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by Amber Drake

An Inside Look Into How Dogs See The World

An Inside Look Into How Dogs See The World

We love our dogs. They're loyal, they're silly, they bring us joy and make us laugh. But do you know how dogs see? Picturing the world through a dog's eyes is a bit like trying to paint with watercolors on black velvet—but it's still fascinating! So sit back, relax and let me take you on a journey through the world of canine vision.

Your Dog’s Vision is Different Than Ours

Your dog's vision is different from yours, but it's not so different that it will look like he's seeing things in a totally foreign way. When you think about your dog seeing the world differently than you do, bear in mind that dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years—they're very good at adapting to our ways.

How Do Dogs See Color?

You have likely heard that dogs are colorblind. While that's not completely true, dogs do have partial color blindness. Dogs have a limited spectrum of color vision, meaning that they don't perceive all the colors that humans do. You can think of your dog as being similar to someone with red-green color blindness due to a lack of a color cone in their eye.

Dogs and humans have different numbers of cones and rods. Dogs have fewer cone receptors than humans do, which means they can't see as many colors. Human cones detect red, green, and blue. A dog's cone receptors are thought to detect blue and yellow. 

Dog Night Vision

In most cases, dogs have better vision than humans at night because they have more rods than cones in their retinas. Rods are sensitive to dim light and help detect movement. Cones are sensitive to bright light and help people see colors and details clearly during daytime hours when there's plenty of sunlight around us all day long. 

However, when there is less available light, like during nighttime hours, then rods take over since they're much more sensitive than cones (which only work well when there's plenty of available light).

Dogs also have a layer of eye tissue called the tapetum lucidum, which allows more light to enter the retina. This is why dogs are able to see better than humans at night. It's also why, if you shine a light in your dog's eyes at night, they appear to be reflecting back at you. 

The Sharpness of Vision and How Far Dogs Can See

Your dog can see the world, but not as sharply as you can. Dogs don't have a large fovea (the part of the eye that allows us to focus on something), so they don't always see objects clearly. Dogs use peripheral vision to get an idea of what's going on around them, but it's not very detailed.

According to a study published in 2017, dogs have 20/50 vision. This means they have to be 20 feet away from something to see, as well as a human who is 50 feet away. Some dog breeds are farsighted, whereas others are nearsighted. 

Near-sighted breeds include the Rottweiler and German Shepherd. Far-sighted dogs include the Labrador Retriever and the English Springer Spaniel.

How Well Dogs Can See Motion

A dog's ability to detect movement is significantly better than ours. Dogs have something called the critical flicker fusion rate. To grasp this concept, we'll give the example of watching television. For our TV show to flow continuously and for us to be able to watch it, it must match our flicker fusion rate of around 60 frames per second. 

To our dog, our TV shows look choppy because they can see the breaks between the frames. They can see between 70-80 frames per second. 

That's why DogTV is so popular among dog lovers because their colors and frames per second are higher than the average TV show.

Your Dog’s Peripheral Vision

Our eyes are placed in the front of our heads, limiting our peripheral vision. Our dog's eyes, on the other hand, are at a 20-degree angle depending on their breed. This means they have significantly better peripheral vision than we do. 

There is one catch to this. Dogs with longer noses, like the Borzoi, don't have as impressive peripheral vision as other breeds, like the Greyhound.

Maintaining Your Dog’s Eye Health

How your dog sees the world is also affected by their eye health. Dogs with healthy eyes see the world as outlined above, but their vision can quickly deteriorate if their eyes aren’t cared for properly.

When you look at the eye, it seems like a pretty simple organ. It's just there. But in reality, the eyes are constantly working hard to help keep the body healthy, and they can't do that without help from the gut.

The gut has been called the second brain because of its importance to overall health. It's where most of the immune system lives, and it helps us and our dogs digest food, absorb nutrients from that food, and keep our bodies functioning properly.

This connection between eye health and gut health is one reason why it's so important to make sure the gut is in good shape. The gut and the eyes are connected in a number of ways. Here are just a few examples:

  • A leaky gut can cause inflammation, which can lead to an inflammatory response in the eye.
  • An unhealthy diet can result in poor gut health, which can lead to vision problems as well as other health issues.
  • The gut microbiome can influence how well the body absorbs nutrients from food, including those that are crucial for eye health like lutein and zeaxanthin.

The gut is one of the main places where the immune system works to keep the body healthy, and this process is influenced by the gut microbiome, which means that if your dog is experiencing trouble with their vision, it could be because of an underlying issue with the immune system or gut health. 

Probiotics can be helpful in improving and maintaining your dog’s gut health. And probiotics that are resistant to antibiotics, like the ones in Daily Dog, can be especially helpful. This way, if your dog does experience a health issue that requires the use of probiotics, their gut remains protected. 

Dogs See Differently

In summary, dogs have a wide range of vision, but they don't see the world in quite the same way that humans do. Dogs have a wider peripheral field of view than people do, and they tend to focus on movement and gestures rather than faces. 

Their color receptors are different from ours, which means they can only see yellow, blue, and violet. They can't see red or green. And dogs don't see in black and white like we do; instead, it's more like shades of gray. 

Dogs also have much better night vision than people do: they are able to see in low light conditions and even in complete darkness.

And remember, your dog’s eye health is directly linked to their gut health. Help support your dog’s eye health today with FullBucket Daily Dog probiotic powder. 

Read More:

Dog vision: How do dogs see the world?

What do dogs see? A review of vision in dogs

Behavioral determination of critical flicker fusion in dogs

The spectral transmission of ocular media suggests ultraviolet sensitivity is widespread among mammals

Animal colour vision

Photo by Amin Hasani on Unsplash

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