Do dogs distinguish colors? The world through the eyes of Sharik

Let us recall the hackneyed phrase: "A dog is a man's friend!" Yes, it's hard to argue with this statement. After all four-legged pets - the most loyal, reliable and affectionate. And they are extraordinarily intelligent and capable. And do you think dogs distinguish color? Until recently it was believed that they see the world only in black and white and no more shades of the spectrum can be distinguished. But then it turns out that the rainbow after the rain, for example, they perceive in the form of white and black stripes, and other colors do not see at all, well, or they look blurry. The error of this theory was refuted by modern scientists. It was proved that, unlike human, the dog's eyes are not able to see the whole spectrum, however several basic colors are still available for their perception.

The world through the eyes of Sharik

As you know, the eye distinguishes colors with the help of nerve cells. There are two main rods in the retina that determine the level of illumination and dynamics, as well as the cones responsible for color recognition. The human eyes contain three kinds of such cones. They are able to distinguish between combinations of blue, red and green. Dogs have only two such cones. Therefore, they have two-color vision. And the question of whether dogs distinguish color, you can say with certainty: their eyes can only perceive yellow and blue. But our four-legged friends can see in the dark and clearly determine the movement of objects. This ability is given by the cells-rods. And their dogs are much more than humans.

Color blindness: what is it?

To understand whether dogs distinguish color, it is worth mentioning a phenomenon such as color blindness. This is a special term for determining the ability to distinguish colors. Its level is determined by the number of receptors that can perceive the color gamut. There are two main types of human color blindness: red-green and blue-yellow. Distinguish these colors colorblind in no condition. So, if you put in front of him two vases - one red and the other green, he can not see the difference between them. They both seem to him gray. And what colors do dogs see? It turns out that their color perception is similar to the red-green color blindness in humans.

What is the difference?

If the ability of animals to perceive the colors of the spectrum is limited by the number of shades, this does not mean that dogs can not discern colors. It's just that they can not see the color the way people do. So, the red objects will seem to them dark gray or even black. Green and orange will be pale yellow for them. With blue is a bit simpler: the dog's eyes see him almost the same as we perceive it. But all its shades for them are simply indistinguishable. For example, purple will also be perceived in blue. Scientists conducted an interesting experiment with several breeds. To establish whether the dogs distinguish color, subjects were offered balls of two colors: red and yellow. They were issued in turn. At first, the Reds were offered, and a little later some of them were quietly replaced by yellow ones. None of the dogs saw a difference in color. But thanks to an excellent sense of smell, they were still able to determine which of the balls appeared later. That is, the main factor here was not sight, but a scent.

By the way, color perception is not the only difference of a dog's eye from a human. Dogs can see well at dusk. But not in all situations, their eyesight is so sharp. Sometimes dogs can be called short-sighted. For example, if a person and a dog are nearby and look at the same object, located at a certain distance, then the animal may appear blurry to the animal, and the person - more clear. For example, a dog can not see the object, which is under her nose, but she finds it by the smell. Animals will also not react to changes in the brightness of the color - their eyes are not as sensitive as ours. Unfortunately, the world around them is not as bright as for us.

Features of dogs sight

But it is not all that bad. In some ways, the eyes of the dog are superior to ours. Yes, not all colors are perceived by them, and their eyesight is not so sharp, but these disadvantages are compensated by the fact that their eyes are located on each side of the head. This makes the angle of peripheral vision much wider, thereby balancing the lack of visual acuity.

Cells-rods, which are in the eyes of a dog, make it possible to absorb the maximum amount of light. And the light-reflecting cells under the retina make them shiny and can be perfectly seen at dusk and at dawn. It seems that their eyes glow in the dark. But they simply reflect the light that falls on them, like floodlights. And one more advantage: the canine eye has a larger number of cells in the retina, which are responsible for identifying the movement of objects in space, even at great distances. That's why they often bark, raising their heads up. As it seems to us, often without a reason. They are attracted to birds flying at high altitude, and we can simply not see them.

Why should a dog have such a vision?

Nature has ensured that dogs can not only feed themselves and their offspring, but also not become prey for predators. The ability to see at dusk, to distinguish the slightest movement at a great distance, initially helped to survive in the wild. Nowadays, many of them have a warm shelter and enough food that you do not need to get - just go to the bowl. But the unique visual possibilities remain the same. Dog owners should take this into account. Even choosing a toy, you can be sure that, for example, a ball of yellow or blue color pet will like more than red or green. So now, understanding the principle of this perception, it is much easier to guess the needs of animals and make the life of the pet more enjoyable.