Red paint is cheap.
(Also, it tends to stand out, visually, calling attention, which is something you want in an emergency. It’s why the button that stops all the equipment in a machine shop is also bright red, and stop signs too.)
They used to think that red was the most noticeable color (hence red fire trucks). Then somebody realized that at night, red is black. Bring on the yellow!
So … why would a dog that does the peeing find it disgusting? Also… they *don’t* paint them yellow more frequently then other colors do they? Most around here are silver or white I think. Maybe red. I won’t say I haven’t seen a yellow hydrant but I don’t think I’ve seen many. Heck, blue and green is more common than yellow…. I think.
Re dogs vs. color vision (from my quotes file where he was referring to something else entirely):
This is what I love about comic strips. You don’t have to worry about the audience suspending its sense of disbelief. Because, if you start with a talking shark, readers pretty much check their disbelief at the door.
– Jim Toomey (who writes Sherman’s Lagoon)
Allegedly, some fire departments had red fire trucks, then repainted them to modern safety colors (such as lime green), only to revert back to red out of cultural association.
In reality, fire trucks have not always been red. Some departments paint theirs white, some orange, some blue, and some are even purple. Old fire trucks look great in any color. :-) IIRC hydrant colors vary from city to city and era to era as well.
I remember there was a fad in the mid ’70s of painting hydrants in the US in patriotic colors and themes for the Bicentennial celebration. Others were painted to look like people. These hydrants obviously won’t comply to local safety color standards.
According to this article, it appears the color of a fire hydrant (at least in Canada) informs the fire department how much water is being delivered by the hydrant. I guess pressure can vary from location to location. Also, you shouldn’t repaint a hydrant that happens to be on or near your property: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/painted-fire-hydrants-1.3738357
And as far as the actual comic goes, I’m thinking the dog is thinking the hydrant is painted yellow to signify that it’s a urinal. Or something like that.
Comics I Don't Understand 
So, why were they mostly red before?
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Red paint is cheap.
(Also, it tends to stand out, visually, calling attention, which is something you want in an emergency. It’s why the button that stops all the equipment in a machine shop is also bright red, and stop signs too.)
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They used to think that red was the most noticeable color (hence red fire trucks). Then somebody realized that at night, red is black. Bring on the yellow!
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So … why would a dog that does the peeing find it disgusting? Also… they *don’t* paint them yellow more frequently then other colors do they? Most around here are silver or white I think. Maybe red. I won’t say I haven’t seen a yellow hydrant but I don’t think I’ve seen many. Heck, blue and green is more common than yellow…. I think.
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Aha, this is a fine example of stinkronicity.
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“they *don’t* paint them yellow more frequently then other colors do they?”
That’s not paint.
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The dog said it was paint.
Which leads back to my original question: why should a dog that does the peeing be disgusted by realizing it’s yellow because of the pee?
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“The dog said it was paint. ”
Dogs have brains the size of walnuts. Not authoritative for anything except what smells like drugs and/or explosives.
” why should a dog that does the peeing…”
I pee, and pee is still icky gross. Why would a dog be different (and they have keener senses of smell.)
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How does the dog know that it’s yellow?
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“How does the dog know that it’s yellow?”
He read the script.
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Re dogs vs. color vision (from my quotes file where he was referring to something else entirely):
This is what I love about comic strips. You don’t have to worry about the audience suspending its sense of disbelief. Because, if you start with a talking shark, readers pretty much check their disbelief at the door.
– Jim Toomey (who writes Sherman’s Lagoon)
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Dogs aren’t totally colorblind. They just have fewer types of color receptors.
https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/did-you-know/are-dogs-color-blind/
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Allegedly, some fire departments had red fire trucks, then repainted them to modern safety colors (such as lime green), only to revert back to red out of cultural association.
In reality, fire trucks have not always been red. Some departments paint theirs white, some orange, some blue, and some are even purple. Old fire trucks look great in any color. :-) IIRC hydrant colors vary from city to city and era to era as well.
I remember there was a fad in the mid ’70s of painting hydrants in the US in patriotic colors and themes for the Bicentennial celebration. Others were painted to look like people. These hydrants obviously won’t comply to local safety color standards.
According to this article, it appears the color of a fire hydrant (at least in Canada) informs the fire department how much water is being delivered by the hydrant. I guess pressure can vary from location to location. Also, you shouldn’t repaint a hydrant that happens to be on or near your property: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/painted-fire-hydrants-1.3738357
And as far as the actual comic goes, I’m thinking the dog is thinking the hydrant is painted yellow to signify that it’s a urinal. Or something like that.
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The hydrant close to my house has a yellow base and a red cap.
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You’d be red too if your hose was out where everyone could see it.
Oh, sorry. I thought you asked why a fire engine was red.
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Fire engines are red because they’re always Russian around…
(Cold War era humor)
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