But new research suggests that your pup may be able to read your emotions from the expression on your face. The study, published in the journal iScience, found that not only are dogs able to identify happiness on a human face, there’s also evidence – for the first time – that dogs can distinguish negative facial expressions too. Later, to understand how dogs differentiate between positive and negative expressions, researchers showed 12 dogs photographs of people displaying a range of emotions, including happiness, anger, fear and sadness. By studying their brains, we can understand what adaptations have developed to support their remarkable social and emotional understanding of humans.” “I would like people to see dogs as emotional beings,” says Laura Cuaya, who also worked on the study.