I read with interest Pippa's recent article on Labradors eyesight which supports my own practical observations of Benson's ability to see colour. During the winter months I wear a red ski hat and Benson gets excited because he has learnt to associate it with a walk. On the other hand my son puts on a black ski hat before cycling to work which makes Benson agitated and given half the chance will gently remove the hat and hide it in his mat. He does this we think because Benson associates this act with being left alone? Since dogs cannot discriminate colours then they must differentiate between them either as shades of black or by the individuals wearing them. As with Pavlov's experiments where he used a bell to make a dog salivate, Benson has learnt that a cap irrespective of colour and worn by different people means different things. I am trying to think how I can use this piece of research to enhance Benson's gun dog training skills! Roger
Re: How does your Labrador see the world? The plot thickens! I have just exchanged caps with my son and would have expected, since dogs are colour blind that Benson's reaction would be the same as previously in that he was conditioned to expect a walk from me. This was not the case because as soon as I put on the black cap he attempted to remove it and took no notice of the red cap worn by my son which surely means he can differentiate between black and red? Roger
Re: How does your Labrador see the world? Well, maybe. Or maybe he can just tell the difference between hats, by other means such as slight differences in shape, and definitely smell. They probably do look different colours too, even without full colour vision. The trouble is, we as humans rely so much on sight and spoken word for information, it's hard to imagine being in a different head!
