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Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

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Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think T-Rexes actually suffered from that problem.

I think that was a "myth" indeed. But the OPs point is still valid. :)

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/could-t-rex-re...

Article has a couple of interesting points if people are wondering how we can actually know anything about T-Rex vision.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#92
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As well, did you know lights have a flicker? If you think it's bad, it's even worse for dogs which can lead to stress. As someone who notices and gets really tired from the stroboscopic effects of cheap LEDs, I can only imagine how terrible that must be for dogs

I'll take that over florescent any day of the week.

Flickering fluorescent is soulsucking, I agree.

Technically speaking, a similar kind of solution that exists for LEDs also exist for fluorescent tubes: using high frequency ballasts that do not perceptibly flicker (not even (near)subconsciously - which is true for a lot of LED and fluorescent lights). Those are more expensive, hard to find and not the default though.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As well, did you know lights have a flicker? If you think it's bad, it's even worse for dogs which can lead to stress. As someone who notices and gets really tired from the stroboscopic effects of cheap LEDs, I can only imagine how terrible that must be for dogs

try candles. natural light for me gives me least issues. most electric lights are exhausting...

Incandescent light is generally better for the environment though (IIRC LowTechMagazine did the math for this)

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#94
post #26

This is a good opportunity to educate the general [HN] community about dogs: 1. They can only see blue/yellow. Not like humans' RGB. 2. They are short sighted. For far away objects, their sight is like a T-Rex, they can see moving objects, not stationary objects. Remain still, and they can't see you. Then again, they can smell you, especially if it's downwind. 3. Their flicker fusion threshold is higher than humans.…

That's interesting. We switched to LED bulbs in our living room and after that our eldest dog would not settle, I thought maybe the bulbs had a low humming noise he didn't like but it could have been a flicker instead. We switched back and he was fine again.

hmmm, the first 2 months of my (rescued) dog being in my home (a year ago) were anxiety-filled for her, and now i wonder if it was due to the led bulbs. she’s mostly settled now, realizing that home is good for sleep, though still gets nervous here and there. she likes being outside more but that seems to be true of dogs in general.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#95
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about a cat instead ;) Seriously, dogs are a shitload of work and especially, no matter how fucked the weather outside is, you gotta take the dog to walks so that the dog can take a dump. In addition, many of the larger breeds are working dogs which means that they require massive amounts of attention and daily exercise so they don't literally go mad. Please do proper research upon the characteristics of your d…

This meme of not getting rescue dogs is so harmful and needs to stop. Good adoption agencies will foster the dogs for a while and let you know if the dog actually has behavioral issues. Plenty of them don't. I'm convinced my rescue's previous owner was a little old lady who died or something. He has no issues at all. Every time I look at my amazing rescue dog (my first dog ever) and think about how he was almost put…

I don't know how to say this without sounding like a jerk, but it's not the tone it's intended in: Getting a dog should not be an emotional decision.

This goes double when it comes to larger or more powerful breeds like ASTs, Dobermans, boxers, etc. A Pomeranian that's bitey is regrettable, a Rottweiler that's bitey is dangerous. Getting a shelter pet is a lot like buying a used car in that you're signing up for a lot of unknowns.

Also, unless you live in a metro area, you're probably limited in your choice of shelters. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong with a reputable pet store (read: one not supplied by puppy mills) or breeder if you're the slightest bit uncomfortable with the shelter or their selection. This also means you're more likely to get a breed that fits your lifestyle and living situation.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#96
post #26

This is a good opportunity to educate the general [HN] community about dogs: 1. They can only see blue/yellow. Not like humans' RGB. 2. They are short sighted. For far away objects, their sight is like a T-Rex, they can see moving objects, not stationary objects. Remain still, and they can't see you. Then again, they can smell you, especially if it's downwind. 3. Their flicker fusion threshold is higher than humans.…

I actually got curious about this a year ago when I got a dog and she was watching me paint a wall. I made an iOS app* that allows you to see the color spectrum a dog sees, as well as take video and photos.

Some weekend I hope to make enough time to add something to represent the short sightedness using image depth data as well as a few other features I would like to add.

I actually had not heard about the flicker fusion threshold being different, thanks for the links!

* https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dog-optics/id1447069492?ls=1...

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#97
post #26

This is a good opportunity to educate the general [HN] community about dogs: 1. They can only see blue/yellow. Not like humans' RGB. 2. They are short sighted. For far away objects, their sight is like a T-Rex, they can see moving objects, not stationary objects. Remain still, and they can't see you. Then again, they can smell you, especially if it's downwind. 3. Their flicker fusion threshold is higher than humans.…

I fully believe that they can also "see" scents, like a cartoon character floating to a pie on a window sill following a path of inhaled visible scent fumes, but I have no evidence of that.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#98
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about a cat instead ;) Seriously, dogs are a shitload of work and especially, no matter how fucked the weather outside is, you gotta take the dog to walks so that the dog can take a dump. In addition, many of the larger breeds are working dogs which means that they require massive amounts of attention and daily exercise so they don't literally go mad. Please do proper research upon the characteristics of your d…

This meme of not getting rescue dogs is so harmful and needs to stop. Good adoption agencies will foster the dogs for a while and let you know if the dog actually has behavioral issues. Plenty of them don't. I'm convinced my rescue's previous owner was a little old lady who died or something. He has no issues at all. Every time I look at my amazing rescue dog (my first dog ever) and think about how he was almost put…

in LA, i had a good experience adopting my dog last year through the NKLA adoption center (https://nkla.org/) which is organized by https://bestfriends.org/, a national rescue organization.

they told me as much as they could about her from the 10 days they’d had her (for spaying, vaccines, and microchipping) after rescuing her from the county shelter (who found her wandering the streets).

her main behavioral issue was anxiety, probably partially due to prior abuse (she’s cautious around bigger men), which manifested mainly as nervous diarrhea for the first two months, along with panting and self-scratching/gnawing. it took some work to get her to trust me so she could self-regulate her anxiety and calm down at home.

but she’s a bundle of joy, eager to please, very playful & friendly (with dogs & people), and so attuned to me, that i feel immensely lucky to have found her. i wouldn’t trade her for the world!

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did a cursory search and it seems to be common wisdom that all dog breeds have the same number of bones and muscles. While there are many differences between breeds and individual dogs, there are also common factors that link them together. For example, all breeds have an excellent sense of smell and hearing and have the same number of bones which are tied together by the same number of muscles, tendons and ligaments…

I’m sure 99% or more of muscles and bones are shared across the various dog breeds but humans have about as much genetic diversity as the average chimpanzee troupe and we have differences in our musculature. For dogs to be more uniform than humans given the speed and vigour of selection seems unlikely. Some breeds should lack vestigial muscles and others have them by more or less random chance. http://mentalfloss.com…

Where can we find a definitive reference about dogs?

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#100
post #26

This is a good opportunity to educate the general [HN] community about dogs: 1. They can only see blue/yellow. Not like humans' RGB. 2. They are short sighted. For far away objects, their sight is like a T-Rex, they can see moving objects, not stationary objects. Remain still, and they can't see you. Then again, they can smell you, especially if it's downwind. 3. Their flicker fusion threshold is higher than humans.…

> As well, did you know lights have a flicker? If you think it's bad, it's even worse for dogs which can lead to stress. As someone who notices and gets really tired from the stroboscopic effects of cheap LEDs, I can only imagine how terrible that must be for dogs

Another dog sense I've wondered about is hearing. What is our music like to them?

Let's consider live music, first. A lot of instruments have significant harmonics well above 20 KHz. So let's say you are practicing your violin or trumpet, and your dog is in the room. The maker of your instrument took great care to get the sound right, which mainly consists of making sure that the various harmonics are at the right relative amplitudes.

Does the instrument maker take any care to get the harmonics above 20 KHz right? They don't affect how the instrument sounds to humans, so I'd expect not. That could mean that your beautiful violin has a horrible screech that only your dog hears.

How about recorded music? If my guess is right and our instruments sound bad above 20 KHz, recorded music may be an improvement from the dog's point of view, because we filter out those highs when recording.

But if live instruments do actually sound OK above 20 KHz, then to a dog our record are going to seem limited at best.

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