I was frustrated because I didn't feel like I could explain things in such a way as to make people understand. I thought I explained things, and then someone would say, I wish they would do new research to see if dogs are colorblind. Your title was, " Are dogs color blind or can they see color... led me to think this was your question, but I think you really wanted to know if dogs can distinguish between skin shades. Again, there are probably studies that examined this issue; the earlier studies, which confirmed dogs could see actual colors, would certainly lead one to believe that a dog can distinguish between shades if there is enough difference. However, being able to be trained to do this and naturally doing this is another topic. Being able to be trained to do this would be how we'd know they can distinguish between skin colors, but it wouldn't tell us if this is something a dog automatically notices. There are so many other things that can set a dog off barking, i.e. the smell of another dog on a person, the smell of fear etc. Again, it is my belief that dogs will bark at the unfamiliar and skin color might be part of that equation. Sometimes, I wish people couldn't see the differences among skin color. |