Beagles are a long-standing working dog breed that have been bred to hunt, track, and point out their prey. They have keen senses of hearing and smell to sniff out and listen for small critters. For these same purposes, they were also bred to possess strong night vision so that they can hunt in the dark with relative ease.

Not all dogs can see in perfect pitch black environments, but beagles are significantly adept to seeing in the dark in most environments, due to the structure and makeup of their eyes.

In this article, I’ll go in depth on just how well beagles can actually see in the dark, how their eyes actually work to be able to see at night, and the benefits that come with it.

How Does Beagle Vision Work In The Dark?

Beagles, like all dogs, have much larger pupils than that of humans. These larger pupils allow them to take in much more light than you or I might be used to, which make particularly dark fields of vision much more vivid for them.

Additionally, there’s another element that influences their ability to see in the dark known as the Flicker Fusion Frequency (FFF), sometimes referred to as the Flicker Fusion Threshold.

This threshold measures the point where a flickering light no longer appears to flicker to an eye, after declining dimmer and dimmer in illumination.

This threshold is different for all animals, dogs tend to have a much higher FFF threshold than humans. We don’t entirely know why, but we’ve seen that animals that move faster through their environments, like animals that are used to hunting at night, tend to have a higher FFF.

While there isn’t evidence for it, many vets postulate that hunting dogs like the beagle tend to have higher FFF thresholds than non-hunting dogs, explaining why beagles see better in the dark than other breeds

There are a few other key features that help beagles in their ability to see at night compared to other animals and dog breeds. These include:

• Motion Detection
• Color Perception
• Sharpness of Perceived Shapes
• Visual Field Of View
• Depth Perception
• Sensitivity to Light
• Range of Focus
• Near Sightedness

Lastly, dogs have an impeccable visual acuity. Visual acuity is a measure of visual sharpness, and is calculated by the distance at which an object or shape can be seen clearly. While most humans have a visual acuity of 20/20, dogs have a visual acuity of around 20/80.

This means that dogs lose focus on things that can be easily seen by humans at 80 feet away, but they make up for it by being able to see close objects much clearer at night.

Structure of Beagle’s Eyes

As I mentioned above, beagle’s night vision is strongly influenced by the fact that dogs tend to have bigger pupils than humans. Additionally, the retina of dogs’ eyes have more rods than humans. Rods are light-sensitive cells that help animals see in low light.

While dogs have fewer cones than humans, which limits the range of colors that they can perceive, their abundance of rods helps them tremendously when it comes to seeing in low light.

This can sometimes be a double-edged sword for dogs, especially beagles with a particularly high amount of rods, as their eyes can be particularly sensitive to light.

They can easily become agitated or even experience discomfort from being in environments with particularly bright lights, like rooms with fluorescent lights and white walls that reflect the light back.

For this reason, you should try to make sure that your beagle’s day to day environment is full of natural light, and that you use low light at night especially.

Their eyes have one other feature called the tapetum lucidum, which behaves like a mirror in the eyeball. It reflects light that enters it back outward, giving a beagle’s retina another opportunity to register the light, allowing their brain another chance to accurately discern their environment in low light or heavy darkness.

Benefits Of Seeing In The Dark

As I mentioned above, beagles were originally bred in part for their hunting prowess, and this includes night vision. Some of the benefits of beagles having excellent night vision are:

• More Time to Hunt and Forage For Food

Beagles aren’t inherently nocturnal, but if they are hunting at night or foraging for food, their extra ability to see in the dark can definitely come in handy.

• Being Able to See Small Animals That Blend In With The Darkness

Because of their keen night vision, beagles are able to pounce on smaller animals that would otherwise pass by undetected, like mice or rabbits.

• Being Able to Get Around The House at Night

If you live in an apartment or house with a limited amount of room to walk around in, you won’t have to worry about your beagle getting hurt, as they can easily get around at night while you’re sleeping.

If they need to get up in the middle of the night to get some water, you’ll be able to rest assured knowing that they’ll be safe.

Though if you have stairs, you may want to consider blocking those off or opting for a ramp. While beagles can climb stairs, it’s still a little dangerous at night when you’re not alert or near them.

• Being Able to Lead Their Owners In Dark Environments

Beagles make great working dogs, and can have important roles such as police dogs, emotional support dogs, and even sight dogs for people who are visually impaired. Their ability to see better at night can help them navigate these jobs in a variety of environments, and even keep their owners who can’t see as well at night much safer.

Can Beagles See In Total Pitch Black Darkness?

As I mentioned before, dogs have much larger pupils than humans. This means that they can adjust to much lower levels of light intensity than humans. While it’s true that beagles can’t see in complete darkness, they can definitely see better in low light than most other dog breeds and humans.

Beagles however are no better at average dogs when it comes to seeing in total darkness. At a certain point their FFF threshold will not be enough to handle vision in a complete absence of light. That being said, they can still significantly see much better in dim environments that are close to pitch black.

Additionally, because of their enhanced senses of smell and hearing, they can do pretty well in pitch black environments even when they can’t see at all, because they will still be able to have a solid amount of awareness of the world around them.

Why Do Beagle’s Eyes Glow In The Dark?

If you own a beagle (or any dog for that matter) you may have noticed that their eyes tend to glow in the dark almost, especially if a light is directed to them in a dark room. This comes back to that feature of their eye I mentioned earlier – the tapetum lucidum.

This mirror-like effect that the tapetum lucidum has on beagles’ eyes is also responsible for the glow in the dark effect many people see.

When they are reflecting light, their eyes can appear white or even green in some cases. That’s the tapetum lucidum at work helping their retinas register light one additional time, allowing them to take in more information about what’s in front of them.

Do Beagles See In Color At Night?

While beagles are able to see in low light situations, it’s not always at the same level of detail as they can in normal brightness. This can cause color vision to degrade if they are in very low lit environments for lengthy periods of time.

This doesn’t mean that they can’t see any color at all when it’s dark out, just that their ability to see detail in the night does have limitations.

This is also compounded by their lack of cones in their eyes compared to other animals, which means they already perceive less color in general.

Under dim light they can still make important distinctions out, and their heightened senses of smell can still keep them safe when a lack of color discernibility is affecting them.

Beagle Eye Health

Because beagles also tend to have larger eyes, they are prone to a wide variety of eye issues that other dogs aren’t. These include:

• Corneal Ulcers

This is inflammation of the cornea in a beagle’s eyes which can cause redness, pain and tearing. They are caused by excessive exposure to sunlight or dry air, and can also be caused by irritation from the dog licking its eyes too much.

• Cherry Eye

Cherry Eye is a condition where a dog’s third eyelid cannot fully close, and will instead stick out or prolapse. This can cause irritation, excessive red and watery eyes, and pain for dogs.

They can occasionally go away on their own, but it’s much safer to consult with a veterinarian as soon as you first start to notice symptoms.

• Entropion

This is a condition where a dog’s eyelids become inverted or turned inwards to some extent.

This can lead to the dog scratching their eyes as they try to blink, which in turn can lead to corneal ulcers or other issues from damage caused by the scratching itself.

• Glaucoma

This condition is where the inside of a dog’s eye becomes inflamed, and will eventually lead to an increase in pressure in the eye.

This can cause pain, inflammation of the sclera (the white part behind your eyes), conjunctivitis (red or itchy eyes), and even blindness if left untreated.

• Cataracts

This is where your dog’s lens of the eye hardens and becomes cloudy. It can cause a decreased amount of light to be able to pass through the lens, making it harder for your dog to see.

This most commonly comes on with old age, but a veterinarian will be able to gauge the severity of this disease with frequent eye exams.

Final Thoughts

There are a number of fantastic reasons to own a beagle. They’re good looking dogs, they have a great personality, and are excellent companions for both children and adults alike.

Additionally, they have a clearly superior sense of vision in the dark compared to humans, as well as compared to most other dog breeds. While most beagles aren’t usually hunters today, and therefore don’t depend on this unique talent, it’s still good to know about for both your own safety and the safety of your pet.

If you’re interested in getting a beagle, take into consideration whether or not you will be able to accommodate a dog that has a proclivity to explore around at night.

For more beagle health tips and information, you can check out more of my articles here!