Do you know your doggy?

We have been living alongside our canine friends for around 15,000 years.

But do you really know your pooch?

If you have cancer, diabetes, or epilepsy, your dog might be the first to know. Studies have shown that dogs can be trained to sniff out cancers of the lung, breast, skin, bladder and prostate. Researchers suspect the canines are picking up on extraordinarily faint scents given off by the abnormal cells.

Dogs can be as smart as 2-year-old children, according to research. Border collies are the top dogs in the intelligence category, with some in the breed capable of understanding up to 200 words.

Do dogs feel envy? Recent studies have found that when dogs saw other dogs getting treats for a trick they'd been performing unrewarded, the unrewarded dogs became agitated, scratching themselves and avoiding the gaze of the rewarded dogs. They also stopped doing the trick much faster than if they were alone and not getting a reward.

Or guilt? When dog owners thought their dogs had eaten a forbidden treat and reprimanded them, the pooches looked just as "guilty" regardless of whether or not they had actually eaten the treat. In fact, dogs who were wrongly accused of snack-snatching often looked more guilty than dogs who had really eaten the treat. Turns out those soulful eyes don't reflect any soul-searching, after all.

Dogs are the most diverse animals around, did you know that the skull of Pekingese is as different to that of a Collie as a cat’s skull is to that of a walrus's?

And finally, if you want to make new friends get a dog. Research has proven that people who walk dogs have 3 times more social interactions than those who didn’t.

So owning a dog has more benefits than you think. So how can we repay the favour? We at Rubberduckz.co.uk have a fantastic range of Personalised Pet Bowls and Pet Place Mats which make fantastic Gifts for Pets all year round and will make your doggy feel extra special.

(Thanks to "livescience.com")