Hi guys, Mila here.
Today I have more interesting dog facts about dog’s eyes.
Now we’re getting a little scientific:
Dogs on average have a total visual field of 250 degrees. The degree of binocular overlap is approximately 85 degrees for a short nosed dog versus 75 degrees for long nosed dog. In comparison humans have a binocular vision of about 120 degrees.
Still, dogs enjoy a visual advantage: Human eyes are located directly on the front of the face, while dog’s eyes usually sit a little shifted to a paltry lateral position.
Because of this, a human’s total visual field is only 190 degrees. Remember, we dogs enjoy enjoy around 60 degrees more of peripheral vision, a total visual field of 250 degrees.
However, these are only average numbers, because the visual field of dogs actually depends on the shape of its head and therefore varies among breeds.
For example, there are dog breeds, such as the Chow Chow, that have very deep set eyes.
This reduces their peripheral vision, which means these dogs can get startled easier and therefore react aggressively or defensively when being approached from the rear. In such cases simultaneously talking to the dog can be helpful, because your pooch then can not only recognize you by your voice, but also – as we already know – detect where it’s coming from with this ears.
But even the vision of dogs with a wider vision field also comes with the following pitfalls:
Dogs cannot perceive motionless objects very well. On the other hand a dog’s sight at objects in motion is very sensitive. We can also perceive direction as well as speed.
You may have encountered the following situation before:
A family member your dog loves and knows very well is standing motionless and silent some yards away and your dog seems confused or like she does not recognize the person.
Now we know: This may actually be the case!
Then after the person starts to talk, move or the dog comes really close, the situation suddenly changes into a burst of joy and happiness on the dog’s side recognizing the beloved family member.
Or did you ever wonder why your dog walked seemingly unimpressed at all right past the neighbor’s cat sitting ducked and hidden motionless in the deep grass?
Well, now you know the probable reason: Dogs are able to recognize an animal or human by their pattern of movement, but we may miss recognizing beloved people, other animals or objects, when they are not moving at all.
Uh, here’s another interesting dog fact about our eyes:
Did you know that the majority of us dogs has brown eyes? However, there are breeds with pale blue or golden colored eyes. Other colors have also been seen. Some dogs are even odd-eyed, one eye is blue and the other one brown.
When it comes to shape, uh, these’s such a huge variety: triangular (like in Bull Terriers), wall eyes, big & prominent eyes, almond shaped, circular or oval eyes.
Allrighty! That’s it for today!
Cya next time with another interesting dog fact.
Yours
Djamila