Researcher Dr Kun Guo, from the University of Lincoln, said: “Previous studies have indicated that dogs can differentiate between human emotions from cues such as facial expressions, but this is not the same as emotional recognition.

“Our study shows that dogs have the ability to integrate two different sources of sensory information into a coherent perception of emotion in both humans and dogs. To do so requires a system of internal categorisation of emotional states. This cognitive ability has until now only been evidenced in primates and the capacity to do this across species only seen in humans.”

Co-author Professor Daniel Mills added: “It has been a long-standing debate whether dogs can recognise human emotions […] However, there is an important difference between associative behaviour, such as learning to respond appropriately to an angry voice, and recognising a range of very different cues that go together to indicate emotional arousal in another.

"Our findings are the first to show that dogs truly recognise emotions in humans and other dogs.”

Take that, cats: new study shows dogs understand human emotions