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Sight

Dogs are less reliant on their visual system than humans are. However, certain breeds (including retrievers, sighthounds, and sheepdogs) were bred to detect moving prey and retrieve game, so they are more visually adept than most other breeds.

It is important to remember that dogs see the world from an entirely different perspective than people. If you want to see the world from a small dog’s point of view, try lying on the ground and seeing how large the world looks!

Humans can see about 180 degrees around them, whereas dogs can see approximately 250 degrees. Dogs are able to see up to four times better than humans in low light, because their retinas see primarily in shades of gray.

Dogs have what is known as dichromatic vision, meaning they are able to see in shade of yellow and blue, but not in shades of red to green. So when you throw that red toy on your nice green grass in the back yard, you're dog is not just being stupid – he can't see it!

Dogs have large pupils, so when looking at things in the distance, they can focus cleanly only on objects in the center of their vision. Everything else around the center is blurry. They can see fine details only to a maximum distance of twenty feet away, whereas a person with good eyesight can see them from seventy-five feet.

Specialized tools such as TV channels like DogTV which are specifically designed to be watched by dogs are now available in most markets. These channels apply our relatively newfound understanding of what dogs can and cannot see to their programming.

 

Related Reading:

• A Service Dog for Two
• Victoria Explains How DogTV Works