From a young age, we are all told that dog’s only see in black and white or a dog year is seven human years. Many of us still believe these myths that were once told to us and to be honest, when I was researching this topic, there were so many myths that still shocked me!
1. Dogs only See Black and White
This is probably the most popular myth out there and I’m sure each of you have heard this one plenty of times. Scientists and veterinarians used to believe this was the case and they weren’t too far off. Recent studies show that dogs have 20% of the cone photoreceptor cells that humans have, which controls the perception of color in your eye. This leads to dogs only seeing shades of yellow, blue, gray/black, but lacking the ability to see colors ranging from green to red. This explains why Daisy, my 6 month old chocolate lab, only puts her yellow toys back in the bin!
On the right, we see an image of what humans would see when we look at this dog, and on right is the side-by-side comparison of what your pups eyes would be looking at.
2. Each Dog Year is Seven Human Years
At first glance, this may seem reasonable and true. We know dogs age faster than humans, so this general concept is not too far off the track. Instead of me telling you how wrong this idea really is, let’s work out the math together.
The average lifespan of a Chihuahua is 12-20 years. Let’s take the average of this lifespan just to be safe, and say most Chihuahua’s will live to be 16. Now, if each of these years converts to seven human years, this would mean a Chihuahua lives to be 112 human years and this isn’t even the oldest they can get!
Next, we are going to compare the average lifespan of the Chihuahua using a more complex formula that was worked out. In case you were wondering, the formula is human_age = 16ln(dog_age) + 31. After working out this formula to find how old a 16 year old chihuahua really is in human years, I got a much more reasonable 75 human years.
I see where plugging a dog's age into that hefty equation could get tiring after a while, however, dogs age much quicker when they are puppies than when they are older, so there isn’t quite a number we can stick to saying is equivalent to one human year.
3. A Dog’s Mouth is Cleaner than a Human’s Mouth
It is true that humans wouldn’t get too sick from an abundance of pup licks, however this is because many dog germs are not compatible with humans, so we don’t usually get ill from them. In fact, dogs and humans both have about the same amount of germs in our mouths, ranking at about 500-1,000 different types of bacteria.
4. A Wagging Tail Means a Happy Pup
Most of the time, a wagging tail does point to an energetic and excited pup. Especially when it comes alongside an abundance of licks and pup smooches. But does a wagging tail point to happiness 100% of the time? The answer is no. Your pup may also be trying to communicate that they are insecure, threatened, or even ready to fight. There is no easy way to tell what emotion a wagging tail is trying to convey other than observing other body movement (including eye position, walking stance, head movement etc.).
Keep calm and wag on!
Author’s Note
When I was younger, I always loved reading a Weird but True book from National Geographic that my family kept lying around the house. The book featured, as expected, weird facts about anything you can name--animals, planes, cars, humans, insects, etc. So, it's safe to say I’ve been intrigued by these types of weird facts, myths, and guessing games ever since I was old enough to read. If I’m being honest, while I was writing this blog, I was sitting at the edge of my seat researching way more than necessary, and typing away faster than my thoughts could process. I hope you are just as interested in this topic as me, and find this blog interesting and helpful. Maybe you can even empress your family members about your new knowledge on dog myths!
What Are the Biggest Dog Myths? | ThesprucePets (n.d.) Retrieved May 30, 2020, from
Do Dogs See Only In Black And White? | Pedigree (n.d.) Retrieved May 30, 2020, from
Are Dogs Colorblind? Side-by-Side Views | American Kennel Club (n.d.) Retrieved May 30, 2020, from
What's The Real Human Equivalent of Your Dog's Age? Here's a New Formula | Sciencealert (n.d.) Retrieved May 30, 2020, from
Dog Myths vs. Facts: Can You Guess? | Proud Dog Mom (n.d.) Retrieved May 30, 2020, from
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