LPF Peeps! Can dogs see in color?

[Paul0759]

The things a dog would say man if they could talk, it would be crazy haha i hope one day we have the technology to be able to communicate with them, thing is though... they as pets are raised by humans so that means they probably think in what ever language they are brought up around, but they have no way to express it like we can verbally.

One thing got me thinking the other day though, what if it was the other way around? and a human child was raised by a dog? i noticed that my dog has different names for members in my family, as crazy as that sounds its true... she has a VERY distinct sound she makes for the two people she lives with.

Sorry to go off topic, i just find it very interesting to think about how dog's perceive things heheh.

 

[jcswimmer305]

We have a pomeranian that can certainly differentiate colors. When my wife pulls a pink towel out that she uses for when she baths her she splits.

Have you tried with a similar towel, but a different towel? It could just be that your dog simply knows that the towel means that it's going to take a shower...and it doesn't like showers, so your dog is obviously going to associate the towel with a "bad thing", and run.

 

[Tonga]

Have you tried with a similar towel, but a different towel? It could just be that your dog simply knows that the towel means that it's going to take a shower...and it doesn't like showers, so your dog is obviously going to associate the towel with a "bad thing", and run.

In that bathroom all the towels are blue, purple and then her pink ones. She follows us around all the time so whenever she sees a pink one come out she takes off. The other towels don't get any response, but the pink does! It's really kind of funny.

 

[Plyman44]

Tonga - Thanks for the link - downloading now and will watch tomorrow for sure. My family had a pomeranian when I was growing up... they are my favorite small dog as they are super smart and very quirky sometimes.

I know some reptiles (birds) and insects see in UV... wonder what kind of havoc a .405nm (or lower wavelength) laser does to their world?

Iguanas have a third (partial) eye on the top of their heads to detect predators. At least that's what "humans" believe it's for. Wonder what wavelengths it picks up and what laser safety goggles look like for an iguana.

HA! Dogs are cool... a few humans could learn a thing or two if they had a search button.

Regards,
Patrick

 

[jcswimmer305]

In that bathroom all the towels are blue, purple and then her pink ones. She follows us around all the time so whenever she sees a pink one come out she takes off. The other towels don't get any response, but the pink does! It's really kind of funny.

Truly an interesting (and rather humorous) phenomenon
My dogs just see a towel and they just run, I have a mini pincher...so to see him "peel-out" (due to poor traction between his paws and the floor) at full speed is hysterical!

Lol, but i'll try it with a laser..one thing dog owners can try (if this interests them) is get two lasers of different wavelengths (and probably different powers...so the lights have the same INTENSITY as each other) and see which one they follow.
If they follow one most of the time, I might just believe that they can somewhat see color. If they follow them randomly, then I'd figure that they can't distinguish color that well (then again...the dog might just have a short attention span! lol)

 

[Johnyz]

My dog (5yr old Samoyed) doesn't care about dots at all... However, when I lase the sky, he watches the beam.

 

[Ash]

I know some reptiles (birds) and insects see in UV... wonder what kind of havoc a .405nm (or lower wavelength) laser does to their world?

Bees chase the beam and dot.
Hummingbirds flee from the beam and dot.
Conditions: (outside, daytime, using a 400mW 405nm)

 

[Plyman44]

Johnyz - that is hilarious! That laser freak dog of mine will look up for beams too... and jump in the air trying to bite it at night. It is funny to see dogs bend their neck to look up for some reason.

Ash - that is interesting that you found this with hummingbirds and bees and that it is a uv/near uv laser. I have noticed the dragon flies seem to avoid 405 too, but they dodge and weave so fast I wonder if I could be mistaken.

Paul0759 - that video is amazing...should be watched by everyone here!

The reason I started the thread is because I have polar oposites...one dog is all over every wavelenght and any intensity and the other...nothing. So, I was curious if anyone experienced reaction from one beam color/intensity and nothing from another.

 

[Things]

I know some reptiles (birds) and insects see in UV... wonder what kind of havoc a .405nm (or lower wavelength) laser does to their world?

My 2 cockatiels flip out at the first sign of any coloured laser.

Heres something you could try, in the case of a dog really having black and white vision. Find a picture of some laser dots on a wall, convert it to grayscale and look at it. You'll still be able to define the dots easily. Infact, maybe even more so than the coloured image!

Example:

 

[Plyman44]

That surely explains my one doberman chasing all of the colors if their eyesight works the same way as that image adjustment... Still curious if someone has mixed reactions and what that could mean.

Thanks for your smart input!

 

[ShortyInCanada]

From recent studies including biological ones dogs have fewer cones for color reception and have been tested (I don't know the specifics) to prove that they have some color vision but in very different spectrums from humans.
Cats also have limited color vision but it is different from dogs. (I believe that cats have almost no perception of the color red if my memory serves me.) But they have a much more increased sensitivity for light and motion. So although they see life in a greyed out blue-green world they lose less as it gets dark and they can pick out almost imperceptable movements with amazing accuracy. There is some information supporting a vision farther into either the UV spectrum or the infra-red (can't remember which at the moment) than humans.
I think that dogs have some of the red but at a different level of sensitivity. They see some of the red but not near as bright as humans.
Animals more than likely are simply reacting to the intensity of the light. Remember that the nature of the light from a laser is far more intense than regular light.
And I think the personality of the animal has a lot more to do with it's reactions.
Whoops. Quitting time !