Sunday, January 23, 2011

Why do people feel in general that Dogs are color Blind?

There is a common misconception that dogs are colorblind and see only shades of gray. This is not true. Dogs can see colors, but not as people. In the human retina there are two different types of photoreceptors called rods and cones. The cones are the ones that respond to color.

The human retina has three different types of cones in any type of response more or less blue, green or orange. Thus, the interaction of three types of cones, people can complete a rainbow of colors from violet see through green and yellow to red.

Dogs have only two types of cones. One of these human blue cone response, and the other responds to yellow. This means that dogs can not see red, is a red object looks dark gray or black dog. Since dogs have no green or orange cone response, but with a yellow cone response, both green and orange yellow. This means that if you throw an orange ball on a lawn for your dog to fetch, the same yellow color, the green grass, and hard to find, even the dogs balls, stands out as a beacon for the people.

In summary, the dogs are not color blind. They just do not see colors as humans do. And not an orange ball for your dog does not get to play in your lawn. Get a black or blue. Obviously, the designer of the orange balls are more interested in being seen by humans than dogs.

A trained dog is a happy dog and happy owner.

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