can dogs see in the dark?

Question

Ibelieve cats have night vision.also,they say dogs see in black and white.Does the same apply to cats or do they see in colour?

Answer 1

They can see a lot better in the dark than we can, but not total darkness. Dogs can also see some color, but not as vibrant as people.
http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/LA/davis2.htm
Here is an excerpt from an article:
Dogs have excellent night vision, a trait crucial to their predatory ancestors. The minimum threshold of light dogs require for vision is about five or six times lower than that of humans. So your pooch won't be stumbling around in the dark if you don't leave a light on for him.

Unlike our eyes, a dog's eyes are designed to function well in low-light conditions. Both canines and humans (and many other animals) have two types of light-sensitive cells in the retina called rods and cones. These cells respond to light and process visual information, which is transferred to the brain for interpretation. Rods work best in dim light and can detect motion. Cones are used in bright light to detect color and details.

The retinas of dogs are dominated by rods, allowing them to see very well with very little light. They can also sense small motions, which helps make them good hunters. However, dogs have about one-tenth of the cones that humans do, so they don't see color in the same way we do.

Answer 2

Nothing can see in pitch dark, but in dim light, possibly. I do think they don't see as well though. My dog seems to not be able to see very well when it's dark. If I throw a ball into the dark hallway, my dog seems to not know where to look. Cats can definitely find their way around in the dark. My cat always goes back and forth to his food bowl and litter box several times a night and then finds my bed again. Dogs actually have color vision, but have red-green color blindness.

Answer 3

Dogs can see better than we can in the dark but not as good as cats and no, cats don't see in color either--just like dogs, cats see shades of light to dark.

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
can dogs see in the dark?
Ibelieve cats have night vision.also,they say dogs see in black and white.Does the same apply to cats or do they see in colour?

Answer 5

Both cats and dogs have some color vision- though not the way humans and many birds do. And both can see in the dark far better than most humans.

Answer 6

Yes their night vision is much better than ours but they do need a small amount of light not total darkness,and yes I have been told that about dogs seeing in black and white
(how on earth do they know xx)

Answer 7

Dogs are color blind in that they only have two kinds of color receptors (cones) just like many color blind people. So the colors green, yellow and orange look the same, but they see the blue and red shades of the color spectrum just fine. Dogs have quite a few more rods in their eyes than we do so they can see at night about the same as we can when we use night vision goggles.

Answer 8

Nothing can see in the dark, there has to be SOME light available to see, but almost all animals can see in much dimmer light that humans.

I've heard that cats can see all colors except red. I don't know if it's true, though, and I don't know about dogs.

edit: Both dogs and cats can at least see SOME colors.
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_004.html
http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/ask/index.html?quid=165

Even if we can't see in near-darness like them, at least we get more colors, huh?

Answer 9

My dog seems to be able to see in near dark.

Answer 10

I studied that at my 14y.o. so if I am wrong go blame
the tutor;-P

Most dogs and cats can unless they have a problem... And they see in negative colours... e.g. when you take a pix and you get the negatives done, you know the colours they got? - yeah same as how cats and dogs see.xx

Most superstitious people say that because of their negative colour vision they get to experience and see paranormal activities,e.g.ghosts:-z