Is it true that dogs can see all the colors in Bluey?

I heard that dogs all over the world are obsessed with a cartoon about human puppies. What's going on?

When I showed Bluey to my kids, I found that my dog ​​was also watching it with great concentration | Xiaomai, the dog of a netizen

The cartoon "Bluey" tells the story of the happy family life of a family of four - sister Bluey and father Bandit are blue Australian cattle dogs , sister Bingo and mother Chili are red Australian cattle dogs (although they may look more orange). This cartoon is lively and interesting, and has many fans among children. Unexpectedly, it has also won the favor of dog lovers .

The cartoon reproduces the color and appearance of the real Australian Cattle Dog | Cartoon "Bluey"

In fact, dogs love to watch and even understand "Bluey" not only because all the characters in the show are dogs, but also because the colors of the protagonists in this show are very friendly to the dog's visual system .

The world through the eyes of a dog

What colors the eyes can see is determined by cones . In most cases, the human eye has three types of cones, and the discernible colors can be roughly summarized as seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple . Only a very small number of people have four types of cones, such as Australian artist Concetta Antico, whose eyes can enjoy a color experience that is almost 100 times that of ordinary people.

Dogs only have two types of cones , so they can see far fewer colors than humans .

Scientist Jay Neitz once used an experiment to test the color vision of dogs. In the experiment, Neitz prepared color plates of different colors and showed the dogs three plates at a time, two of which were in the first color and the other in the second color. They used snacks to encourage the dogs to distinguish the plates of different colors. If the dog could not distinguish the plate of different colors, it meant that the two colors were closer to the dog . The experimental results showed that dogs can indeed see colors, but compared with humans, they can distinguish fewer colors .

Dogs can’t identify the color of this wall as clearly as we humans | "Bluey"

The image below nicely shows the spectrum of light that dogs can see compared to what humans can see:

Green, yellow, orange, and red appear as different shades of yellow to dogs, blue-green appears as gray, and purple appears as dark blue | SC Psycho

logical Enterprises Ltd.

The colors that dogs can see are mainly blue and yellow . The main colors of Bluey are blue, indigo, yellow, and brown, especially the main characters, without red and green. Perhaps it is because the colors of the main characters are more intuitive and easy to distinguish in the eyes of dogs that so many puppies are willing to watch the cartoon Bluey quietly with children.

The picture above shows the colors we see with our eyes, and the picture below shows the colors dogs see. Although the colors are not as vivid, they are still distinguishable for dogs. | "Bluey"

For this reason, most popular dog agility competitions use yellow and blue obstacles so that the dogs will not "lose the target" while running at high speeds.

Yellow and blue obstacles in dog agility competition | Fox Sport/YouTube

In addition to the ability to recognize colors, dog eyes also perceive light differently from human eyes. Dogs have more rods than humans, so they can see more clearly in low-light environments than humans . In addition to capturing light, rods can also capture dynamic objects, so dogs are more likely to detect smaller movements and quickly perceive new things that are moving.

Bluey's sister Bingo is very sensitive to the movement of small objects | Bluey

The world through the eyes of other animals

Cats are one of the most common pets in today's society. The colors they see are similar to those that dogs can perceive. In terms of the structure of their eyes, cats also have fewer cones and more rods than humans, so compared to humans, cats see fewer colors, but have stronger dynamic vision and night vision .

At present, the mainstream view of researchers is that cats are red-green color blind and can distinguish blue, yellow, green and gray. Red and pink look more like green to cats, while purple may look like another blue.

The color spectrum that cats see | Zone A/YouTube

When night falls, cats only need one-sixth of the visible light that humans can see to see objects clearly . At the same time, cats adapt to darkness faster than humans. When the light suddenly dims, it takes at least ten minutes for humans to adapt, while cats can switch to night vision mode almost instantly .

Cat eyes shrink pupils quickly｜Giphy

A cat's iris has more interlaced fibers, which allows the cat's pupil to narrow into a vertical slit when the light is strong, and expand wider in dim light environments to allow more light to enter .

In addition, the special structure in the cat's eyes, the retina , can reflect unabsorbed light back to the retina. The amount of light reflected by the cat's retina is 130 times that of humans without a retina structure. When the retina absorbs more light, cats can see more things at night , which also makes the cat's eyes look glowing at night (dogs also have this structure and function).

Titanium alloy cat's eye | Photo provided by Mai Mai

When we expand our vision to wild animals, the color recognition ability of the eyes becomes even more "outrageous". Birds generally have 4 types of cones, butterflies have 5, some insects have 6, and mantis shrimp have 12 to 16, which is really a mysterious creature. For mantis shrimp, it is also possible to see infrared and ultraviolet rays .

Understanding the world through the eyes of your pet

Understanding animals' vision can also help us choose supplies and toys that are more likely to attract their attention .

For example, when choosing a ball for your dog, you should choose a blue one instead of a red or orange one, especially when playing fetch on the lawn, a blue ball will be much easier to identify than a red ball .

The brown bear you see has already blended into the lawn in your dog's eyes | BCSPCA

Compared to the red part, the blue part is obviously easier to identify in the eyes of dogs｜AKC

When choosing toys for cats, colorful colors are not that important, because cats pay more attention to the movement of objects and the sounds around them when hunting. Therefore, choosing toys that move and make sounds can attract cats' attention more than "good-looking and cute" toys in human aesthetics.

The kitten who can't stop playing with the cat teaser | Tuchong Creative

In addition to toys, cartoons are also a good choice. For example, Bluey satisfies both the "movement" and "sound" requirements that pets are interested in. Moreover, Bluey is a high-quality animation that has won the Emmy Award, suitable for both young and old humans, cats and dogs. While showing it to children, it also relieves the boredom of the Hakimi at home, isn't it a win-win for everyone?

Bluey can be searched and watched on major video platforms. There are currently three seasons. Why not try watching Bluey with your dog to see if they are really interested .

References

[1] Neitz, J., Geist, T., & Jacobs, G. (1989). Color vision in the dog. Visual Neuroscience, 3(2), 119-125. doi:10.1017/S0952523800004430

Author: Samkakeru

Title image source: "Bluey"