Sight

Compared to people, dogs have...

•  Better motion vision
•  Better night vision
•  Less developed color vision
•  Less developed close-up vision

Terrific vision makes successful hunters

Dogs don't see the same way humans do.

© Kevin Bryson/Leaping Lizzards

Dogs have a wider field of view and a better ability to detect motion at the horizon. A dog can recognize moving objects nearly half a mile (1 km) away. But if those objects remain still, the dog may not notice them. This is very helpful in hunting fast moving prey.

Dogs don't see color very well. The ability to see color depends on the number and type of color-sensitive cells -- called cones -- in the eye. The human eye has more cones, and more kinds of cones, than a dog's eye does. So we can perceive more colors than a dog can. But dogs' eyes outdo ours when it comes to rods. Rods are cells that help dogs (and us) see in dim light. Dogs may not see color very well, but they can see in the dark much better than we can.

© Leonardo Maffei

There's another reason dogs see much better at night than humans. Like many other mammals, the dog has a mirror-like tissue in its eyes. This tissue enhances night vision by reflecting incoming light back through the retina. This re-stimulates the eyes' light-sensing cells and boosts their signal to the brain. If your flashlight catches Fido's eyes at night, you'll see this reflected light gleaming back at you as "eyeshine."

In the wild

© Steve Kaufman

In the wild, larger canines like the wolf, coyote, and African wild dog rely on sight while hunting in open areas like grasslands and savannas. For those forest dwellers however, where trees and brush are in the way, the other senses become much more important!

Here at home: sight hounds

Humans and dogs have been hunting together for thousands of years. Most canines (wild and domestic) rely on all of their senses to be successful hunters. However, there are certain types of dogs, called gaze or sight hounds, that have been bred to rely more on their sight than hearing or smell. Some of the oldest breeds, these animals carefully scan the horizon for motion. Once the prey is spotted, they rely on their amazing speed to chase the prey down. Whippets, greyhounds, and salukis are just a few examples of sight hounds.