It is pretty typical for dog owners to ask this question, however answering it is a bit more complex than just saying yes or no. Technically, yes dogs are colorblind, however contrary to many beliefs they are not color blind in the sense that they do not see in color at all or only see shades of grey. They are color blind meaning that they can’t see the same color range as somebody with normal vision. Dogs have what is called dichromatic color vision. What this means is that dogs have two color-receptors in their eyes, one which peaks at the blue-violet range and one that peaks at the yellow-green range. In conclusion, this means that dogs are not necessarily “color blind” as they are “green blind” which is one form of red-green color blindness called deuteranopia.
The color spectrum is made up of wavelengths of light that is the same to all of us humans, only the perceptions of these colors can be different depending on the individual. Dogs for instance have problems distinguishing certain colors such as red, orange, green, greenish-blue, gray and different shades of purple. Furthermore, “human” red’s, greens and oranges to a dog since they are not distinguishable appear somewhere on their yellow to blue spectrum.
The human eye consists of more cones whereas a canine’s eyes is different and consists of more rods and fovea which are responsible for sharp visual detail in humans. Due to this fact, canines have superior night vision and it is also easier for them to track movement than it is for us humans. Not to mention they can track movement better than humans can, however while doing so they will see things in fewer colors, and the shapes and objects appear much less detailed.
Marissa Hayun says
That was useful