If you’ve spent any time with dogs, it’s probably not news to you that they can sense the difference between positive and negative human emotions. But canine brains might have a deeper understanding of human emotions than you might think, a new study suggests. In the first experiment, eight pet dogs were shown images of happy and neutral human faces that were unfamiliar to them. “We know how we feel when we see a lot of happy faces,” Dr Cuaya said. Either way, it’s clear that dogs are able to make “some pretty fine distinctions with respect to human emotions,” Mr MacLean said.