Ever tossed a bright red ball for your pup in the grass and watched him sniff around it as if it vanished into thin air? Or you may have noticed that your doggo goes bonkers for some yellow tennis balls but actively ignores orange ones.
It gets us wondering: Do dogs feel affinity and distaste toward specific colours? Well, spoiler alert: they do not see the world as we do, but that does not imply that colours are a total snooze-fest for them. They love their own dog portrait painting too!
Let’s dig into the science, bust some myths, and actively answer some burning questions—with tail-wagging fun along the way.
The Scoop on Doggie Vision
First, let us forget the old wives’ tale that “dogs only see in black and white.” That is so 1930s, and science has uncovered the most accurate truth: dogs have dichromatic vision, meaning they have only two-colour receptors instead of three in human eyes.
The above image reference is from this website.
We see a rainbow of red, green, and blue, but dogs see a combination of blue and yellow with a lot of gray thrown in. Red, orange, and green are basically a muddy blur to Fido.
Think of it like this: while you are standing in awe, looking at the fiery hues of the sunset, your dog sees a chill mix of yellow-browns and grays. There may also be a little bit of blue if the sky is clear. Isn’t that really cool?
And here is a fun idea: You can capture your dog from a doggy perspective by ordering custom dog portraits—your pup’s blue-yellow world framed forever!
Fun Fact: Dogs usually see more than colour.
Here is the kicker: Dogs do not rely on their vision like humans do. Their superpower is a nose that smells 10,000 times stronger than ours and ears that catch sounds we will easily miss.
Colour is just a side dish to their sensory feast. They may not see the vibrancy of your red sweater, but they will know that it is owned by you by the scent alone. And hey, a beautiful dog portrait painting can help you capture that goofy grin they flash when they smell you coming—whether in colour or not, it is all love.
Do colours affect how dogs feel?
Now, do dogs really care about colours? Do they wag their tail harder for blue or sulk at green? Studies suggest that that’s not really the case. Unlike us, to whom red screams “energy!” and blue whispers “calm,” dogs do not seem to look at colours to feel happiness, sadness, or other emotions; colours are purely objective elements of the world that they use to identify things.
One experiment suggests that dogs could pick out coloured food bowls because they can differentiate between colours. Still, they did not really care about the bowl’s colour—they just wanted whatever was inside. Smell and shape override colours for dogs every time in their brain.
That being said, some owners swear that their pups have favorite colours. “My Labrador loses it for yellow toys!” you might say. And maybe that is true—yellow is a shade they can see very clearly and they relate the ball to you, having an emotional reaction.
So, suppose your dog is obsessed with a sunny ball. Why not celebrate that moment with a gracious portrait made by amazing portrait artists? Imagine your labrador mid-fetch, painted in vibrant yellows and blues—pure joy reflected in the dog portraits!
FAQ
Let’s tackle the things you are probably Googling late at night, with chai in hand, while your dog snores beside you.
Q: What colours do dogs see?
A: Dogs have eyes that rock the blue and yellow spectrums. Think dark blue, light blue, light yellow, and darker yellow shades, whereas reds, greens, and purples morph into shades of gray and brown. That red frisbee that you love so much? To your pup, they are a dull blob.
Q: Do dogs hate any colours?
A: Nope, research shows that dogs do not have hatred towards any colour. You may have heard whispers about blue water bottles scaring stray dogs, an old urban legend, but there is no evidence. If your puppy freaks out when he sees something red, it is probably the motion or a bad memory—not a colour science. Dogs are way too chill for holding colour grudges.
Q: Can colour help with dog training or play?
A: Oh, absolutely!! Dogs can spot blue and yellow the best, so trainers often use those shades to make agility gear—think blue woven poles or yellow tunnels. For playing fetch, a blue ball always beats a red or a green one. Do you want to immortalize your dog’s agility skills? Portrait artists can paint them, leaping over obstacles in eye-popping blues— dog portraits perfect for your walls!
Q: Do different breeds perceive colours differently?
A: Not really. All dogs share the same dichromatic setup, but age and the health of their eyesight can tweak things. Puppies may see things slightly sharper, but it is not much of a big deal in their world. Whether you have a husky as a pet, their colour world is mostly the same. You can celebrate the quirks of their breed with a painting—those soulful eyes captured in a blue and yellow dog portrait painting.
Q: Why do dogs love yellow tennis balls so much?
A: Well, the answer to that is straightforward—yellow stands out like a neon sign in their world made of blue-yellow-gray. Red balls blend into the grass, but yellow balls act like a beacon for the dog. Plus, it is bouncy and smells like a lot of fun. You can capture your dog’s obsession with tennis balls with a Pawstro dog portrait painting —your dog, mid-chase, in a burst of yellow glory.
