Are Dogs Color Blind? Let’s Investigate.

Have you ever wondered if dogs are color-blind? You are not alone. Growing up, I was always told that dogs can only see black and white. This was pretty much accepted by the population, but is just a myth. While it’s true, dogs do not see the same colors that most humans can, they are able to see more colors than previously thought.

Are Dogs Color Blind?

Eyes are made up of specialized cells and receptors. These are referred to as cones and rods. Rods detect the motion that we see and helps us see different shades of light. Cones in our eyes help us to differentiate colors.

We have three types of cones in our eyes. This helps us identify red, blue, and green color combinations. Dogs have two types of cones in their eyes. These colors are yellow and blue.

Examples of colors that dogs can see vs. humans

Here are a couple examples of what dogs can see color-wise verses what humans without colorblindness can typically see.

So are dogs color blind or not?

Dogs don’t know what they are missing in colors, so they see colors at 100% to them. It’s kind of like if there were more colors (which there probably are) than humans are able to depict. We don’t know what those look like so to us, we see colors at 100%.

So it’s more that dogs just see different colors than humans do. So, examining the image of the different colors, we can see that dogs probably see an array of yellows and blues.

As you learn more about your pup, you can understand more from your dog’s perspective. This makes you a better dog mom! Learn more about your pup from our Basic Dog Mom Blog – like why do dogs shake their toys?