Ability to see colors - are dogs colorblind?
|
|
| I believe that all dogs are color blind, they only see in shades of grey. Maybe they are able to differentiate the bright colors more than the darker ones? Anybody have any ideas? |
| I had always thought that all dogs were colorblind too but, Mandy's right, different ranges of colorblindness allow you to see different contrasts so that might be it.
How can you tell if your dog can differentiate a color? I have a hard time telling if Clyde's even looking at me half the time! |
| Can dogs see colors?
No. Man's best friend is colorblind, but, fortunately, his survival does not depend upon the ability to see colors. His keen sense of smell compensates for his inability to see colors, and enables him to differentiate between things. Extensive scientific testing on dogs supports the conclusion that they live in a colorless world. The testing done primarily focussed on the dogs' responses to colors for food. Dogs could not tell the difference between one color, a signal for food, and other colors, that were not for food. Similar tests conducted on cats produced similar results, which led scientists to conclude that they, too, are colorblind and live in a gray world. The inability of most animals to see colors, from an evolutionary standpoint, is quite simple to understand. Many colorblind animals have dull-colored coats, hunt for food in the dark of night, or graze in the dim twilight hours. Their other senses have developed to the point where the lack of color vision in no way impairs them. For them, life in a colorless world is neither a handicap, nor a threat to their survival. The only animals, other than man, scientists can conclusively say have color vision are monkeys and apes. Both can be trained to open a colored door, behind which is food, and man can be trained to open a refrigerator door of any color How Dogs See Color How do dogs see color? Are they color blind as many believe? The following article examines how dogs interpret brightness, shape, contrast and color. By Dana K. Vaughan, Ph.D., Dept. of Biology, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh email: Vaughan@uwosh.edu Vision is just one of several senses that dogs use to scan their world for important information. Any visual scene has multiple aspects to which dogs' brains are sensitive: brightness, shape, contrast, and motion are a few of these. But what about color? Many authorities have stated that "dogs are colorblind", with the implication that dogs perceive only black, white, and shades of grey. In fact, this was not known for certain, but became "folklore". Then, in the late 1980s, a definitive set of experiments was done at the University of California, Santa Barbara, by what may well be the world's foremost research program on comparative color vision. I played a very small part in this study, in that I volunteered my two Italian Greyhounds, "Flip" and "Gypsy", for the study. A third dog, a toy Poodle named "Retina", was volunteered by her owner, who was also one of the researchers. All three dogs were beloved family pets, both before and after the studies. Related Product: Sqwuggies Bright and colorful fetch toys for dogs To define canine color vision, each dog was placed into a box facing a display of three round light panels in a horizontal row. Beneath each light panel was a cup. A computer provided combinations of different colored lights in the three panels. Two were always the same color, while the third was different. Over a series of some 4,000 trials, each dog was taught to "find the one that's different". Every correct choice was rewarded with a treat in the cup beneath the correct choice. Every wrong choice meant that no treat was forthcoming, from any cup. All three dogs were so food-driven that they weren't even starved for the tests. Mine loved their "lab days" and would practically drag me onto the elevator to get to the box! When it was clear that each dog understood the test, some 200-400 tests were run per session, over a period of weeks. This provided a large data set on which statistics could be run. If the dog couldn't tell two colors apart and was just guessing, s/he would be right, on average, only 33% of the time (one out of three possible choices). If the dog could tell two colors apart, s/he would be right much more often. To ensure that the dogs were identifying the different panel based on color alone, the position of the different colored panel was randomly moved around (left, middle, or right) and the relative brightness of each light was also randomized. The key publication describing this classic work is: J. Neitz, T. Geist, and G.S. Jacobs (1989), "Color vision in the dog", Visual Neuroscience Vol. 3, pages 119-125. These experiments showed that dogs do see color, but in a more limited range than that seen by normal humans, who see the rainbow of colors described by "VIBGYOR": Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red (plus hundreds of variations on these shades). Instead, dogs see "VIBYYYR" (Violet, Indigo, Blue, Yellow, Yellow, Yellow, and Red). The colors Green, Yellow, and Orange all look alike to dogs; but look different from Red and different from the various Blues and Purples. Dogs are very good at telling different shades of VIB apart. Finally, Blue-Green looks White to dogs. The simple explanation for these differences in color vision is this. The retinas of normal humans have three (3) types of color receptors, called "cones". Each cone type is particularly sensitive to light of a narrow limit within the entire VIBGYOR range. That means that three different "cone lines" of communication run back to the visual part of the brain, which then compares the weight of the signals coming in from each of cone "line". Different weights produce a perception of different colors. In dogs (and in "green-blind" humans), there are only two (2) types of cones, so there is less basis for comparison by the brain, and thus the perceived color range is more limited. In sum, dog color vision is "color-limited", not "color-blind". To better understand the difference between VIBGYOR and VIBYYYR, consider what a dog would see in each of the following color combinations. Humans see: Dogs see How can we put this information to use as dog trainers? First, we have to recognize that color is just one aspect of a visual scene as perceived by a dog. There are two other aspects that are just as important, if not more so. The first of these is motion. Think of a green lizard motionless on a leafy branch in the tropics. Both you and your dog would have a hard time seeing it - until it moved! Think back to your dog chasing a green tennis ball against green grass. He can follow it fine, even though there is no color difference on which to cue. Objects moving at a moderate rate of speed are, in general, easier to spot than motionless objects. The second of these is contrast (that is, outline against background). A stationary object that has a very distinct and very different shape from its background is easier to spot, while one that is patterned like its background will blend in. That's the principle of the camouflage clothing worn by hunters. Yes, it's the color of the woods, but more importantly, camo breaks up the human body's outline against the patchy background scene of branches, leaves, and underbrush. Even small movements are harder to see when an object's outline blurs with its background. The third is color. Back to hunters for a moment; ever wonder how we get away with wearing screaming hunter's orange hats with our camouflage jackets and pants? Deer are probably like dogs (VIBYYYR): to them, orange is not different from the green or brown undergrowth, and a hat doesn't give a terribly distinctive shape. As a color, safety orange sticks out like a sore thumb to humans, but not to dogs or deer. So, to maximize an object's visibility to a dog, we should strive to combine: (1) moderate motion (when feasible); (2) maximal contrast (a dark and white pattern unlike that of the background scene); and (3) stand-out color (one that is identifiable by dogs and does not occur very often in the background scene). The best of all possible worlds for most background scenes would be boldly-patterned Bright Purple and White objects. Having said all that, let's never forget the other keen senses the dog has at his disposal (and we do not): smell and hearing. These are minimally helpful when a dog is working bumpers, but play powerful roles when a dog is working live or shot game. The information in this article is courtesy of Katies Bumpers |
| Well, when our Jake was alive, he had about 10 different colored squeek balls (all the same make/model, just different colors). We could line them all up and tell him to go find his "pink ball" (yes, he was a boy and yes his favorite ball was hot pink) and he would unfailingly choose the right ball!
Not sure what the deal with the sight was, nor his choice in what color was his favorite, but, somehow he knew the difference! |
| I knew dogs werent colorblind and they coulod see red and blues I think really well but I wasnt sure about the bright color issue though. Thanks everyone that was very informative.
"We could line them all up and tell him to go find his "pink ball" (yes, he was a boy and yes his favorite ball was hot pink) and he would unfailingly choose the right ball! " (rebecca) I guess my family's two arent the only ones attrackted to bright toys then... |
| Lennon and Sofa have a very strong preference for Navy balls. Their favorite ones are blue in colour and are the ones they can find the fastest when we toss them. Red toys also call their attention, but definitevly they have a preference for navy.
I haven't tried to take some B/W pictures of the places where they play to see if the balls stand out because of the contrast if they can't see colors, that could explain whay they like the navy balls so much. |
OMG  The Muppets have no idea they are carrying around pink slippers!
And I thought they liked it...they were just trying to be cool and metrosexual!
Poor Muppets...they had no idea!  |
| They still have the pink slippers???? Oh Panda is sooo sooo happy! |
Quote: They still have the pink slippers???? Oh Panda is sooo sooo happy!
 I bought them a new pair a while ago...pink with little hearts on them...they are VERY loved in now. 
The Muppets have decided that they don't care that they have pink slippers...the just want to make Panda happy! |
| yep. have been told many times that dogs only see black and white. still wonder why Winstons favorite toy is bright yellow!! Maybe its the shape? not the color ??
Witchy * |
Well, sure Colleen- they think it is a RED slipper, and as we all know, red is such a sexy, sexy color... how can they not love them!!! thanks for the informative article, it's really interesting to find out all this info about color-sight in animals! I really didn't know that green, yellow, and orange all look like the same color to a dog... How cool is that. I guess it is a good thing that they have a good sense of smell, or else how would they know when their bananans are ripe???  |
| I don't know if they see in color or not (probably not) but my two like to watch tv! It's so funny to watch Daphne cock her head back and forth as she watches the tv screen! |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|