If you ask any dog owner or canine enthusiast whether they know if dogs are officially color blind or not, most people won’t have the faintest idea. And guess what, the scientific community is not sure either! However, there are indeed some facts about a dog’s vision that has come through from studies and tests.

So, is your dog really color blind or this claim just a myth? The following scientific article may help clear up some of the confusion while at the same time educating you about color perception in the eyes of a dog:

About a hundred years ago, scientists observed that the retina of a dog’s eyes did not have the cone-shaped cells which are abundant in human eyes (as well as the the eyes of other primates). In primates, the cone-shaped cells occur in greatest numbers in the portion of the retina called the fovea. Here, vision is most acute. The number of cone-shaped cells decreases as the distance from the fovea increases.

At the same time, the number of rod-shaped cells increases. Rod-shaped cells are common to members of both the canine and primate families. Some individuals, who were thought to be color blind, were found to have a deficiency or a lack of cone-shaped cells. Whether a highly significant number of retina from color-blind individuals were ever examined is questionable.

Furthermore, since there was no proof that color is perceived by these cells, ascribing color blindness to the lack of these cells does not necessarily follow. In other words, if the body is missing an element that could take away the problem, the color blindness is not the absolute diagnosis.

Under poor lighting conditions, more of the retina is used for vision; at the same time, color discrimination is more difficult. Consequently, more rod-shaped cells and fewer cone-shaped cells are used for vision. This was thought to be further evidence that color could only be perceived by means of cone-shaped cells. Thereafter, dogs became color blind and were relegated to seeing everything in black and white.

Many people who have dogs (admitting that they were in no position to dispute scientific evidence) have, nevertheless, been skeptical about the results of scientific research. They’ve chosen to ignore the arguments for or against color vision.