Man’s best friend really may know how you feel, with scientists finding that dogs can distinguish between different emotions shown on human faces. The team said: "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence that dogs can distinguish between two human faces showing negative expressions. "This suggests that the dog brain separates human facial expressions by valence, and shows separability among some negative human facial contrasts, particularly those involving fear." Only 12 dogs took part, all were border collies and they were shown static photographs rather than moving faces. The researchers also noted that border collies are particularly skilled at following social cues, meaning other breeds may respond differently.