RedGage

When people think of color blindness, they generally believe that the individual, be it human or dog, is unable to see any colors. However, most color blind individuals can see some colors and are lacking other colors. The color blind individual may also find that the colors that are similar often appear the same. This does not mean that the individual does not understand the differences in these colors, but just that they appear to be different shades of grey. This is not how dogs see and not how most people see unless they have inherited the colorblindness genes.

Dogs see in ranges of yellow, blues, and violet. Dogs frequently have difficulties seeing reds and greens. This does not mean that the dog does not see these colors but rather that they are muted to the dog. These colors are viewed as though they are variances in yellows and violets. This means that a red ball on green grass can be difficult to see if the ball is not moving. The dog will see the shadow of the ball, and the dog will be able to see the shape of the ball, especially since the ball and grass will have different shades. However, this does not hinder the dog as the ball and the grass have very distinct smells that are also used to determine the exact location of the ball in the grass.

In the quest of the answer for "are dogs color blind," veternarians and medical professionals have learned something about how eyes see. When disecting a dog's eye, the veternarians and doctors made an interesting discovery. Dog eyes feature a high number of rods but also had a fair number of cones. This gives the dog a superior ability to see in low lights and movements but also gives the dog a limited ability to see color.The rods are also known as scoptic vision receptors. These enable the dog to see movement and in low light. They do not provide the indivdiual for color, and this type of sight also allows the dog to be able to see movement significantly better than people who do not have a high number of rods.The cones are what enable colored vision. People have a much higher number of these receptors than dogs do. The cones are also known as photopic receptors. These allow for a high level of spatial vision as well as a full range of color to be seen. Since dogs have a limited number of these cones, they do have a limited range of vision with the greens and reds being limited.

While in the world of the humans, where vision is so necessary and so central to our understanding of the world, the idea of color blindnesswould greatly hinder us. However, for the dog, the vision that he is used to is ideal for the functions that the dog was designed for. While the dog may miss out on the colors of the world and he may not be as capable in bright lights, his eye sight is ideal for hunting and seeing what he needs to see.Since the dog has a high number of rods and some cones, he is able to observe movement that most people miss. The dog is also able to see in the dark much better than people. This enables them to spot prey and preditors much faster since most prey and preditors are active during the twilight times. The cones that are in the dog's eye enables him to spot the differences between different animals and spot different things, denote different shapes, and find holes or crevises that might otherwise be missed.