Dogs & Color Vision

Do dogs only see in black and white or can they see in color? Actually, dogs can see in color, but not the rich, vibrant color spectrum that humans see. Dogs have approximately 20% Cones (color receptors) lining the retina of their eye whereas humans have 100% (contained in the fovea). Cones work best in mid to high levels of light and have the ability to detect color.

Studies also indicate that dogs have two types of cones whereas humans have three. Each type of cone is sensitive to a different wavelength of light. Only having two types of cones in their eyes means that the dog is not maximally sensitive to all the wavelengths of light, thus all colors are not detected. Dogs are red-green color blind! Consequently, the dog's world consists of yellows, blues, and grays.

The dogs eye is lined primarily with Rods (black and white receptors), adapted to work best in low light and are used to detect motion; This is why your dog can see things in the night that you and I would not be able to detect.