Dogs see the world differently than humans, and their vision is less detailed and less colorful than ours. Here are some key points about what dogs see:
-
Color vision: Dogs are dichromatic, which means they can only see two colors: blue-violet and yellow. They cannot distinguish between green, yellow, orange, and red. However, there is some evidence that dogs may be able to see colors that humans cannot, such as ultraviolet light.
-
Visual acuity: Dogs have less visual acuity than humans, and most dogs have a visual acuity of 20/75, meaning that they have to be 20 feet away to see an object as well as a person can see at 75 feet away. Labrador Retrievers, which are commonly used as seeing-eye dogs for humans, have better eyesight that is closer to 20/20.
-
Motion sensitivity: Dogs have more rods in their retinas than humans, which makes them more sensitive to motion and better able to see moving objects.
-
Field of view: Dogs have a wider field of view than humans, but less binocular vision. Their eyes are spaced slightly farther apart than ours, which increases their field of view.
-
Blurry vision: Dogs vision is blurry, and if they were human, they would be considered near-sighted and would need glasses to see objects farther away.
-
Visual cues: Dogs rely on other visual cues, such as brightness, texture, and position, rather than color. For example, seeing-eye dogs may not distinguish between a green or red stoplight; they look at the brightness and position of the light, along with the flow and noise of traffic, to determine when it is safe to cross the street.
Overall, dogs see the world in a less detailed and less colorful way than humans, but they are better able to detect motion and have a wider field of view.