How Do Dogs See?

Dogs are often thought to have vision of a poorer quality than humans. A dog’s vision is different from human vision in part due to their point of perception beginning about 12 inches from the ground. This limits what a dog is able to see compared to an adult human whose eyes are on average 48+ inches off the ground.

We know that dogs see better in dark or dim situations and also can detect motion long before a human can. These differences enable dogs to do work for humans and make them excellent guardians. Technically speaking, dog’s eyes have more rod cells (good for sight in dim or darkenss and detecting motion) and less cone cells, which enable seeing the visible color spectrum.

A dog’s vision suits their needs very well, while it is considerably different that human vision, it is not necessarily of a poorer quality by comparison based on what dogs can and can’t do with the vision they have.