Content
- When do dogs start to see?
- How the dog sees the human being?
- Dog sees in color or in black and white?
- Dog sees in the dark?
- Dog sees well in the distance?
- other curiosities
- Why doesn't the dog look in the mirror?
- Dog sees spirits?
This is a very frequent question among all of us who live with these bigwigs on a daily basis. How do you see my dog? Does my pet see the world the same way I do or other animals do?
To answer this question, PeritoAnimal created this article that addresses this topic in detail so that you can better understand how the dog sees its owner and the world around him, the colors he sees and how old his vision evolves. Keep reading!
When do dogs start to see?
At birth, the puppy is blind and it is around 3 weeks old that dogs open their eyes and begin to see.
It is around 5 weeks of age that puppies have fully developed peripheral vision. Between 5 and 7 weeks is the ideal age to start training your puppy, as he is already somewhat independent from his mother and most of his senses are developed. Always remember to control the stimuli during training so that training is not confusing and your little one learns faster!
approximately at 3 months old, your dog hits the vision you will have as an adult.
How the dog sees the human being?
Unlike humans, dogs don't want to be looking at computers and cell phones, their concerns are more focused on survival and their vision is adapted to that. He spends his day observing his surroundings and seeing his dear family. His vision is very different from ours, that's why he doesn't see you the same way you see him.
The dog's vision, the way it sees the world, results from several factors:
- Ability to measure distances (Visual field and depth perception): It is the position of the eyes in the animal's head that will determine its degree of peripheral vision and the amount of visual field it can see with both eyes, the so-called binocular vision. This is what will allow him to see in depth and correctly measure distances. The field of vision of dogs is 240º while ours, human beings, is 200º. On the other hand, the binocular vision of humans is greater than that of dogs.
- Ability to focus on objects (Visual acuity): This is the ability to focus on different objects and let you know that they are different things. The cornea and lens are primarily responsible for this ability!
- movement perception: Puppies have very sensitive vision to movement. There are even studies that say they can detect moving objects or animals up to 800 meters!
- Color differentiation: Cones are the cells in the retina that determine color perception when they are stimulated by light of different wavelengths. I'm sure you're wondering if your dog sees in black and white as everyone else says. Let's answer that question now!
Dog sees in color or in black and white?
Dogs don't see colors like humans do, but the claim that they see black and white is a myth!
As mentioned before, they are cells in the retina called cones that, when receiving light with different wavelengths, allow us to perceive different colors. While humans are sensitive to 3 different colors (red, blue and green) and for that reason it is said that they have a trichromatic vision, dogs are sensitive to only 2 colors (blue and yellow), that is, they have a visiondichromatic.
Dog sees in the dark?
Yes! That's right you read, dogs can see in the dark and this is one of the most important traits they inherited from their wolf ancestors, perfect night hunters!
THE pupil of the dog has a great expansion capacity and this allows that however tenuous the light is, it stimulates the retina! In the retina there is a layer of cells with reflective capacity call tapetum lucidum, characteristic of nocturnal mammals that we humans do not possess.
Of course, in total darkness he won't be able to see anything, because he needs a little light, however faint, to stimulate these cells I'm talking about.
Dog sees well in the distance?
The dog can distinguish at about 6 meters, unlike a person who can distinguish up to 25 meters. This ability depends essentially on the cornea and lens, and the crystalline theirs does not have as much accommodating power as the human being.
there are some dogs with myopia and others with hyperopia, as well as races that see better than others. The Labrador retriever is one of the breeds known to have better eyesight! German Shepherds and Rottweilers, on the other hand, are prone to nearsightedness.
other curiosities
The dog cannot see more than half a meter from the ground and some smaller breeds can only see a few centimeters! For example, a Pekinese has a much smaller visual range than a Newfoundland.
Another very interesting fact is that the visual memory The dog is not as good as ours, it uses other senses such as hearing and smell to remember.
Why doesn't the dog look in the mirror?
Dogs can see their image reflected in the mirror, but they are not able to recognize themselves. That's why some dogs attack, hide or bark when they see their image in the mirror.
Dog sees spirits?
It's quite common for a dog to bark at the void, or to alert his tutor when nothing is apparently going wrong. For this reason, many people question whether these animals have paranormal abilities and whether dogs actually see spirits.
So far, there are no concrete answers from science on this topic. But the truth is that some dogs have amazing abilities, some can detect different types of cancer in people there are even reports of dogs that predicted catastrophic phenomena!
The incredible abilities of puppies are mainly due to their incredible sense of smell that even allows them to detect survivors in catastrophic scenarios. Also check out PeritoAnimal's article on a question that many ask themselves, whether dogs can predict death.
THE dog vision it is very different from ours, but it is perfectly adapted to the needs of the species.
It is very important that you are interested in knowing more about your dog, which shows that you want the best of your dog. your relationship with him. Keep following our articles that will help you understand your dog even better!
