how far do dogs see & recognize objects?

[LisaS]

I've never seen anything written on distance vision in dogs and recently had an experience that made me curious.

Jeff was walking the puppies down the sidewalk towards me and I was approaching from the other end of the complex. The wind was such that they could not smell me. We were walking straight at each other, so there was no side-to-side motion or walking motion pattern to detect - presumeably I just became larger. They had no change in demeanor until we apparently closed some magic distance and then they commenced their usual <g> unruly behavior at encountering someone special while out walking.

So I was wondering - at what distance would be normal for a familar person to resolve into recognition?

I know, ringwise, about how far you can be from a dog and have him respond to a signal only exercise - but in that case, he already knows it is you and just detecting the proper gross motion. Not the same as recognition / discrimination.

[StephanieandToby]

I'm not sure how FAR dogs can see...but I know if I'm at the field and the dogs are at a distance I have to wave or raise my arm in the air for them to see me. If I remain motionless they are lost. Wearing my Navy Blue rainsuit seems to make it worse...I often wave my arm AND use a whistle...I suppose because dogs were originally hunting for survival, they need to focus on things that move...

[HerculesMomma]

From what I've been reading in one of my new books, dogs eyesight is not as good as one might think (or I would have thought ). It is also dependent on the breed of dog etc. I'm not all the way through the section just yet, but from what I could gather, dogs eyesight is more "grainy" for long distance sighting - where they can make out general objects, but with little clarity. And even when they see you close up, it's not supposed to be as "clear" as what a humans might be as the author of the book mentions they can't necessarily make out your facial features clearly etc.

But the book didn't give an exact distance, as again, it depends on the breed of dog. Those dogs breed specifically for hunting prey will have been bred with better long distance sight etc.

One interesting thing the book mentioned was that dogs are NOT colored blind (which I did not know) but that their range of colors is very limited and not as sharp as what a humans might be.

Kind of a vague answer I know, but it's interesting question you posted!

[moondog]

That's a good question, something we don't normally think about...here are some interesting articles I found:

http://www.dogstuff.info/canine_vision_drp.html
http://www.inkabijou.co.uk/see.htm
http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/petcolumns/s...cle.cfm?id=116

If I was a dog, I would want to increase the saturation, go easy on the brightness, and use the "sharpen more" tool, LOL (can you tell I've been fiddling with Photoshop?)

[LisaS]

interesting - about 20/75 on average - but better if object is in motion. very interesting articles - thanks for the links !!

[cosmic]

Thanks for the links... hmmm very interesting...

[calebmyboy]

I agree that they see things better if in motion. But when Chase hears an airplane he looks til he spots it & theres no doubt he sees it moving, I have noticed this many times.

[Ilovemypuppy]

I agree dogs see things in motion much better. I wonder though about the colors...Bailey VERY obviously prefers bright orange objects...go figure? She has ALOT of toys...but her favourites..the ones she really gets excited with when she pays with them are all bright orange.

[dmoniz]

Originally Posted by Ilovemypuppy

I agree dogs see things in motion much better. I wonder though about the colors...Bailey VERY obviously prefers bright orange objects...go figure? She has ALOT of toys...but her favourites..the ones she really gets excited with when she pays with them are all bright orange.

Same with Logan - anything bright orange!

[kingkong]

Any info on a dogs night vision?

I heard they compensate on the colours with having excellant night vision.

Curious if this is true or not without having to start doing a big research on google.

[JeanT]

KingKong, read moondog's references in this thread.

I think people, too, can discriminate a moving form better at night, or at least that's what my spy novels say when the goodies/badies are creeping through the night!