A forced-choice preferential looking task for the assessment of vision in dogs: pilot study

Abstract

Objectives: To describe preliminary use of a forced-choice preferential looking task for the clinical assessment of vision in dogs. Materials and Methods: The vision of 18 pet dogs was investigated in two separate studies using a forced-choice preferential looking task: multiple observers watched eye, head and body movements on video recordings to identify cues suggesting when a dog had seen the feature of interest. Human observer reliability was determined using eight dogs and computer-generated stimuli. Visual acuity was assessed using computer-generated grating stimuli: in real-time, an observer watched each dog's eye movement patterns and behaviour to decide whether each grating was seen..