By: Lily Feinn/The Dodo In some ways, they actually see better than we do.
Have you ever wondered what the world looks like through your dog’s eyes? For example, when you throw a red ball into a patch of green grass, what does your pup see?
A popular notion suggests the world appears to dogs as outlines and shapes in shades of gray, or even that they’re color-blind, but in reality, what they see is far from monochrome.
The term color-blind when applied to dogs is not entirely incorrect, but rather a misrepresentation of what dogs can intuit about their surroundings. Dogs can certainly see color, just like their owners, and the way they perceive their surroundings suits them perfectly.
Similar to humans who have red-green color blindness, defined as a difficulty distinguishing between red and green and the most common form of color vision deficiency found in humans, dogs are unable to differentiate between certain tones, explains veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Laura Proietto, which is most likely where the misguided myth that dogs can’t see colors started.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYUTdkyBtEX/
“Dogs definitely have a different view of the world, but they aren’t ‘color-blind,’” Proietto tells The Dodo.
“I think we were all told growing up that dogs only saw in black and white, but really all that they can’t see is the color green. They can appreciate blues and reds and how they overlap to make different colors just fine,” Proietto adds.
So what about all that green grass they love to frolic through? Are our pets missing an important piece of sensory information concerning their environment?
How Dogs Are Helping Researchers Cure Color Blindness https://t.co/qPTlSQQ3rt #dog @dogs https://t.co/kCDPxUc0mp pic.twitter.com/B26DbmCFyb
— Rockwell Pets Pro (@RockwellPetsPro) July 14, 2017
When it comes to visual information, dogs are far from deprived. The colors that dogs are able to see are a direct result of their evolution and lifestyle — so it actually helps that the green of the grass or the leaves of the forest is muted, notes Proietto.
Humans and other primates are trichromatic, meaning we have three kinds of photoreceptor cells that perceive color, known as “cones,” in our retina, according to Colour Blind Awareness. Dogs, on the other hand, are dichromatic, meaning their eyes have only two types of cones — but for a very good reason.
More detailed dog color vision chart. pic.twitter.com/zxbfdNbyUr
— Steve Clark (@ProfFishman) October 16, 2013
“Dogs in nature need to hunt to eat, and hide and run from predators. In our homes, they really need to be able to see their ball as it bounces across the floor or flies across the yard,” Proietto explains.
“Their dichromatic (reds and blues) vision helps with identifying predators and prey, as well as enhancing the contrast between colorful animals or balls and the green background of the grass and trees that are muted in their visual field.”
A dog’s “limited” vision acts as a natural filter — yes, similar to Instagram — making some objects bolder and more defined, while “washing out” the unimportant details, according to Proietto. Blue and red animals or toys, for example, might be far more noticeable compared to a gray-ish background than they would if they were silhouetted against a bright green backdrop. This is one of the many reasons your dog has no trouble bringing back that tennis ball you threw all the way across the field.
While human 20/20 vision is about two-and-a-half times better than our pets’ eyesight, dogs have a few other tricks that more than makeup for the missing cones, especially when night falls, Proietto notes.
“They have much better night vision than we do and are excellent at picking up motion,” Proietto explains. “They don’t need the same visual acuity to read or drive a car that we do, so they are wired differently with different receptors in the eye to be able to pick up even the most subtle of motion around them.”
It may make some pet parents sad to think that their dog is missing out on all the colors of the rainbow, but seeing through a faded “gingham” Instagram filter has some serious perks for both pet owners and their pups.
“Their other senses take over, and what they lack in color vision and detail they more than makeup for with the aid of their other senses,” Proietto says. “Think of the dogs whose noses have saved so many people just by sniffing them out.”
