Is Your Dog Colorblind - What All Can Your Pet See? Also, Taylormade available dogs!

We have an exciting adventure with a new Human baby coming soon to our family! We have also made the very difficult decision to make our Gorgeous girl Pinkerton available. This has been the hardest thing for our family since she is our heart ❤️ dog. She is the Most wonderful dog, it’s almost unbearable to think about saying goodbye. But since she is retired from our breeding program and all the changes coming to our family, this is the best for her to have a wonderful family where she can be the center of focus, like she deserves. I also feel she is such a wonderful dog that could really bless her family with her easy going personality and loving disposition. If you would like to be considered for her furever home let us know.

Pinkerton Female English Cream colored Golden Retriever available

For Local Utah families only! We have guardian dogs that are looking for happy homes. This is a wonderful opportunity to get a top notch, health tested Taylormade Mini Golden for free!

Flint 39 lb male, Dark gold, Mini Golden- available for guardian home

Mellie 32 lb, English cream colored female- available for guardian

Liberty 16 lb, dark gold, female- available for guardian home.

Is Your Dog Colorblind - What All Can Your Pet See? By Jackie Brown

Huxley & Mellie pictured

Can dogs see in color or are they completely colorblind? This is the age-old controversy that has gripped the nation from the moment of its inception - 

The notion that dogs only see in black and white is something that has been widely accepted for decades now. Research conducted on canine senses has, however, yielded surprisingly different results. 

Findings tell us that dogs can in fact see color, but only in 2 spectrums, while humans can view color in 3. 

In order to better understand how your pet sees and perceives specific colors, let us take a dive into the sciences and understand how a dog’s eyes are constructed. 

The Anatomy of Your Furry Friend’s Eyes 

Much like us, your puppy's eyes have a set of rods and cones, a retina, a lens, a pupil, and a cornea. And exactly like a predator, a dog’s eyes are positioned at the front of its face. This, therefore, means that your pup has limited peripheral vision. 

So if our eyes are so similar, where do the differences arise? While your pet might not be able to give you the answer directly, learning how to communicate with your dog can help you learn a lot more about the whats and whys behind its behavior. 

Let’s take this as an example of what a dog may be able to see - Most of us are aware that hunting in the dark is one of the primary functions of dogs. Which is why the cornea and lens of your pup are bigger than your own. Dogs also have a membrane known as the tapetum which is reflective and significantly enhances night vision. 

The combined effects of evolution and survival have resulted in dogs developing their senses considerably as nocturnal hunters. This enables them to track prey in the dark, catching them easily in limited lighting. Your pup can therefore see quite well in the dark.

It is the retina, however, that holds the key to the color perceptions that your dog exhibits. The retina is a screen that consists of millions of densely packed cells that are attuned to sensing light. These cells are known as rods and cones. The former is a group of cells that are extremely sensitive and can enable the perception of shapes and movements even in very low light. Cones, on the other hand, enable viewing in bright light and are also a significant determinant of color perception in dogs and humans. 

In the cases of visually impaired pets, however, consider getting a dog halo to ensure that it is safe wherever it goes. 

Now that you know how your dog’s eyes have developed, the next question to answer is - 

How Does My Dog See Color? 

Us humans have more cones in our retinas as opposed to our furry counterparts. Dogs have more rods instead of cones and this makes up the key difference in color perception between these pets and their owners.

Ranger and his boy

Rods are key cells that enable sensing minuscule changes in the intensity of light, recognizing movements accurately in the dark. Rods, however, do not provide the color resolution and perception that is offered by cones. 

Cones are significant in daylight vision and equipped in providing incredible color perception and attention to detail. They, however, do not respond as easily to fluctuations in light levels as rods. 

Your furry family members - be it a beautiful Mini Golden or a stoic German Shepherd, have only 2 cones in their eyes, as opposed to the 3 cones that you have as a human being. This accounts for 20% of the retina’s surface area being cones, as opposed to the 100% that central regions in human eyes have. 

For a human to be established as color-blind, one of the 3 cones should have a deficiency. This type of color blindness - referred to as dichromacy - is something that is very similar to how your pet perceives the world. 

What Colors Does My Pet See? 

The color receptors that are present in our eyes work by responding to specific wavelengths of light. For us, therefore, each cone in our eye perceives the wavelengths associated with blue-violet, green and red. 

Overlapping and mixing the different spectrums of colors of these 3 cones results in the entire range of hues that we are equipped to see. 

Dogs, on the other hand, have only 2 cones that perceive yellow and blue wavelengths of light. This means that your pup can see colors - but only those that are a combination of blues and yellows. 

So can your pup see how red the roses in your garden are? No, it might probably just see dulled yellow and brown petals. But can your dog recognize a blue ball that is coming straight for it? It sure can! So choose your dog’s toys and playthings wisely. 

Your pup might even be able to recognize shades of purple. But oranges, green and red are a whole lot more difficult to process. This means, if you switch their blue ball with an orange ball, they might take a while to adjust to the difference. 

But if your pup is chasing a ball, it will be relying more on the movements and not the actual color of the ball against the grass. 

Photo courtesy of Miles owner Kathryn- THANK YOU!

So the next time you are watching TV, turn on the volume and watch how your pup responds to all the colors and sounds emanating from the device. Being able to comprehend movements allows your pup to enjoy your favorite Netflix series with you! 

You can even go one step further and start obedience-training your pup with a pair of blue and yellow training tools like dumbbells. It will most definitely respond with rapt attention and focus. 

Conclusion 

Dogs see a different range of colors as opposed to what humans are generally susceptible to. But do not take your dog’s vision for granted! Their other senses and razor-like focus on movement however ensures that your pet never misses an irresistible chase

Pet expert Jackie Brown has spent 20 years following her passion for animals as a writer and editor in the pet publishing industry.
Prior to starting her career in publishing, Jackie spent eight years working in veterinary hospitals where she assisted veterinarians as they treated dogs, cats, rabbits, pocket pets, reptiles, birds and one memorable lion cub. We feel so bless to have her contribute to our blog!