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Do You Think Dogs Are Color Blind

8K views 35 replies 24 participants last post by  phillip1119 
#1 · (Edited)
When I first started with retrievers I was told they couldn't see orange very well because they were color blind. Since then I have always thought they could only see thing in black and white. The other day I was listening to a radio program and they said that humans have 3 color cones in their eyes blue,green and red. then they said dogs only have 2 color cones in their eyes blue and green which is why they can't see some colors like red or orange and it limits them to a wide range of other colors that are mixed with red but they can see the colors blue,green and a mix of the two like yellow. I was just wondering if I'm the only one who believed they only saw things in black and white?
 
#2 ·
I used to think that dogs could only see in black and white, however my friend "Fishduck" has a female that sees color! Lined many blinds marked with an orange pole.

Lonnie Spann
 
#4 · (Edited)
Dogs can't distinguish reds from greens. Just like a person that is red/green color blind.

That's not the same thing, as seeing the world in black and white, or not being able to see red or green.
 
#5 ·
I really don't know if a dog is color blind or not. I do belive that some dogs think like some judges as to where a blind should be placed. I have seen numerous dogs run beautiful blinds due to practice,, over different obsticles, across angle entries, and angle exits. I'm just amaised at what some of our can do, when asked. Bill
 
#6 ·
Yes, current thinking is that dogs have dichromatic (two-color) vision compared to our trichromatic (three-color) vision based on the photo receptors in their eyes. "Color blind" does not always mean black and white vision - black and white vision would occur if you had no cone receptors (very rare). Dogs, however, have two types of cone receptors in their eyes, so this just results in a limited color spectrum compared to humans. Specifically, we think dogs are red/green color blind (i.e., they cannot distinguish red from green).

Dogs are certainly capable of learning visual discriminations based on the color or shade of objects. For example, you can teach your dog to pick up a blue ball versus a green ball on cue. Do keep in mind that dogs can also see gradients, shades, and shadows (or else they would be running into things all the time!), so an orange pole marking a blind does not necessarily suggest that the dog can see the color orange - rather, it just tells us that the dog can see the pole against the surrounding environment.

Their vision might look something like what these photos on the right depict. Notice how the red and green toys are still distinguishable from the grass because they are a different shade, but the blue toys are a different color altogether.


If you are interested in more facets of dogs vision or more of the technical components, there is an article by Miller & Murphy (1995) that was a nice summary. You can access a copy of the article here:
www. daisypeel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/dog-vision-miller-murphy.pdf
 
#17 ·
Do keep in mind that dogs can also see gradients, shades, and shadows (or else they would be running into things all the time!), so an orange pole marking a blind does not necessarily suggest that the dog can see the color orange - rather, it just tells us that the dog can see the pole against the surrounding environment.
I almost hate to pull just a snippet from such a quality post, but I think this really gets to the heart of it and I think we've all seen evidence of this whether we perceived it this way or not.

I think the reason some dogs run right to an orange ribbon on a blind is not because they can see the orange in the ribbon it's because they see the movement of it if the wind is blowing.
While this is undoubtedly true, my dogs also seem to see (or not see) orange objects based on their sheen or reflectivity. The material seems to make a difference. For instance, my dogs are likely to run right past a canvas orange bumper in the grass, but not nearly as likely to run past a plastic orange bumper in the grass. The plastic bumper's hard/smooth surface reflects light much more than the canvas one which almost seems to absorb the light. As you might expect, the phenomenon of seeing orange bumpers, even from a distance, is increased when direct sunlight is involved rather than shade or heavy cloud cover.

BTW, I have a type of color blindness myself and I have a heck of a time seeing orange ribbons marking blinds sometimes if they are not in direct sunlight or are not moving. I can see them but then when I look away and look back I have to "find" them again instead of them jumping out at me like they are supposed to. I can overcome this by wearing shooting glasses with the appropriate shade of lens to make the orange really "pop".
 
#8 ·
I think the reason some dogs run right to an orange ribbon on a blind is not because they can see the orange in the ribbon it's because they see the movement of it if the wind is blowing.
 
#10 ·
I agree. That's why it's not a good idea to put a ribbon on a blind stake.
 
#9 ·
#12 ·
I run my blue Heeler in agility, and read the article that frontier posted a couple of months ago on an agility website, where it tied into being mindful about the colors you use for equipment and choose to wear while handling. I had just run an outdoors agility trial the week before (open field surrounded by trees), where it seemed that I was running 2 different dogs that weekend. Tex looked lost during our Saturday runs, but was much better on Sunday. After reading the article, I realized that I was wearing a red jacket on Saturday, and a navy blue one on Sunday. Because he feeds so much off of my body language with just his peripheral vision, I think it was more than a coincidence! Interesting stuff!
 
#14 ·
Your right Ken and if the grass is long you really get a good drag back scent you can see the dogs running the blind with their noses down. You just have to hope the first dog takes a straight line back and doesn't go off and visit a bush or something.
 
#15 ·
...... You just have to hope the first dog takes a straight line back and doesn't go off and visit a bush or something.
OH, and when one dog does, and then the next three going out take the same curve!!
For me, the folk I talk to. It is more of the Golden owners who claim to have orange
seeing dogs. But I think they just evolved a better sniffer to overcome having to scent through
the shampoo and conditioner and no-stick pan coating for so many generations.
 
#18 ·
Huntindawg Your right about them being able to see the reflection off of bumpers and ribbons. I always try to put them in a shaded area the only problem is when I'm running really long blinds is I have a hard time seeing them myself.
 
#19 ·
With really long blinds, I try to place all of the factors/suction at the middle of the blind. Then use the biggest, brightest orange pole I have. That not only helps me see the blind but avoids any nit picking at the end of the blind. The last thing I want to happen at 4-500 yards is back and forth casting trying to dig out the bird. For my dogs this strategy ensures both the handler and the dogs are sucessfull.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Great thread, loved reading.

Never forget when I saw my first US field trial quad....my first thought "gawd damm those birds are thrown fast".

And the gallery were behind the handler..how the dogs distinguish one tiny person in white!!

etc etc etc etc!!!
Amazing! Dogs can jump from our vehicles and in a split second take in their surroundings or distinguish if anything is important in their world.
 
#24 ·
I have seen this too. My feeling on the color thing is that some dogs seem to pick out orange better than others, it might be a shades of gray thing, or maybe orange is more contrasty for one dog than another. Having thrown fun bumpers for decades, I know for a fact that dogs see white or black bumpers laying on the ground much better than they see orange.
 
#26 ·
I don't know what they see or don't. I do know that my dogs recognize orange blind stakes. In fact, in training we will leave blind stakes out on marks and blinds as diversions for the dogs.
 
#27 ·
I'm "red/green color blind ". It's important to note in these conversations that we color blind people see in color , but we perceive/process them differently then normal people.

My wife has asked me in the past how I tell the difference between green/red traffic lights ? I tell her the green light appears brighter/whiter to me.

So, perhaps our dogs "see" orange, it just appears to them differently then what you see. But, I have seen dogs that can pick out orange. I owned one of them.

Steve
 
#30 ·
When originally reading this thread, I remembered about a study done at UCSB re canine color vision. The one doing the study was Dana Vaugh, PhD who was in the same obedience training group that I was. Came across the study today while going through old files. It is too long to put here, but if anyone really wants to read it, contact me privately and I will copy it for you.

The practical applications: Dogs have dichromatic color vision. Compared to normal humans, dogs lack the green cone type....Simply put, dogs cannot distinguish between shades of yellow-green, yellow, orange and red -- but they can easily distinguish each of those from white. In contrast, blue-green appears white to dogs....First, it's important to keep in mind that dogs use many types of visual cues besides color to detect objects iin their environment.

It is an interesting read. Dana used her Italian Greyhounds and a Toy Poodle bitch to use for the study---because of the size of the computer-controlled testing device, only small dogs could be used. Because two widely divergent breeds were tested, it is likely that all dog breeds have the same color vision abilities.

This study was done around 1991 and there have probably been many studies done using this one as the foundation.

Glenda
 
#31 ·
Glenda thanks for posting that. It's interesting because the program I listened to said that dogs were lacking the red color cone and I was also wondering if all breeds color vision abilities were the same and according to the study's done by Dana they are.
 
#35 ·
So, why use white and orange bumpers,
as opposed to orange and green dummies? - yes, I'm a Brit.:D
(colour wise, not material)
We use orange so that we can see them easily; comes in very handy in the event our dogs don't find one or more than likely, after we've finished our work, been chit chatting with our mates and generally not paying attention. British fondness for green dummies must be an intentional scheme for ensuring the profitability of Saint.
 
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