Dogs can see color—contrary to what we once thought. Although they don’t see in black and white, they also don’t see the same colors as humans.
The anatomy of dogs’ eyes and their photoreceptors differ from that of humans (and other species), giving dogs a unique visual perspective.
What Colors Do Dogs See?
Dogs’ eyes only have 2 types of cones (just 20 percent of the cones in human eyes). Because of this, a dog’s color spectrum is limited to shades of gray, brown, yellow and blue.
This is called dichromatic vision, which is similar to humans who experience red-green color blindness.
Some colors—like hues of red and orange—may show up as another color to dogs, like brown. Greens may appear blue.
Dogs may also struggle to notice the difference between hues of the same color, like light blue and dark blue.
Keep this in mind if your dog struggles to find toys or treats. It’s not that he’s not interested—he likely can’t see what you’re trying to give him.
The next time you’re shopping for dog toys, try something blue or yellow that will stand out better for your dog.
What Does a Dog’s Vision Look Like?
In daylight, a dog’s visual sharpness is 50 percent less than a human’s. So, things may seem blurrier to him. That’s okay, though, because dogs rely on their heightened senses of smell and hearing.
Can Dogs See in the Dark?
Dogs can see well in dark or low-light situations. This is because their eyes are anatomically different from humans’ eyes.
They have more rods in the retina than humans, so their eyes are more sensitive to motion and light. This allows your dog to pick up on small movements and detect the presence of strangers or prey.
Like other predatory animals, dogs have a layer of reflective membrane at the back of their eyes.
This membrane bounces light not absorbed by rods to the retina, which allows the eye to take in additional light and strengthens their nighttime vision. This also makes it look as if dogs’ eyes glow in the dark.
Breed May Affect What Dogs Can See
According to Bonnie Beaver, author of Canine Behavior: A Guide for Veterinarians, dogs’ field of vision may vary significantly depending on their breed.
For example, a dog with a narrow face and long nose, such as a Borzoi, has a narrow field of binocular focus and a larger field of peripheral vision. A brachycephalic breed, on the other hand, such as a Pekingese, has a wider area of binocular vision, but an even bigger blind spot.
We’ll never see the world through our dogs’ eyes, but we can use what we know about canine vision to help solve mysteries and illnesses in the human eye.
In fact, research on blindness in dogs has helped experts understand and address blindness in children.
Learning more about your dog’s sense of sight is a great exercise in helping you to become a better dog owner. The more you are able to imagine the world the way your dog experiences it, the better you’ll be able to meet his needs and understand his behavior.
To learn more about dog vision, health and related topics from our experts, visit our Pet Expertise page.
Are dogs color blind? While you may think dogs cannot see color, the truth may surprise you. Find out what colors dogs can actually see (and not see).
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Not everything is black and white, especially if you're a dog! Despite a very long-held myth that dogs see the world through a gray lens, researchers now know that although our canine companions don't see the vast rainbow of colors we humans do, dogs don't see the world as though it's a vintage movie.
Dogs can see some colors, just not as many as we can. But just because you are lucky enough to see the beautiful changing leaves each fall doesn't mean your sight is superior. Dogs have excellent vision and have even evolved to see clearly in the dark.
What is Color Blindness in Dogs?
In the human sense of the word, dogs are color blind but in a very specific way. You might have heard that sometimes a person may have issues distinguishing red colors from green ones or perceiving shades of blue. This is due to color blindness and is commonly caused by a genetic issue within the eye or, later in life, an injury or illness. However, the way dogs see isn't because of any deficiency in the eye itself.
Humans and dogs both have two types of color receptors: cones and rods. The cones handle vision during the day and color perception. Rods tackle what can be seen at night and the ability to see from side to side and all around (peripheral vision). Each cone detects the wavelengths of light. Humans have three cones and so can generally detect the whole spectrum of light. Dogs have just two cones.
What Colors Do Dogs See?
A dog's two color-detecting cones help them to perceive blue and yellow light but not red or green. So, in a dog's world view they likely see everything as muted shades of yellow, brown, gray, and tinges of blues. "Dogs can indeed see colors—it just looks a little different than us," says Alicen Tracey, a small animal veterinarian at Den Herder Veterinary Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa.
Those bright red dog toys you always pick out? Well, your dog doesn't really see that bright red color. To them, that appears as one big hunk of brown.
"Dogs' vision of color most closely resembles people who have red-green color vision deficiencies," Tracey says. "For those with red-green color deficiency it is difficult to distinguish between the colors red and green."
Wanna see what your dog sees? You can experiment with Dog Vision!
Myriel Kimble / EyeEm/ Getty
What Does This Mean for Your Dog?
It's really fun to pick out brightly colored dog toys, beds, and collars. But while they are pleasing to us, their color likely makes no difference to your dog. Your dog doesn't need toys in rainbow hues, and those intense shades will not impact his toy preference—but it does seem to impact yours! Marketers and graphic designers know that humans prefer toys and pet gear in bright colors like red and orange but dogs don't perceive those colors at all.
Some smart dog trainers and dog sport enthusiasts have picked up on the color scheme dogs perceive. For instance, you may have noticed that dog agility equipment tends to be blue and yellow. In your own backyard, selecting Frisbees and balls that are yellow or blue could help your dog find them faster amongst the green grass.
Have you ever found your dog barking in the dark, at what appears to be nothing, giving you just the right amount of creeps? Well, don't just dismiss the bark. Although dogs won't notice the bright red eye color of what you are positive is something menacing, they can see quite well in the dark. Their eyes may have fewer color-detecting cones than humans' eyes, but dogs have more light-sensitive rods. This means they can see creatures moving in the deep of the night. Which might be a handier skill for them than being able to appreciate the color of that fun new toy you just bought.
Visual enrichment is very important to your dog and there are many toys in an array of colours that we love to play with, but what colours can your dog actually see?
Dogs have dichromatic vision, which means they see violet-blue, yellow and shades of grey. This is similar to a human being red-green colour blind. Dogs are typically nearsighted with a wider field of view than a human giving them better motion detection.
Seeing is part of how dogs enjoy their environment and we can help stimulate their senses through visual enrichment. Choosing toys, playing games and training our dog with visual cues that they can perceive and understand plays a big part in how happy and fulfilling their lives can be. Here’s how you can choose the things around you to help your dog see the world in a better light.
Dogs eyes are structured differently
We know that a dog’s eye is different to a humans. The retina, which is the light sensitive part of the eye, contains rods and cones. Cones for colour and detail and rods for motion and vision in dim light.
Dogs retina’s are predominantly rods so they can see really well at night as well as enabling them to be much better at detecting motion. Squirrel!
Unfortunately, this means that your dog does not have many cones, so we do not see the same colour spectrum.
Dogs are colour blind
Dogs’ retinas can only interpret two colours. A blue-violet and yellow. Everything else is a shade of grey. Your dog uses other indicators to help them identify objects, such as sense of smell, textures, brightness and position.
This is how a guide dog knows when to cross the road. They can’t see the colour of the red and green traffic light, but they have learnt the context of the traffic noise and motion to allow them to help their owners safely cross the road.
However a recent study in 2019 showed that although dogs can not see more colours, they are able to discriminate using luminance levels.
Dogs have a wider field of view than a human
Predators, like humans and dogs, have their eyes located in the front of their head so they perceive depth. Whilst human eyes are set close together and straight forward, your dog’s eyes are at about a 20 degree angle ( depending on breed). This gives your dog amazing peripheral vision.
However, the pay off for this is that their binocular vision is not so great and it depends on how far apart their eyes are set, and whether their nose gets in the way, as to how good their depth perception is.
Your dog’s ability to judge distance is at its best when looking straight ahead. This is why some dogs are better at catching than others.
A dog’s world is up close and personal
Remember your eye tests? If you have perfect eyesight, known as 20/20 vision, you can distinguish objects at 20 feet. Your dog however, typically has much poorer vision. This means that your dog needs to get much closer to see something that you can see from a distance.
Dogs can also be nearsighted (like Rotties and German Shepherds) and farsighted (Retrievers and Spaniels). Some dogs, such as Labradors have been bred for their vision and it is as close to humans as it can get.
Dog’s night vision and motion detection is excellent
Your dog can detect motion at a distance much better than you. This is why when we are out in a field I stand in a ‘T’ shape and move my arms up and down as a recall signal. Dolly can see this easily and so knows to come back.
Because of your dog’s ability to see better in low light, motion detection and wider field of view a dog is perfectly suited to hunting at dawn and dusk. This is why Dolly stares out of the patio doors at night to watch for hedgehogs.
Choosing dog-friendly colours improves agility ability
Dogs will do better at agility training when the weave poles, tunnels, jumps and boards are painted in blue and yellow so they can see them clearly. It helps them navigate and judge distances between objects.
What does dog’s vision actually look like?
Well by now you must be curious as to how your dog actually sees the world around them? And so was this Australian guy, Liam, who used an app on his phone and a VR headset to simulate a dog’s view of the world.
How to test your dog’s vision at home
As your dog ages their vision will deteriorate naturally. You might not notice at home because your dog has learnt how to navigate your furniture, walls and doors. But there are signs that you can look for that might indicate they are having some trouble seeing as well as they once did.
- Bumping into things in a new environment, like a cafe, or if you move your furniture
- Not reacting to movement outside on walks that they usually would, like chasing a squirrel
- When playing fetch, they can’t find the ball anymore
- Squinting, light sensitivity or could pupils
Dog Vision FAQS
Dogs see two colours: violet-blues and yellow, the best due to the reduced number of cones in their retinas.
Toys and objects that are blue and yellow will stand out to a dog and are the easiest colours they see and are drawn to.
Dogs have dichromatic vision which means they see violet-blue, yellow and shades of grey. This is similar to a human being red-green colour blind.
Dogs can not see the colours Red, Green, nor Orange, Purple or Brown. These colours appear as a shade of grey in a dog’s vision.
Dogs can not see the colour red as the cones in their retina only detect blue-violet and yellow.
Dogs can not see the colour purple as the cones in their retina only detect blue-violet and yellow.
As a dog can not perceive colour the same way as a human they do not hate colours unless they have been specifically trained to avoid certain colours.
Any colour other than blue-violet or yellow will be perceived as grey to your dog and therefore not as interesting or stimulating.
To your dog, you are shades of grey, unless you are wearing a blue or yellow item of clothing.
The tapetum is in the back of the eye which behaves like a mirror to reflect light and allows the retina to better register the image.
Dogs see violet-blue and yellow in the dark. Other colours are shades of grey. Your dog usesbrightness to distinguish other colours.
Although a dog has superior low light vision to a human, it can not see in pitch black. A dog does not have night vision.
A dog will sleep better without a light on at night so they are not visually disturbed or over stimulated.
Top 5 Dog Toys in Colours your Dog Can See
We thought we would share with your our favourite toys that Dolly loves.
References
- Sarah-Elizabeth Byosiere, Philippe A. Chouinard, Tiffani J. Howell, Pauleen C. Bennett,(2019) The effects of physical luminance on colour discrimination in dogs: A cautionary tale, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, Volume 212,Pages 58-65, ISSN 0168-1591
- Neitz, J., Geist, T., & Jacobs, G. (1989). Color vision in the dog. Visual Neuroscience, 3(2), 119-125. doi:10.1017/S0952523800004430
- Jacobs, G., Deegan, J., Crognale, M., & Fenwick, J. (1993). Photopigments of dogs and foxes and their implications for canid vision. Visual Neuroscience, 10(1), 173-180. doi:10.1017/S0952523800003291
- Kelber, A., Vorobyev, M. and Osorio, D. (2003), Animal colour vision — behavioural tests and physiological concepts. Biological Reviews, 78: 81-118. doi: 10.1017/S1464793102005985
- Miller PE, Murphy CJ. Vision in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1995 Dec 15;207(12):1623-34. PMID: 7493905.