Eyes are the windows to the soul, and in the case of doggies, it’s hard to resist such soulful windows. Dogs have beautiful eyes. And their eyes have the capability of melting even the hardest heart. From the moment they first open their eyes as puppies, dogs have enchanted humans with their soulful gaze.
Sadly, having beautiful eyes doesn’t mean dogs can see better than humans. In fact, they have a shorter range of vision, poorer depth perception, and the inability to see as many colors as you.
But dogs have humans beat in one category: night vision. Dogs have the ability to see movement and light in the dark. Even if the lighting is low, they are able to see better than people can.
Does My Dog Have Night Vision?
Have you ever noticed your dog acting differently when you take him out at night? Even in low-light situations, your dog seems interested in things far away. He may act upset about something you can’t see at all. You might even think he’s seeing a ghost, or two, especially during the fall and winter months.
If your dog stays in a yard, he may bark more in the evening. But when you go to the door to see what’s bothering him, you can’t find anything at all. Or if you finally do spot something with your binoculars and high-powered flashlight, you can’t understand how he could see it.
Dogs have a keener sense of hearing and smell than people, but they can also see better at night.
How a Dog’s Eyes Work
Dog’s eyes function in much the same way as a person’s eyes. Their vision can be compared through factors like:
· Field of vision
· Visual perspective
· Sharpness of vision
· Ability to see movement and light
Even though dogs may fail the test in the sharpness category with 20/75 vision, they surpass humans in the movement and light factor.
Light-Sensitive Rods
Dogs contain a large number of light-sensitive rods. These rods are located in their eye retina. Because rods gather dim light, these rods enable dogs to see better in dim light or in the dark. To compare, the human eye has a larger number of cones. These cones are what perceive color and allow better vision in the daylight. So it makes sense that dogs are behind in day vision and color detection.
Tapetum Lucidum
There is a part in the eye of a dog called a tapetum lucidum (try saying that three times fast). Within the tapetum is a layer of reflexive cells. These cells sit behind the retina, and they act as a mirror to reflect light. This enlarges visual sensitivity in dim light, and is what enables dogs to see better in the dark. Humans don’t have tapetum in their eyes.
Critical Flicker-Fusion Frequency
Dogs also have a neat little feature call Critical Flicker-Fusion Frequency—(CFF) or (FFF). Flicker-Fusion Frequency (FFF) is the rate at which an animal or human understands flickering light as an image. Dogs have a higher Flicker-Fusion Frequency (FFF) than people. This means that what a human may see as continuous motion, like a tv show, may appear to flicker to a dog.
Maybe that flickering movement is what your dog is really watching when you think he’s peering at his favorite tv show! On the other hand, the ability to view things in such a manner allows dogs to see slighter movements in the dark.
Other Canine Eye Facts
Dogs have tapetum lucidum, which humans do not have. Dogs also have higher Flicker-Fusion Frequency than humans.
See also
What other features allow dogs to see better at night or give them an advantage?
Eye Location
Most dogs’ eyes are located more on the sides of their head instead of in front. This enables them to have a wider range of vision than humans. They can see the sides of their environment more quickly, and can also see in front of them.
Having a better range of vision makes dogs extremely desirable as working dogs.
Glowing Eyes
Let’s get back to that unique tapetum. The tapetum does more than allow dogs to see light at night. The tapetum also reflects light back and forth and makes dogs’ eyes glow in the dark. This color is normally green, blue, orange, or yellowish. And while the glowing eyes may not necessarily give dogs better vision, it does give them a unique appearance at night.
Some dogs don’t have tapetum. These dogs normally have blue eyes and don’t give a glowing reflection in the dark. Instead, the eyes often show up red in photos because of the blood vessels in back of them.
Final Thoughts
It’s helpful to know how your dog’s vision works. Some working dogs need a different range of vision, and different breeds may be more suitable for various tasks. Some dog breeds have better night vision, some have better depth perception, and some can really spook you in the dark with eerily glowing eyes!
Knowing more about your dog’s eyes can also help you detect problems before they get too bad. If your dog normally notices every little bug at night, but suddenly can’t see a fly buzzing around nearby, it may be time to visit a vet.
Your dog may use his unique doggie eyes as a working dog or just laze about watching a flickering television. But one thing’s for sure: Your dog can see better than you in the dark!
