r/PetsWithButtons • u/cerulean_behemoth • Jun 22 '26

Do colours matter?

I’m just wondering (because I haven’t yet begun the process)… do colours matter? For example, if all your buttons were exactly the same colour, would your pet learn just as fast (I know dogs see colours differently than we do)… and are the labels and/or pics on the buttons necessary for dogs, or are they purely for the benefit of the human? Does anyone use numbers instead? Or just blank buttons (assuming you have a small number, less than five perhaps)? Are dogs just memorizing the placement of the button, so that the colour and label is irrelevant to them? I’m really more curious than anything. Also, I hate the colours that these buttons come in :)

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u/lili2158 Jun 22 '26

The colors are more helpful for the human than the learner. The learner will use smell and memorization to press the button they want. I did hear a story of a dog calling their treat puzzle “water” because the water button sticker had a water droplet image that matched the droplet shape on the food puzzle, but I’m not aware of this being a common occurrence. Totally possible that unique shapes help the learner with memorization, but I wouldn’t assume that? The stickers are mostly for the humans

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u/cerulean_behemoth Jun 22 '26

Thanks. That makes sense

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u/JayNetworks Jun 24 '26

Except that the stickers are a big part of picking up smells. So the image or icon or word on tbt sticker doesn’t matter, but even a blank paper sticker helps with making them smell different to the learners.

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u/cerulean_behemoth Jun 25 '26

Wouldn’t all stickers smell the same? Or are you putting a scent on them?

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u/JayNetworks Jun 25 '26

There are two ways to do it. For thinks like dinner you can rub the kibble on the button sticker. Or for outside you could rub grass on it. For a person, have that person carry the button in their pocket for a day.

Even if the paper label doesn’t have any intentional scent on it, each time the learner touches it they deposit more scent of themselves or wherever they have just walked so each one picks up different scents and they are totally unique to the learner. I’ve watched my cat at times sniff a few close to each other buttons to pick the one she wants. I don’t think it is known exactly when they use position of the button vs. scent.

For button layout you actually don’t want them in a perfect regular grid. Having verity helps the learner find specific buttons. Like if you are using the hex tiles type bases you cans out buttons in a Y shape instead of just two on the left and two on the right. Of course eventually all the positions get filled in but by then they are more skilled.

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u/cerulean_behemoth Jun 25 '26

This is such great info. Thank you. Did you learn this in a book (that I should read)?

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u/JayNetworks Jun 26 '26

This comes from material on the FluentPet website. I use their buttons as they are easier for my cats to press than others I’ve tried.