Why Do Dog’s Eyes Glow Yellow or Orange?
The English Springer Spaniel and Bernese Mountain Dogs typically have an orange glow at night. Meanwhile, the yellow Labrador (and sometimes the black or chocolate Lab) and the Border Collie may have a yellowish light. However, there is no hard and fast rule, as it can still differ from dog to dog with the breed.
Irish Setters are also known for a reddish or orange glow in pictures.
Dog Eye Reflection Color Chart
First and foremost, keep in mind that there are no guarantees when it comes to the eye reflection color – or eyeshine – of your dog’s eyes. These eyeshines can vary anywhere between light yellow and light green through bright blue, turquoise, and purplish, all the way to orange and red.
Generally, the color of the eyeshine will depend on the dog’s eye color as well as on its breed and even its coat color. We’ll explain below exactly what makes dogs’ eyes glow too.
But, to give you a general idea of the eyeshine you can expect from some popular breeds, here’s a quick dog eye reflection color chart:
| Dog eye color, coat color, or breed | Usual dog eye reflection color |
| Siberian Husky | Red reflection |
| Blue eye color | Red reflection |
| Schnauzer | Blue or turquoise reflection |
| Yellow Labrador | Light yellow reflection |
| Black Labrador | Deeper yellow or green reflection |
| White coat | Red reflection |
| English Springer Spaniel | Orange reflection |
“Red eye,” the all too familiar nemesis of amateur photographers, occurs when a person looks directly at the camera when his or her picture is taken. If the flash is on the same axis as the visual axis of the camera, the reflection of the light off the blood vessels in the persons retina will give an eerie, satanic “red eye” look. People with light-colored eyes usually exhibit the worst red eye effect; those individuals with dark-colored eyes may have enough pigment in the back of their eyes to mask this so-called red reflex.
Dogs, cats and almost all domestic animals have a special reflective layer in the back of the eye termed the tapetum, which enhances nocturnal vision. Light passes through the animals retina from outside of the eye and is then reflected back through the retina a second time from the reflective tapetal layer beneath the retina. This double stimulation of the retina helps these species to see better than humans do in dim light situations. The color of this tapetal layer varies to some extent with an animals coat color. A black Labrador retriever, for example, will usually have a green tapetal reflection. A buff Cocker spaniel will generally show a yellow tapetal reflection. Most young puppies and kittens have a blue tapetal reflection until the structures in the back of the eye fully mature at six to eight months of age. “Color dilute” dogs and cats, such as red Siberian huskies and blue point Siamese cats, may have no tapetal pigment, and may therefore exhibit a red reflex just like human beings.
Dog Eye Reflection Color Chart And Why Dogs’ Eyes Glow In Different Colors
âPuppy dog eyesâ gets dog parents every time. Itâs been proven that gazing into your petâs eyes produces oxytocin and promotes bonding. They are the epitome of the âpleading faceâ emoji. Irresistible.
It could be something more than cuteness, though. If your dogâs eyes have been looking a little red or cloudy lately, or if youâve noticed theyâre pawing at, rubbing, or showing signs of irritation around their eyes, you might need to make an appointment with your vet.Â
Eye problems in dogs are no joke â dogs can suffer from a host of health conditions including glaucoma, conjunctivitis, dry eyes, cataracts and more. Some eye disorders occur more often than others (a dogâs breed usually plays a role).
âAs a general practitioner, I was often presented with problems such as conjunctivitis, dry eye and corneal ulcer,â says Dr. Christine Lim, DVM, DACVO, a veterinarian in Chicago. âNow that I specialize in ophthalmology, I more often see cataracts, glaucoma and retinal disorders.â
To understand eye problems in dogs, it helps to know a little bit about how their eyes function. A dogâs eyes work much like a camera. Light enters through the pupil, and the iris controls the amount of light allowed in. Light then passes through the cornea and lens, which focus the light on the retina, a layer containing color-sensitive cones and motion- and light-sensitive rods, which convert light into electrical signals. The cones and rods send these signals via the optic nerve to the brain, which constructs an from them. Related article
Dogs have only two types of cones, compared with the three types in human eyes. As a result, dogs donât see as many colors as do people. Dog eyes also contain structures not found in a camera, such as the gel-like vitreous humor that fills the eyeball and gives it shape. Canine eyes are different than human eyes in that they have a third eyelid called the nictitating membrane, a thin whitish-pink tissue that protects the eye. And unlike humans, dogs have a reflective lining behind the retina called the tapetum lucidum; itâs what makes dogsâ eyes glow eerily when light hits them. Itâs also what allows them to see in dimmer light.
The visual streak is a horizontal band in the retina right above the optic nerve; this area has the highest concentration of rods and cones, and vision is sharpest here. The visual streak varies greatly among breeds, and studies suggest that different breeds see the world differently. In dogs with long heads like wolves, the streak is wide, with the nerves evenly distributed. The shorter a breedâs head, the narrower (more circular) the streak tends to be. Pugs, for example, have a small spot of sharp vision â an âarea centralisâ â as humans do. Even within breeds, the visual streak can vary from type to type.
All of these features equip a dog to be a good hunter under various light conditions. The tapetum lucidum improves a dogâs vision in low-light, as does the high proportion of rods to cones, giving dogs better vision at night than humans. A rod-dense retina also makes dogs excellent at detecting motion and shapes. Because most dogsâ eyes angle slightly to the side, they have a wider field of view than humans. When a wide field of vision combines with a wide visual streak, as in a German Shepherd, a dog can see the whole horizon at once (instead of having to scan the eyes back and forth as humans do).
With keen senses of smell and hearing, dogs donât need to see well up close; in fact, near vision is blurry in long-nosed dogs. (Short-nosed dogs, with their human-like area centralis, do appear to see well up close. Though the area centralis may lessen their ability as hunters, it may make them better lapdogs, more able to âreadâ their ownersâ faces.) Overall vision is also less sharp.Related article
They canât take in as many colors as you can, but their world isnât just black and white.
Below are the most common eye problems in dogs. (Note: Some dog breeds are more prone to eye problems than others, and a mixed-breed with one of those types in the mix could also be affected.)
Conjunctivitis is a condition in which the lining of the eyelids and the front of the sclera (the white of the eye) become inflamed. It can be caused by infection, an object in the dogâs eye, an allergic reaction, dry eye, a scratch, or even smoke or dust, and can also be a symptom of other diseases. Treatment depends on the cause.
Dry Eye is when not enough tears are produced to keep the eyes properly lubricated. Dogs may inherit this condition; among the dog breeds at higher risk are the American Cocker Spaniel, English Bulldog, Pug, Lhasa Apso, Pekinese, Shih Tzu, and West Highland White Terrier. Small, flat-faced dogs sometimes have eyes that bulge so much that their eyelids cannot close, which makes the surface of the eyes to dry out.
Dry eye may also result from an immune system reaction, an injury or a drug side effect. Dryness can be a serious problem for dogs because dry eyes are easily irritated and may develop conjunctivitis or corneal ulcers. Artificial tears, good eye hygiene, anti-inflammatory drugs and/or cyclosporine ointment (Optimmune) may help. If the cause is known, the veterinarian treats that as well.
Corneal Ulcer is a slow-healing sore on or in the dogâs cornea, accompanied by inflammation. Most ulcers are caused by injuries, and treatment often involves antibiotics. Small dog breeds with very short noses and big eyeballs are more prone to eye injuries, says Dr. Samuel J. Vainisi, DVM, ACVO of the Animal Eye Clinic in Denmark, Wisc. âBecause of that, we see a lot of ulcers on the eyes of breeds such as the Boston Terrier, the Pekinese, and the Shih Tzu.â
The most common cause of blindness in dogs, cataract is a clouding of the lens that obscures the dogâs vision. Most dogs with cataracts inherited the tendency to develop them. Inherited cataracts can occur in the Afghan Hound, American Cocker Spaniel, Boston Terrier, Chesapeake Bay Retriever, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Labrador Retriever, Miniature Schnauzer, Norwegian Buhund, Old English Sheepdog, Schnauzer, Siberian Husky, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Standard Poodle, Welsh Springer Spaniel, and West Highland White Terrier. Diabetes, injuries, poor diet and aging can also lead to cataracts.
Surgery is available to treat dogs with cataracts. Removing the lens allows light to again enter the eye. For best post-surgery vision, the natural lens is usually replaced by a plastic lens. âThe surgery itself is not too stressful for the majority of patients,â says Dr. Lim. However, âthe first few weeks postoperatively can be stressful because it is very intensive â the patient must wear an Elizabethan collar at all times, and several medications are required.â
Glaucoma is the elevated pressure of the fluid inside the eyeball caused by fluid draining more slowly than it is produced. Dogs with glaucoma can experience damage to the retina or optic nerve.
Most often, dogs get glaucoma because they inherited an eye structure that leads to poor drainage. Dog breeds in which primary (inherited) glaucoma occurs include the Alaskan Malamute, American Cocker Spaniel, Basset Hound, Beagle, Boston Terrier, Bouvier des Flandres, Chow Chow, Dalmatian, English Cocker Spaniel, English Springer Spaniel, Great Dane, Labrador Retriever, Norwegian Elkhound, Poodle (all sizes), Samoyed, Shar-Pei, Shih Tzu, Siberian Husky, and Welsh Springer Spaniel.Related article
Primary glaucoma has no obvious cause, and it affects both eyes (although one eye may develop glaucoma earlier than the other). Secondary glaucoma is glaucoma that is caused by a dislocated lens, injury, tumor or other problem that decreases fluid drainage in the eye; it may affect just one eye.
Glaucoma treatments include surgery, pills, eye drops or (rarely) removal of the eyeball. âGlaucoma is still one of the more difficult things to handle,â says Dr. Vainisi. âEven though there are literally dozens of glaucoma procedures, there still is not that ideal one ⦠even in humans.â
âProgressive retinal atrophyâ (PRA) is the name for a group of retinal disorders in which rods and cones die off; there is no treatment. Dogs who get PRA do so because theyâve inherited a defective gene. Although PRA strikes more than 100 breeds of dogs, different genes are responsible. Therefore, breeds differ in the age at which the condition appears, how fast the condition progresses, and the ratio of males to females among affected dogs.Â
PRA appears during puppyhood in the Cardigan Welsh Corgi, Cairn Terrier, Collie, Gordon Setter, Great Dane, Irish Setter, Miniature Schnauzer and Norwegian Elkhound. In contrast, some breeds usually donât develop PRA until adulthood. These include the American Cocker Spaniel, English Cocker Spaniel, Labrador Retriever, Lhaso Apso, Miniature Poodle, Portuguese Water Dog, Tibetan Spaniel and Tibetan Terrier. PRA occurs mostly in males in the Siberian Husky and Samoyed. Genetic tests for PRA are available for several breeds.Related article
Other retinal problems include detachment of the retina from the back of the eye, inflammation and abnormal development. Causes include infection and injury. Some retinal disorders have no treatment, while others can be helped by surgery or treatment of the cause.
Small dogs may be more prone to retinal detachment. According to Dr. Vainisi, several small breeds of dogs, including Boston Terriers, Jack Russell Terriers and Shih Tzus, love to pick up toys and shake them hard. âFluid goes violently back and forth in the back of the eye, and it just rips the retina right off,â he says. âOne moment theyâre seeing, and the next moment they can be totally blind.âRelated article
Just like your doctor would refer to you a specialist for expert care for a complicated issue, your vet may do the same for your dog.