Which colors can dogs see? The short answer is that your dog sees a world in shades of blue and yellow, while red and green blend together into greyish and yellowish-brown tones. Dogs are not colorblind in the sense that they only see black and white, but they perceive far fewer colors than we do. Where humans distinguish between thousands of color shades, the dog works with a more limited, but still meaningful palette. This has concrete consequences for everything from the choice of toys to how your dog finds a ball in the grass.

The difference lies in the structure of the eye. We humans have three types of cone cells, each of which responds to blue, green and red light respectively, and this makes us so-called trichromats. The dog has only two types of cone cells and is therefore called a dichromat. It is the same type of color vision that humans with red-green colorblindness have. Below you get a concrete picture of what the dog actually sees, why it is so, and how you can use that knowledge in everyday life.

Blue and yellow: the colors the dog actually distinguishes

The dog's two types of cone cells are sensitive to blue light and to yellow-green light. This means that your dog can clearly distinguish blue tones from yellow tones. A blue ball on a green lawn stands out to the dog, because blue contrasts sharply with the yellowish-green background it sees the grass as. A yellow object also appears clearly to the dog, while the more saturated, warm colors disappear.

Between blue and yellow lies an area where the colors become neutral and grey-toned for the dog. It is roughly there, where we see green and yellow-green, that the dog's two cone cell types respond approximately equally, and the result becomes a colorless, greyish experience. So even though the dog does not live in a black-and-white world, its color map is far more muted and dominated by the blue-yellow axis than ours.

Why red and green disappear for your dog

Red is the color that is hardest for the dog. Without cone cells for the red light spectrum, the dog cannot perceive red as a color in its own right. A red ball, a red leash or a red treat blends in with the surroundings and typically appears as a dark, yellowish-brown or greyish shade. That is why a red ball you throw out into green grass can be almost impossible for the dog to spot, even though to us it lights up like a signal.

Green and orange fall into the same challenge. Because the dog lacks the third cone cell type, it cannot separate red, orange, yellow and green from each other in the same detailed way that we can. These colors blend into one another as variations of the same yellowish or greyish tone. This explains why many dogs use their nose and movement at least as much as their sight when they have to find an object that lies still in an environment where the color does not stand out.

What is the difference between the dog's and the human's color vision?

Besides the number of colors, the dog's vision differs from ours in several respects that together paint a picture of a predator whose eyes are designed for something other than enjoying color splendor. The dog has relatively fewer cone cells and, on the other hand, many more rod cells, which are the sensory cells that pick up light and movement. This makes the dog far better at seeing in twilight and dim light, and at detecting even small movements at a distance, while it instead sees less sharply and with fewer colors than us.

The dog's visual acuity is also lower. Where a human with normal vision can read details at a distance, the dog sees the world considerably more blurred when it comes to finer details. On the other hand, many dogs have a wider field of vision due to the placement of the eyes on the head, which gives a better overview of the surroundings. Color vision is, in other words, merely one piece in a sensory apparatus that is fine-tuned for movement, contrast and light rather than for nuanced colors.

How to use color vision in the choice of toys and training

When you know the dog's palette, you can make everyday life easier for it. Choose toys and retrieving objects in blue or yellow rather than red and orange if you want the dog to be able to see them easily. A blue ball on a green lawn is far easier for the dog to spot than a red one, because blue stands out markedly from what the dog perceives as a yellow-grey background. The same applies to training equipment and treats you throw out into grass or foliage, where the contrast determines whether the dog uses its eyes or solely its nose.

The choice of color also matters in training situations where you want the dog to focus on a particular object. If you use a blue or yellow target object, you are working with the dog's vision instead of against it. For the reward, you can benefit from reaching for treats that tempt by taste and scent rather than by color. In Training Treats you will find relevant products gathered with training in mind, where it is the scent and taste that drives the dog's motivation, no matter how the treat looks to it. If you have a dog with a high activity level that loves retrieving, you can combine color-conscious toys with rewards from Delights Treats, so every training break becomes a little highlight.

Does the dog's color vision matter for its wellbeing?

The short answer is that a dichromatic color vision is not a deficiency, but a natural part of how the dog is put together. Your dog does not miss red and green, because it has never known them, and its world is rich in impressions through smell, hearing and a vision that is sharp for movement and twilight light. Wellbeing depends far more on the dog being stimulated mentally and physically, getting calm and security and being met with meals that suit its life stage and needs, than on how many colors it can see.

That is precisely why good care in practice is about reading the dog's overall sensory world. Activate the nose with sniffing games, give the eyes something to work with through toys in the right colors, and build the day around routines that provide predictability. If you are in doubt about how best to put together meals for exactly your dog's everyday life, ESSENTIAL FOODS' nutrition advisers are ready by phone, chat or email and help you find the dog meals that match its age, taste and daily wellbeing. If, on the other hand, your concern is about the vision itself, for example if your dog suddenly seems uncertain, bumps into things or changes behavior, it is always a veterinarian you should contact to have it examined.