What a Puppy Can (& Cannot) See: 12 Facts and Answers

Dog’s vision is different from humans because dogs evolved for different lifestyles and have a better sense of smell and hearing.

But what exactly can a puppy see?

1. Development of Vision in Puppies

Puppies are born blind with eyelids closed to protect their immature eyeballs – unlike humans who can open their eyes at birth.

A puppy opens its eyes between 10 and 21 days but still can’t see correctly. At this stage, colors and movement are what the puppy sees.

The eyes continue to develop, and the puppy achieves adult vision abilities around eight weeks – just in time to leave its mother and go home with a new family.

2. Is a Puppy Color Blind?

Puppies have fewer color receptors than humans, so they don’t see the full range of colors you see, but they do have color vision.

Where you see red, puppies see shades of grey, but they distinguish blue, yellow, green, black, and white.

3. Can Your Puppy See in the Dark?

Your puppy has more rod receptors that distinguish objects in low light than you.

Your puppy is better than you at seeing in the dark, but it still needs some light to work with for vision.

If light hits your puppy’s eyes at night, you notice they glow more than yours – your puppy has a reflective surface (tapetum lucidum) that helps maximize the puppy’s vision in low light.

4. How Far Away Can Your Puppy See?

If you have perfect vision (for comparison), you can see an object at 75 feet that your puppy can see at twenty feet. All puppies and adult dogs are technically nearsighted.

A dog, when hunting, relies on its nose to pick up prey from far away and then uses its eyesight in the latter stages of the hunt.

There is no real benefit for puppies to see great distances, so they are nearsighted.

5. Do Puppies See Ghosts?

Your puppy may occasionally jump when there is nothing obvious to spook it.

Some people describe this behavior as puppies seeing ghosts, but it is more likely that the puppy has jumped because of spotting movement in its peripheral vision.

You have a visual field of 180˚, but your puppy has about 250˚, which is why your puppy notices things you don’t see.

Add in your puppy’s sensitivity to movement, and you have the stage set for puppies seeing ghosts.

If ghosts exist, your puppy is more likely to become aware of them through scent rather than vision.

6. Why Can’t Your Puppy See the Toy in the Grass?

Your puppy is sensitive to movement rather than fine detail.

If you throw a ball for your puppy, it sees the action; if it loses sight of the ball, it then tracks it down by smell rather than vision.

If you watch your puppy find something, it will run in circles, often passing over or near the object several times before pouncing on it. This behavior is quartering, and your puppy is searching the area with its nose rather than its eyes.

7. Does Breed Affect Vision?

Breed impacts the extent of peripheral vision with snub-nosed dogs (think Pug and Pekinese) having the worse peripheral vision at a mere 220˚.

Naturally, the sighthounds (Greyhounds and Rhodesian Ridgebacks) have the best with a 290˚ field of view.

Other than peripheral vision, most puppy breeds have similar vision capabilities, but some breeds are prone to eye infections or congenital eye defects.

8. What About Eye Screening for Puppies?

Breeders of puppies with potential inherited eye problems typically have litter screening for issues at around six weeks.

Before choosing a puppy breed, it is sensible to research all the possible issues that may adversely impact your puppy.

9. How Do You Know Your Puppy’s Eyes Are OK?

When you look into your puppy’s eyes, check that they are clean with no dirt, pus, or redness. The eyeballs of a healthy pup are clean white and never yellow.

Your puppy can get infections like conjunctivitis from bacteria, fungi, or allergies.

The fur around your puppy’s eyes should be dry because puppies don’t usually have weepy eyes.

Another sign that your puppy may have an issue with its eyes is when the puppy uses its paws to try and itch its eyes.

Other eye issues include blocked tear ducts that may cause your puppy’s eyes to weep, but most eye problems are easy to resolve with your vet’s help.

10. Does Your Puppy’s First Vet Visit Include an Eye Test?

Your vet will do a general health inspection and look at your puppy’s eyes for signs of infection and any noticeable vision problems.

But it won’t be a full eye test or screening as you understand a visit to the opticians.

A vet can do more sophisticated eye tests, but only if the puppy shows signs of a congenital eye defect or you ask for help because your puppy keeps walking into objects.

11. Does Your Puppy Watch TV?

Many dogs respond to images on the TV screen of other animals and ball games. So the bright lights and pictures on the screen may attract your puppy’s attention.

It may be problematic if your puppy attempts to play with the onscreen action.

Will your puppy sit down and watch a film with you?

If your puppy is ready for a nap while you watch a movie, your puppy will happily snuggle with you.

As far as anyone knows, puppies and adult dogs have no appreciation of plot and drama, but they will respond to short clips that excite them.

12. Does a Puppy See Its Reflection in a Mirror?

Many animals and birds respond to their reflections – with curiosity or aggression.

When you look in a mirror, you are aware that you are looking at yourself.

When a baby looks in a mirror for the first time, they reach out and touch. The experience teaches the baby that the reflection is not real and playing with the reflections builds understanding that the reflection is the baby.

Charles Darwin started testing animals with mirrors, and some psychologists use mirrors to work out if animals are self-aware.

Dogs typically fail this test.

Your puppy sees its reflection in the mirror, responds to it, may go round the mirror to see where the cut puppy is hiding, but probably doesn’t realize it is looking at itself.

Conclusion

Your puppy sees the world but not quite like you.

Your puppy’s vision isn’t better or worse than yours – simply different because your puppy needs to know the world through dog eyes.

Plus, your puppy is a sensory animal that uses scent and hearing as well as vision to experience the world. Most humans limit themselves to visual observation as the primary sense.

Your puppy won’t appreciate visiting an art gallery, but it may enjoy a walk around a sculpture park.

References:

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/02/what-do-animals-see-in-the-mirror/516348/