Dog owners have long argued that their pets can understand what they are saying, and now science has proven them correct.

A new study has shown that dogs use the left hemisphere of their brain to process the meaning of words, and their right side to work out the intonation – exactly the same way humans process language.

It means that dogs can pick up when their owners are not being consistent in their language and tone.

For example when a dog is praised, the reward centre of its brain fires up, but only if a praising tone is used. If an owner says ‘good boy’ in a listless, subdued manner the dog will know it is not really being praised.