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Can Dogs See in Color?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. They see the world mostly in shades of gray. Their color
vision mechanism only allows them to pick limited shades of red and blue. All other color are
completely lost to them.
For instance, we see a brown rabbit standing in front of a green bush wiggling its ears.
But the canine eye would first be drawn to the bunny's whereabouts by scent and then by the
frightened sounds the rabbit makes after it has been discovered. Only then, the dog would
begin focusing in. Their eyes, unlike ours, are capable of receiving independent information
from either eye that can sharpen in on motion across a very wide field.
As Mother Nature decided what is needed to be in our pet's optical package, color was
considered excess baggage. What color the rabbit was did not matter
as long as the dog could sense it, locate it, and chase it!
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The visions through canine's eyes
(a rough estimate only)
Focusing in on a rabbit
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Dog's Vision
Unlike the felines, canine's vision is far from the keenest in the animal kingdom.
However, the visual shortcomings is compensated by their tremendously sharp senses of smell
and hearing. While dogs can see far distances better than us, their close up vision is not as
good as ours. Things at hand seem slightly blurry to them and
this will tend to diminishes further with age.
If dogs were able to read, they
would definitely need glasses, or everything would have to be in BIG print!
Dog's night vision is far more superior than ours. This is due to the fact that their
ancestors are originally hunters. So, they came equipped with a built-in light-gathering
mechanism that permits them to see better in much lower lights than humans.
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Their close up vision is blurry!
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Eye Contact
Humans usually keep eye contact when they want to establish a friendly relationship.
With dogs, eye contact could mean just the opposite.
Staring directly into a dog's eye who may be approaching aggressively or just suspiciously,
may cause the animal to attack. That is due to the fact that dogs relate to one another
based on an unspoken system of body language, which expresses power and rank.
When one dog submits to another, he/she looks away. A direct stare says "I challenge you".
Therefore, when humans make direct stare at a dog at the wrong time, it could cause aggression.
This is usually true if you have your first encounter with a full grown dog, especially
when you are a stranger to that dog.
However, your dog generally knows his/her place in the household and can tell the difference
between his/her owner's loving glance, and an angry stare when they did something wrong.
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