Dogs really can understand human emotions

Melbourne: Dogs can tell the difference between a happy and an angry person and a laugh from a cry, a New Zealand study claims.


To reach the conclusion, researchers at the University of Otago, in the South Island, put 90 Dunedin dogs through their paces - showing some recorded images of babies laughing, crying and babbling and giving others verbal instructions from human's displaying happy or stern expressions.

Associate Professor Ted Ruffman said the dogs' responses indicated that they could understand emotions, reports The Australian.

"We know dogs are very good at picking up human gestures," Prof Ruffman told the Otago Daily Times.

"And it seems they are very good at picking up on human emotions, too.