What colors do dogs see?

For a long time it was believed that dogs see the world in black and white. But since 2012, thanks to the efforts of researcher Jay Neitz, specialists from the Russian Academy of Sciences and other researchers, we have a reason to be happy for our four-legged friends! The world for them is not a boring black and white picture. Dogs also distinguish colors, although not the whole spectrum.

The human eye has three cones of color space. We can distinguish shades of yellow, green, blue and red. But dogs have only two cones. They can only identify yellow and blue, but can’t tell the difference between yellow-green and red-orange. Not that much choice, but still better than the black and white picture.

Russian Academy of Sciences specialists conducted a study that helped to better understand the visual potential of the dog. Their task was to find out if dogs pick up the level of brightness. The experiment involved 8 dogs of different breeds and ages. 4 boxes were placed in front of them, one of which contained a bowl of delicious food. A colored sheet of paper was placed above each box. There were four of them, as well as boxes: light yellow, dark yellow, light blue and dark blue. A dark yellow leaf was always hung over the tasty food box. In the first phase of the test, the dogs were allowed to inspect the boxes and their contents and match them to a colored sheet. In three approaches, the dogs understood that a dark yellow leaf was pointing to the food box. Then the scientists reduced the number of boxes to two. The dogs had to choose between a light yellow and blue sign. If dogs were guided by brightness, they would choose the color blue, because. it is similar to the brightness of dark yellow. But each of the test dogs chose a light yellow leaf.

The results of the experiment do not mean that dogs do not distinguish the brightness of colors at all. But they show that in daylight, the dog focuses on color, and not on the level of brightness.

Dogs have “bicolor” vision. The researchers note that dogs see the world in much the same way as color blind people see it.

Interesting fact. Guide dogs, looking at a traffic light, are guided not by the lit color, but by the location of the signal.

When you come to the pet store for a toy for a dog, your eyes run wide. There are so many of them: so many different shapes and colors. Some models are muted shades, others are juicy, bright, from the category of “pull out your eyes”. What do you think, is the color of the toy important for the dog itself?

Since dogs can distinguish between yellow and blue colors, it is recommended to choose toys of these shades for games and training. The dog will clearly see blue and yellow objects on the grass or snow. But the red ball in the eyes of the dog will merge with green grass: the pet will see both in gray.

Does this mean that it is better not to buy a red ball? And with it green, pink and orange? No. If a dog relied only on sight, then it would really be difficult for him to find toys in these colors. But in addition to vision, pets have an acute sense of smell – thanks to it, the dog can easily find a toy of any color on any surface. So you should not get hung up on the color of the toy.

Not only sight, but also smell helps a dog find a toy. Thanks to the sharp sense of smell, the dog easily finds a toy of any color.

If the ability to distinguish between yellow and blue colors did not comfort you and you are still sad for your pet, remember that dogs see perfectly in the dark and perfectly interpret different shades of gray. And their field of view is much wider than ours. Dogs can clearly see moving objects at a distance of 400 meters even in very poor lighting, which we never dreamed of. And everything that cannot be recreated by vision, the sharpest sense of smell will more than complete.

The ability to distinguish colors for animals is much less important than the ability to see at night, to catch movement at a long distance, to hear and smell sharply.

So we can only be happy for them!