08/02/2025
WHAT COLORS DO DOGS SEE?
Contrary to popular belief, dogs are not color blind.
A dog’s visual world is certainly not as vibrantly colorful as ours, but they do see a range of yellow, grey, and blue shades and have better night and peripheral vision than we do.
Color is interpreted and discerned by nerve cells in the eyes. The retina has two main types of cells called rods, which detect light levels and motion and cones that differentiate color.
A human’s eyes have three types of cones, which can identify combinations of red, blue, and green.
Dogs have only two types of cones that are only able to discern shades of blue, yellow, and grey – this perception of color is called dichromatic vision.
An ophthalmology professor at the University of Washington discovered that dogs could see blues and yellows but not reds and greens. This information would have been confirmed by anatomical investigation of a dog’s eye.
It would make more sense if manufacturers of dog toys would take a dog’s color spectrum into account when producing dog toys.
Toys are usually made to visually appeal to people, not dogs.
Shades of yellow, grey, or blue are far more appealing to your dog than a bright shade of red or another color.
