptor cells in the retina -- rods and cones -- respond to light and transmit electric impulses to the optic nerve through a series of chemical reactions. Rods process visual information in dim light and are sensitive motion detectors, while cones handle color and detail. The human retina contains approximately 100 million rods and 7 million cones.

Cone cells contain pigments that perceive specific wavelengths of color. Human vision is trichromatic -- we have three types of cones that recognize different portions of the color spectrum. These cones allow us to see a range of colors that are a mix of red, blue, and green pigments. Dogs have only two types of cones -- their dichromatic color vision is similar to that of a human with red-green color-blindness. In addition, a dog's retina contains a much smaller ratio of cones to rods than ours does. An article about Canine Vision, written for a college psychology course, includes a graphic that contrasts the yellow, blue, and gray spectrum of the dog's world with the familiar rainbow of colors we perceive.

Before you start feeling sorry for Fido, keep in mind that although he may not have the color range and visual acuity (focus) that you depend on, his night vision is far superior. Thanks to a reflective structure behind their retina called the tapetum lucidum, dogs see objects in the dark as if lit by an eerie glow.

If you want to learn more about the mechanics and evolution of color vision, an illustrated account titled Color Vision: Almost Reason Enough for Having Eyes will increase your understanding.

Answer 2

They don't only see black and white. They just don't see all the colors we do.

Answer 3

Dogs can see some colors. Dogs can basically see colors a human infant can see. Black, red, white, and green.
They can make out shades and darker colors, but they do not know red from green, unless you teach them the different colors.
It is simply a myth that dogs are colorblind.

Answer 4

Dogs can see in much dimmer light than humans. This is because the central portion of a dog's retina is composed primarily of rod cells that "see" in shades of gray while human central retinas have primarily cone cells that perceive color. The rods need much less light to function than cones do. Dogs can detect motion better than humans can. Dogs can see flickering light better than humans. The only significance to this appears to be that dogs may see television as a series of moving frames rather than as a continuous scene. Dogs do not have the ability to focus as well on the shape of objects (their visual acuity is lower).

An object a human can see clearly may appear to be blurred to a dog looking at it from the same distance. A rough estimate is that dogs have about 20/75 vision. This means that they can see at 20 feet what a normal human could see clearly at 75 feet. 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 sprectrum.

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.

The eyes of dogs and cats have many of the modifications typically seen in animals which evolved as nighttime hunters. The pupil functions much as the aperture for a camera and can dilate for maximal light capturing ability in dogs and cats. In addition, there is a reflective layer under the retina called the tapetum which serves to intensify vision in dim light. The "mirror" effect of the tapetum results in the "eye shine" observed when an animal looks into a car's headlights. While dim light vision is enhanced by the tapetum, scattering of the reflected light may result in reduced acuity.

Answer 5

They see black and white....that is why i think my dog thinks i look the same when i wear different colors lol

Answer 6

Dogs are color blind, so they dont see the same colors that we do. I am not sure what exactly they see, but it is not a bright and beautiful world like we do!

Answer 7

black and white, but I'm not sure ask a dog Lol

Answer 8

it depends most breeds see black and white but some see simple colors like red and yellow

Answer 9

this is a conmmon misknown fact they actually can see dark blue, and other dark colors including black and white but they cannot see yellows or reds

Answer 10

they see in black and white