Some common myths about dogs and the truths behind them.

1.Dogs only see black and white

Mistakenly, people think that dogs can only see in black and white. But today, science has done more studies to prove that dogs are able to see colors.

“‘It’s likely that all the external world appears to them as varying highlights of black and gray,’ [Will] Judy wrote in his 1937 manual, ‘Training the Dog,’” according to the American Kennel Club.

According to studies conducted by Jay Neitz, the director of the Neitz Color Vision Lab at the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Washington, scientists currently believe that a dog’s color vision is comparable to that of a person who has red-green color blindness.

2. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

Dog owners always restrain themselves from teaching an old dog new tricks. It is true that it may take more time, but it is possible for an old dog to learn new tricks.

“Luckily, it is never too late to adjust a dog’s behavior. Dogs live in the moment. They do not dwell on the past or worry about the future. If the new owner patiently directs the dog’s behavior, even annoying old habits can be resolved,” according to an article, “Can Old Dogs Learn New Tricks?” from vcahospitals.

Next time you want to teach new tricks to an old dog, you just need to be patient and keep trying until your dog can learn the new trick.

3. Dogs age seven years for every human year

Determining a dog’s age is hard due to the lack of accuracy presented by scientific data.

The only thing that you need to know when calculating your dog’s age is that the life of a dog varies depending on their size.

It is normal to see different people count a dog’s age in different ways. The easy way to calculate an estimate of a dog’s age is to take 1 dog year and multiply it by 7 years. This assumes that dogs live to about 10 years and humans live to about 70 years on average. For example, a dog that is 5 years old is 35 “human years,” according to an article from almanac.com.

4. Chicken bones are a good food for dogs

There is the belief that chicken bones are good for dogs. So, some people cook them and serve them to their dogs as a nutritious meal, ignoring that those chicken bones can be dangerous for dogs.

Dogs can’t eat chicken bones because when “dogs chew on the bone, it can break and splinter in their throat, puncture their gastrointestinal tract, or cause them to choke,” explained an article from the dog food brand website, Front of the Pack.

Chicken bones can pierce the organs of the dogs, resulting in a long hospitalization or, in the worst cases, their deaths.

5. Dogs lack emotions 

People think that dogs are incapable of feeling emotions; therefore, some dog owners ignore what their dogs may be feeling in certain circumstances.

Dogs can see the world in a simple way, like toddlers do. For that reason, they can feel simple emotions like happiness and sadness, but lack the ability to feel complex emotions. 

Research has indicated “that dogs have a limited range of emotions, similar to what toddlers experience. Canines lack complex feelings such as contempt, guilt, pride, and shame,” says Dr. Stanley Coren, psychologist and author of How Dogs Think, in an article from Daily Paws.

Dogs are good at picking up on human emotions and adapting to them like their own. So next time, pay attention to your dog’s emotions.