# Does your dog have a favorite color?



## GSDkid (Apr 19, 2011)

It's such a strange observation (this is my first pet other than fishes). She loves the color pink. I have a blue ball and a pink ball, she only goes for the pink ball even if I switch rotations of throwing them.

I bought 3 different monkey toys and 1 is pink. She ignores the rest and the pink one is so overplayed. She responds better to her pink leash than her red. Maybe it's all just coincidence? Also, I think she's right handed... She always gives me *five* with her right hand.


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## W.Oliver (Aug 26, 2007)

Dogs see in black & white...they are color blind.


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## GSDkid (Apr 19, 2011)

I googled if dogs are color blind... Though they may have color limitations, they can still see color.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

I'm not going to say dogs are or aren't colorblind. I'll leave that for others to debate.

What I can say though is Woolf definitely has a favorite. Woolf is ball crazy, I have several here, same brand. same size, same shape, different bright colors. Tell him to get his ball, he'll pass the others up every time to get his orange ball. If all the balls are in their container, tell him to get a ball, it's the orange one every time.


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## Gretchen (Jan 20, 2011)

Our dog has 3 balls; blue, red and yellow and seems to like them in that order.


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## GSDkid (Apr 19, 2011)

And that's my point. How are dogs color blind but they can differentiate between their favorite balls? Maybe each color has it's own unique scent?


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

Just a random article from a google search.
Can Dogs See in Color? - Page 1

Dogs do see in color, but their perception of color is not the same as it is for people. They cannot distinguish between red, orange, yellow or green. They can see various shades of blue and can differentiate between closely related shades of gray that are not distinguishable to people. 

When comparing dog and human vision, people are better at depth perception, color perception and seeing minute details of an object. Dogs are better at seeing in dim light, responding to an image rapidly and detecting the slightest motion. They also have better peripheral vision.

In a 1995 study published in the _Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association_, researchers dissected canine retinas and found many color-sensitive cones that indicated that there was at least an anatomical potential for color vision in dogs. The researchers also used behavioral discrimination testing and electrical photo tests to determine the light wavelengths that stimulated these cones. The dogs in the study could not differentiate between middle-to-long wavelengths of light, which to people appear as green, yellow, orange or red. 

Dogs are able to differentiate between various shades of blue and violet, shades that people cannot tell apart. It is theorized that people have a yellow pigment in the lens of their eye that blocks short wavelengths (blue) light and significantly reduces sensitivity to violet and blue light. Dogs do not have this yellow pigment and therefore can see very subtle color changes.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I imagine the dyes in the balls have different scents or something else makes them not identical that the dog picks up on. Never seen a dog run right over an orange retriever bumper in plain sight only to put on the bakes when they ran right past it because they picked up the odor?


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## WolfPack4445 (Apr 13, 2021)

W.Oliver said:


> Dogs see in black & white...they are color blind.


That is false. I did some research and it says dogs see in yellows, blues, and grays.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

My big-boy had a favorite ball out of two that were the exact same including the color. I could not tell them apart but whenever we played 2-ball he would proudly carry and catch and fetch and tug one and disregarded the other. He also had a preference for one of two stainless steel water bowls. Both the same color size and material. And no matter how often I washed them, he would drink from one and ignore the other.


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