Woman’s best friend ...is a dog

DOGS are a woman’s best friend – not a man’s, a study suggests.

Researchers found it was the female touch that first created the bond between humans and canines.

Men may have wanted animals for hunting or herding livestock but women gave the feral pups names and treated them with affection.

This turned them into the domestic pets they are today, says the study by Washington State University.

The bond also allowed dogs to be trained and increase their usefulness.

Anthropologists looked at 144 ancient communities where there was evidence of dogs being kept.

Study author Jaime Chamber told the Journal of Ethnobiology: “Relationships with women might have had a greater impact on the dog-human bond than relationships with men.

“They were more likely to be included in family life. People had greater regard for them.”