5 things you should know about how dogs see: their sense of sight

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In case you don't know, of the fundamental protagonists that exist in the vision of the canine, one of the most important are the retinal sticks, since they are in charge of allowing you to see in the dim light with ease and detect any type of movement.

This makes them one of the animals with greater capacity for this purpose, to the point where they can determine different types of moving objects at a distance of up to 100 meters, so it is very common to notice how these furry ones are fascinated by some things that move quickly, such as cars, sometimes reaching the point of chasing them

It should be noted that if sudden light bothers them, sudden movements love them. This is because the way in which these companions see things that move stimulates their nervous system.

Another reason why they are so great at detecting long-distance movements is because they manage to capture and process images in a way that resembles super fast cameras, so their way of seeing things is in a slow sequence. .

It's important pointing that this element that allows them to see in the dark and notice the things that move, is also another evolutionary feature of this beautiful animal, since their ancestors had to develop it by survival instinct, since they had to detect their prey and catch it in order to feed.

Can you distinguish the colors?

This is one of the most common questions, since over time many people have ensured that these beautiful animals can only see in black and white, which is something very far from reality, since they can see in color, however, they do it with a different spectrum from that of the human being.

This is due to another of the fundamental protagonists of the vision of the canine, known as cone, which is responsible for allowing them to distinguish the colors they see, with the particularity of having only two receivers, unlike us, which we have three.

This means that They cannot correctly distinguish some color combinations. In fact, red and green they see it as if it were a yellowish color.

As expected, in the dark they can see everything and notice the movements, but they can't distinguish the colors.

If you are one of those who thought that the canines had many visual problems, you will notice with this article that you were wrong.

1. Yes, distinguish colors. But in a different way than ours.

An ancient belief that has been denied by numerous studies is that dogs see black and white. It's not like that, the dogs see in color, but with a different spectrum than humans.

Simplifying the scientific issue, his vision consists of two types of color receivers, instead of the three that we have people. These receivers are called cones and they are the cause of the color spectrum that we are able to distinguish. One type of cones is sensitive to red light, another to green light and another to blue.

Dogs, having only two types of cones, they can't perceive some color combinations like us: they are not able to distinguish well the shades of colors between red and green, they all see them as shades of yellows.

2. Come much better than us in the dark

They have a less type of cones, but they have many more canes, the receptors responsible for sensitivity of sight in poor lighting conditions.

Also, your view has something that we don't have, a layer called tapetum lucidum that acts as a mirror to reflect the light rays, increasing the effectiveness of the receptors. This membrane is the cause that whenever you take pictures of your dog in dark places, his eyes shine. Yes, yes, he is not possessed, :)

For all this, dogs are able to distinguish objects better in dark conditions, specifically they talk about 4 to 5 times better that the people. Your eyesight has a higher sensitivity, so your night vision is much better than ours

3. Have a view ready to detect movement

Dogs beat us by thrashing in the perception of movement. We are cenutrios detecting movements compared to their enormous ability.

It is even believed that dogs visually identify people by their way of moving, rather than by their appearance, their color or their clothing. They rely much more on their ability to detect movement patterns anything else.

In addition to having many more canes, which are also responsible for motion detection, the frequency with which they capture and process images is greater than ours. It is the same concept that occurs with superfast cameras: they process more images per second than our view, so we can then reproduce them and it seems that the sequence is in slow motion. Dogs, for the purposes of our perception, it is as if they see them in slow motion, and that makes them be much more effective when calculating distances of moving objects to, for example, hunt them.

4. Can you watch TV?

I will try to explain it by mentioning the minimum number of rare words, such as hertz, frequencies or ratios.

We all know that a movie is nothing more than a sequence of images, passed quickly to not realize that they are loose photos. People, by the capabilities of our sight, we need to pass a certain number of images per second to perceive them as a continuous sequence, like in a movie.

Instead, dogs need a larger number of images per second to perceive them as a sequence. If we project a film for our eyes, their eyes are faster than ours and they see "whites" conceal each frame. They will not see a sequence, they will see a kind of slideshow or pass images.

With the current televisions, whose frequency is much higher than the television with "culera", the ratio of images per second is higher than what we and dogs detect, so we understand that they also see a continuous sequence no strange effects between the middle of each frame. "

5. The distance at which your sight works well

The sight of a dog reaches a smaller distance than that of a person, of the order of four times less. That is, if our visual acuity allows us to distinguish an object perfectly at 100 meters, they need it to be 25 meters to distinguish it in the same way.

But nevertheless, its visual acuity increases greatly if the object in question is moving. In that case, the distance at which they can detect it is much greater. They have their vision super prepared to perceive the movement, as we said in point 3, and this also affects their visual acuity.

Something we have to keep in mind is that they have greater difficulty seeing nearby objects. If we can focus the objects even when they are 6 centimeters away from our eyes, dogs need a distance of about 30 centimeters. They find it hard to focus on something that is less distant.

And as for the vision angle, that of the dog is about 250º, much higher than the approximately 180º that humans enjoy.

Tik Tak Draw has dedicated a video to explain how animals see.

Whoever has a pet has surely wondered more than once how they really see the world. For years it has been said that dogs only see black and white, as if it were an old photograph. This is not entirely wrong because the sense of smell is fundamental in them, and we already know how evolution often puts its cards in the most important play.

However, there are also many myths about how non-human animals see the world. The YouTube channel Tik Tak Draw, dedicated to explaining topics of all kinds through drawings, has dedicated its latest video to this matter, which explains it to you in less than 5 minutes.

The video reviews from dogs and cats through birds, reptiles and mosquitoes. Everything depends on the receptor cells of your eyes and their ability to distinguish different ranges of colors. But there are more aspects to take into account, such as the breadth of vision. Because yes, most animals see more out of the corner of the eye than the best human who has adapted his vision to it, which is surely Xavi Hernández.

Dogs don't see only in black and white

As we said, one of the popular beliefs is that dogs only see black and white, something that recent research has denied. Specifically, in addition to black and white, they distinguish two more ranges of colors that revolve around blue and green. This is because their cones (their receptors) are only two, that is, they have a dichromatic vision. This sample helps you compare more or less how a dog sees, although it is still not entirely clear.

Come with the same nit> Maybe thinking about the question of how dogs see has led you to think if they also look around clearly, but the truth is that their vision does not have the same definition as ours. For example, a small ball will be difficult for them to distinguish over a long distance, and at short they will not perceive all the details.

Frisbee dog. Image: Gettyimages

However, if the object begins to move, then its chances of finding it are multiplied by three. It is believed that dogs visually identify people by their way of moving, rather than by their appearance, color or clothing. They rely much more on their ability to detect movement patterns and their smell than anything else.

In addition, the frequency with which they capture and process moving images is greater than ours. It is the same concept that occurs with cameras that process many images per second: after playing them, it seems that the sequence is slow motion.

Dog. Image: Gettyimages

Distance at which your view works

The sight of a dog reaches a shorter focal length than that of a person. That is, if our visual acuity allows us to distinguish an object perfectly 100 meters away, they need to be 25 meters to distinguish it in the same way as we do.

Your vision increases considerably if the object in question is moving. In that case, the distance at which they can detect it is much greater. As for the angle of vision, that of a dog is 250º, much higher than 180º of humans.

Field of vision of dogs. Image: Craig Lizotte

Something that we must take into account to understand the sense of sight of dogs, is that they have more difficulty seeing nearby objects. If we can focus the objects even when they are six centimeters from our eyes, dogs need about 30 centimeters away. That is, it is difficult for them to focus on something that is less distant.

How do they see in the dark?

Dogs, like many other animals are not able to see in the dark, but they have more facilities to see in low light conditions. The dog's eye has a larger pupil that allows a greater entry of light and its receptor cells work better in the dark.

Pupils of a dog. Image: Gettyimages

One of the biggest advantages that dogs have is a membrane that they have in their eye. This membrane acts as a mirror that reflects the light rays that are subsequently sent to the recipient cells, allowing dogs to have more information about what they are seeing in the dim light.

This membrane, called Tapetum Lucidum, is the cause that whenever you take pictures of your dog in dark places, his eyes shine.

A different vision to ours

The first thing to say is that his sight is not equal to ours, or at least it does not have the same richness of tones to which we are accustomed. This is because physically Dogs have fewer color receptors (cones) Than the human eye. While a dog has two cells, we humans have three. Each of these three receivers individually processes the color red, green and blue. The different intensity of these three colors is interpreted by our brain giving rise to the wide range of colors that the human being has.

How do dogs see different colors?

Contrary to what has been spread for many years, dogs don't see black and white, are able to perceive colors, such as yellow or blue, in a way very similar to ours. They also perceive red and green, although in this case distorted. The green perceive it as a gray-yellow and red as brown-yellow, making his vision similar to that of a person with color blindness. To get an idea of how dogs see colors compared to humans we can see the following image:

As we can see in the images you can perceive a difference in the colors, mainly in the green tones of the trees and the reddish tones of the building. However, this visual alteration is still a small detail that barely influences your daily life.

Your way of seeing defined things

Perhaps you have thought that dogs observe things as clearly as we do, but the truth is that his vision does not have the same definition as ours. Different studies explain that the vision of dogs is not as sharp or sharp as ours. Small objects are difficult to distinguish over a long distance and at short, not all the details are perceived. If a dog must locate an object at a long distance only with the help of his sight, it is quite unlikely that he can distinguish it, except if it starts to move, then your chances are multiplied by three.

How dogs perceive movement

Not everything is bad news for dogs, their eye has something that the human being does not have: it able to perceive movements better, even in low light conditions. The reason seems obvious: in his past as a hunter this allowed him to chase the prey in the most difficult conditions. Another point in favor in dogs' vision is that they have greater peripheral angle of view, which allows them to have a wider and more complete vision.

And in the dark as you see?

Another of the questions that raise many doubts is their night vision. Dogs like many other animals are not able to see in the dark, but they are have more facilities to see in low light conditions. The dog's eye has a larger pupil that allows greater light entry and its receptor cells work better in the dark.

But the biggest advantage that dogs have is a membrane that they have in their eye called Tapetum lucidum. This membrane acts as a mirror that reflects the light rays that are subsequently sent to the recipient cells, allowing dogs to have more information about what they are seeing in the dim light.

conclusion

As we have seen, the view of a dog and that of a human being is very different, better adapted to the needs of each one. However, it must be remembered that the main and most developed sense of dogs is smell, so in order not to be their main organ, we can say that the dogs have an excellent view.

I hope this article has helped you better understand how dogs see our world. If you found it interesting, share it! If you have any questions or just want to express your opinion, you can leave it in the comments 🙂

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