SIMULATION SHOWS WHAT DOGS SEE AND HEAR WHEN THEY LOOK AT US AND IT’S BLOWN PEOPLE’S MINDS

A fascinating new simulation offers a glimpse into how dogs might actually perceive their human companions.

It’s a question any dog owner has likely wondered: how does my pooch really see and hear me?

Dogs experience the world very differently from humans.

For starters, their vision is generally near-sighted—if dogs were humans, they’d probably need glasses. A dog would need to be just 20 feet away to see an object as clearly as a human could from 75 feet. They also perceive colors differently, seeing blues and yellows most vividly but unable to distinguish red, orange, and green.

There is a bright side to their eyesight, though. Extra rods in their retinas and larger pupils give dogs superior night vision, and they are far more sensitive to motion than humans—which helps explain why sticks and mail carriers always catch their attention. PetMD notes that dogs have 10 to 20 times better motion sensitivity than we do.

Their hearing is also extraordinary. Dogs can detect sounds up to 45,000Hz—more than twice the highest pitch humans can hear. This allows them to pick up the buzzing of insects, the scurrying of rodents, and even the hum of lights or digital clocks. They can also detect sounds about four times quieter than humans, though low-pitched sounds are harder for them to perceive.

Time perception differs too. Due to their high metabolism, dogs experience time more slowly—one hour for humans feels like roughly 75 minutes for a dog. BBC Earth’s Secret Life of Dogs explains, “Dogs’ eyes process what they see more quickly than we do. It’s almost like they see in slow motion.”

YouTube creator Benn Jordan set out to simulate this dog’s-eye view. The video shows the world from a dog’s perspective, closer to the ground, with blurred objects and intensified colors. Jordan also adjusted the sounds and slowed movements to reflect how dogs perceive time as roughly 33% slower.

Viewers were amazed. One commenter joked, “Crazy to think they’re still our best friends when we are so slow to them lol.” Another reflected on how dogs might see humans as “slow lumbering giants,” and a third wrote, “In my wildest dreams I never imagined that dogs perceive the world in slow motion.”

Of course, vision and hearing are only part of the story. A dog’s sense of smell dominates their perception of the world. They have 60 times more scent glands than humans, and the part of their brain that processes smell is 40 times larger. This exceptional sense allows dogs to detect everything from hidden treats to illnesses like cancer.

So while your dog may not see the world as sharply as you do, their extraordinary senses ensure they experience it in ways humans can only imagine.