Dogs have excellent night vision. Dogs make outstanding guards as apart from the protective instinct dogs are endowed with an ultrasensitive nose and the ability to have good vision in the dark. The ability to see in the dark makes dogs excellent guards that can be relied on to protect the home and the property from burglars. Dog owners are confident that the dog can easily stop would-be intruders. The dog's eyesight is not par with the excellence of its other senses. The acuity of Fido's eyesight is poorer than what humans have. There is a common theory that dogs cannot see colors.
Is it possible that our four legged friends are living in a world that is black and white? Should we believe that the dog's environment is in various shades of grey? These common beliefs regarding the dog's eyesight are not true as dogs actually have the capability to see colors. However, man's best friends don't see colors like we humans do. Dogs can see colors but their vision has a limited color range. Dogs don't have the ability to see the different colors of the rainbow.
The eyes of dogs have the same cone photoreceptor cells we humans have. These photoreceptor cells control color perception by catching the light. Humans have three of these cone photoreceptor cells while dogs only have two. The activities of the three cones would give humans 100% color dogs have would only result to about 20% color perception.
Dogs can see yellow, blue and gray but not red, orange, green and purple. The vision of a dog is about 6 times inferior to human vision. Dogs though have an ability that people are not capable of and that is distinguishing the subtle change in shades of blue and violet. People do not have the ability to distinguish the subtle change in the shades of these colors as human eyes have the yellow pigmentation that blocks short wavelengths and reduces the eye's sensitivity to blue and violet lights.
Luckily, being color blind would not hamper the dog's abilities to survive. Dogs would not be able to appreciate the bright red color of its brand new ball or the leaf-green color of its plush blanket. The dog may have a rather inferior ability to see colors but this ability is fully compensated by its other sensitive senses. Moreover, dogs have better night and peripheral vision. These are very important assets that allow dogs to hunt at night and to perform their guarding duties.
Is it possible that our four legged friends are living in a world that is black and white? Should we believe that the dog's environment is in various shades of grey? These common beliefs regarding the dog's eyesight are not true as dogs actually have the capability to see colors. However, man's best friends don't see colors like we humans do. Dogs can see colors but their vision has a limited color range. Dogs don't have the ability to see the different colors of the rainbow.
The eyes of dogs have the same cone photoreceptor cells we humans have. These photoreceptor cells control color perception by catching the light. Humans have three of these cone photoreceptor cells while dogs only have two. The activities of the three cones would give humans 100% color dogs have would only result to about 20% color perception.
Dogs can see yellow, blue and gray but not red, orange, green and purple. The vision of a dog is about 6 times inferior to human vision. Dogs though have an ability that people are not capable of and that is distinguishing the subtle change in shades of blue and violet. People do not have the ability to distinguish the subtle change in the shades of these colors as human eyes have the yellow pigmentation that blocks short wavelengths and reduces the eye's sensitivity to blue and violet lights.
Luckily, being color blind would not hamper the dog's abilities to survive. Dogs would not be able to appreciate the bright red color of its brand new ball or the leaf-green color of its plush blanket. The dog may have a rather inferior ability to see colors but this ability is fully compensated by its other sensitive senses. Moreover, dogs have better night and peripheral vision. These are very important assets that allow dogs to hunt at night and to perform their guarding duties.
About the Author:
Some say dogs are color blind, some say otherwise. Can dogs see colors? Well.. further dscussion can be found at Sarah's Dogs.
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