Canine color preferences

Jeff Stevens

Department of Psychology
Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior

About me

A bit about me

Collage of 15 species that I studied, including European starling, blue jay, squirrel monkey, chimpanzee, cotton-top tamarin, common marmoset, bonobo, humans, black and white ruffed lemur, red ruffed lemur, black lemur, guppy, pinyon jay, capuchin monkey, dog.

Canine Cognition and Human Interaction Lab

Brown dog approaching cup on floor with researcher in background. Logo for Canine Cognition and Human Interaction Lab Brown dog being petted by undergraduate student.

Dog color vision

Are dogs colorblind?

Brown and white dog sitting on grass behind blue, orange, and red toys. Brown and white dog sitting on grass behind blue, orange, and red toys but viewed through dog color vision, so everything is brown, yellow, an blue.

What dogs see

Illustration of dog color spectrum compared to human color spectrum.

What do dogs prefer?

Three brown street dog puppies.

Photo by Anoir Chafik on Unsplash

Roy et al. 2025

What do dogs prefer?

Brown and white street dog approaching wooden tray with blue, yellow, and grey bowls.

Dynamite plot of percentage of each color bowl (blue, grey, and yellow) as first choice. Twice as many dogs chose yellow compared to blue or grey.

Roy et al. 2025

Why do we care about dog color preferences?

Image of multi-colored dog toys on carpet or grass for both human and dog color vision.

Image of person pointing to one of two blue cups.

Current study

Replicate Roy et al. 2025

Research question

Do pet dogs in the U.S. prefer the color yellow?

Study 1

Brown and white dog sitting behind grey, yellow, and blue bowls.
  • 75 dogs at dog parks and dog bars
  • Chose between grey, yellow, and blue bowls
  • Recorded first bowl approached

Dogs showed no preference for color

Plot of number of subjects chooseing blue, grey, and yellow bowls. Slightly more subjects chose yellow or grey bowls compared to blue bowls.

Age distribution

Histogram of frequency of dog ages in the study. Most are under 7 years old.

Aging dogs

Image of white and grey dog with eyes squinted sitting in front of plants.

Photo by VetriScience Laboratories on Unsplash

Younger dogs preferred yellow more

Plot with two panels showing number of subjects for each bowl color for dogs younger and older than 7 years old.

Study 2

Brown and white dog sitting behind grey, yellow, and blue bowls.
  • Replicate but with 134 dogs under 7 years old

Younger dogs preferred yellow

Plot of number of subjects for each bowl color showing stronger preference for yellow over blue.

Brown and white dog sitting with nose in yellow bowl.

But what else might cause preference?

Image of wooden tray with blue, yellow, and grey bowls.

Image of blue bowl. Image of yellow bowl. Image of grey bowl.

Study 3

Illustration of light, medium, and grey bowl.
  • 141 dogs under 7 at dog parks, bars, and daycares
  • Chose between light, medium, and dark grey bowls

Dogs didn’t prefer light grey

Plot of number of subjects choosing light, medium, and dark grey bowls showing slight preference for dark bowls.

Take home message

  • Young pet dogs in the U.S. prefer the color yellow

  • Brightness can’t account for this preference

  • Preferences might change over dogs’ lifespans

Thank you!

  • Anwyn Gatesy-Davis
  • Susannah Couture
  • Yasmin Worth
  • Giselle Lawson
  • Ashley Llewellyn
  • Nathan Nienaber
  • Nebraska Parks and Recreation
  • Urban Hound Dog Bar
  • Kenl Inn

Contact

jstevens5@unl.edu


Canine Cognition and Human Interaction Lab

dogcog.unl.edu

unl_cchil

unl.cchil

@unlcchil.bsky.social

Image of brown dog about to lick Dr. Stevens' face.