Dogs aren't able to see color

Question

There are some people saying that dogs see only black and white, they only see blue and yellow, or they have completely different hues than us.

Comments

The article given with this claim is the VCA dog hospital website. When diving more into the topic and doing more research, dogs are not technically color bind. The SPCA claims that,  "Human eyes have three different types of cones, which allows us to identify combinations of red, blue, and green. Dogs, on the other hand, have only two types of cones, which means they can only discern blue and yellow. As a result, dogs are red-green colour blind." While there is truth in dogs can not see all color, the claim originally made is not completely accurate.

The source: https://spca.bc.ca/news/how-dogs-see-colour/#:~:text=Human%20eyes%20have%20three%20different,are%20red%2Dgreen%20colour%20blind.

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The claim "Dogs aren't able to see color" is misinformation. The article provided states that dogs can only see blue and yellow as a result of dichromatic vision. The article even states, "In fact, dogs live in a pretty colorful world." Further review of the facts in the provided article is necessary. The title should be read as Dogs have limited color perception or something along those lines. Another article of use is provided below.

https://spca.bc.ca/news/how-dogs-see-colour/#:~:text=Human%20eyes%20have%20three%20different,are%20red%2Dgreen%20colour%20blind.

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To strengthen your answer, make sure you add quotes from the article you are using as evidence. It is also important to include who the article is by to show why it is a reliable source.   The information is there, but make sure you directly include it in your response.

Answer 1

This claim is partially false.

The claim that dogs can only see black and white comes from Will Judy, a publisher and writer of dog-related pieces, claiming dogs had poor vision and were able to see single shades and tones.

According to Jay Neitz, running the Neitz Color Vision Lab in the Department of Ophthalmology and the University of Washington, "scientists now believe that a dog's color vision is similar to that of a person who has red-green color blindness".

The article discusses how "dogs have more rods than cones in their retina...this makes the difference in color perception" due to dogs only having two types of cones. Each type of cone registers a different light wavelength and, dogs are missing red-green cones. 

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/can-dogs-see-color/