26/06/2025
Love, love, LOVE this!
It is so important for us to take time out to really try and understand how our dogs view the world through their senses. It can shed light on so many behaviours falsely labelled as ‘disobedience’ when we consider how the environment and their experience of it effects behaviour.
The Parallel Universe of Dogs
Our dogs live in a sensory world entirely different from ours.
We think we experience reality, but the truth is, we only perceive our version of it.
How often have you debated the colour of an object? Or disagreed on how something smells or tastes? Human perception is fluid, subjective, and shaped by experience—now imagine how vastly different the world must be for dogs.
They might as well exist in a parallel universe.
That treat on the floor they can’t see.
That red ball in the green grass—so clear to us, yet invisible to them.
That cat in the bushes they seem to ignore—until the tiniest movement changes everything.
Dogs don’t see better or worse than us—they see differently. Their vision is adapted for dim light, making quick changes in brightness potentially disorienting. A dog struggling to transition between environments? Light conditions might be the cause.
Their acuity is estimated at 20/75—meaning that what a human sees at 75 feet, a dog sees at 20 feet. Yet their motion detection is extraordinary. While humans register movement at just 5%, dogs pick it up at 42%.
This could explain why they walk past a squirrel one moment, then suddenly lunge at something we haven’t even noticed.
Their depth perception surpasses ours, some studies suggest ultraviolet sensitivity, and remarkably, research even hints that dogs may align their bodies with the Earth’s magnetic field when they poo—which might explain their lengthy search for the perfect spot.
And then there’s sound.
Dogs hear nearly double the frequencies we do. They detect sounds four times farther than humans. That bark at "nothing"? That sudden startled reaction? It’s not nothing—they hear things we simply can’t.
Then, of course, there’s scent—perhaps the most misunderstood of all.
Smell is a world-builder for dogs. It’s how they navigate, communicate, and understand their surroundings. To restrict sniffing on walks is like blindfolding a human in front of a breathtaking landscape—a cruel disservice to their most powerful sense.
When we get frustrated with behaviors we don’t understand—scavenging, barking, hesitancy—we label them as bad, naughty, weird, or stupid.
But the reality is they don’t live in our world—they adapt to it.
Imagine how overwhelming human spaces must feel. Busy streets, unnatural chemical scents, chaotic sounds, restricted movement, expectations they never agreed to.
They see, hear, and smell things we will never experience, yet we often punish them for reacting to it.
So, when frustration rises—take a step back.
Instead of questioning their behaviour, question your own understanding.
Instead of restricting their instincts, respect the way they process the world.
Because if we truly listened, we’d realise—they have adapted for us far more than we have ever adapted for them.
