When my wife and I rented an isolated beach cottage for a long weekend getaway, our two black Labrador retrievers — Jack and Nova — came along, too. There was nobody else there on the miles-long beach, just the two of us and the pooches. The first night was as dark as I’ve ever seen: no moon and high clouds hiding the stars. I took the dogs outside for their go-to-bed pee and realized immediately that I’d made three big mistakes: the dogs were off-leash, their battery-powered collar lights were not attached and I didn’t have a flashlight.

The problem: Jack and Nova disappeared into the dunes and my recall whistling efforts were laughably pathetic against the crashing of the waves. Lots of time passed and I could hear and see nothing of my black dogs on this black night. I wanted to go to bed, but I could not leave them out there. Going inside to sleep was impossible, so I found a deck chair, wrapped myself in a blanket and resolved to stay alert until the return of my two buddies.

I was awakened about an hour later by pressure on my legs. It was Nova snuggling into the blanket. To my relief, I recognized Jack’s signature snore nearby. Where had they been in the blackness? How had they found their way around the dunes before returning to the cottage? Clearly, they could see me when I could not see them. So intrigued, I looked into the matter.

It turns out dogs can indeed see well in the dark, much better than we humans can. As we all know, our beloved dogs are descended from wolf-like predators. Their distant ancestors were crepuscular hunters; they did most of their stalking in dim light at dusk and dawn. The process of natural selection adapted their eyes to see shapes and movement in the gloom.

Today’s dogs have retained that ability to see in the dark. Dogs have many light-sensitive cells, or photoreceptors, in the retinas at the back of their eyes, far more than we do. These cells are called rods and they boost night vision. Human eyes, on the other hand, have retinas dominated by cells called cones that are far more effective in making out colors.

So, if you take your dogs out for a walk on a dark night, they’ll see their surroundings much better than you can. But they won’t notice that your jacket is scarlet.

Dogs also have tapetum lucidum, a layer of cells behind the retina that reflects light and gives their night vision a little extra oomph. When you shine a flashlight at an animal at night, or when your car’s headlights pick out a deer in the road, their eyes glow because of the tapetum reflection. If you like to walk your little dog after sunset, be sure to take your flashlight along and aim it at dark places; those bright eyes shining at you from a distance could be coyotes that have been known to prey on the small guys. But they could also be harmless raccoons.

Also, a dog’s pupils are larger than ours, which means more light is admitted. However, you have an advantage when it comes to color. While canine color blindness is a myth and dogs can indeed see some colors, it’s only yellows and blues. It’s been suggested that blue and yellow be used in selecting toys, just to make them more recognizable to our best friends. However, my dogs use their toys for tug-of-war games with each other, whatever the color.

Neil Lurssen is a longtime volunteer for Marin Humane, which contributes Tails of Marin. Visit marinhumane.org, find us on social media @marinhumane, or email lbloch@marinhumane.org.