This is excellent.

There's no better feeling than asking your dog if he's a good boy, and seeing him bark and wag his tail and run around in delight. We could always assume that he knew he was a good boy, but now we know for sure. Research conducted by the guys over in Barnard College shows that dogs are actually self-aware. They are conscious of their self, they know the difference between themselves and other dogs, and most importantly, they know that they are a good boy. Scientists conducted what they called a "sniff test" to confirm this theory. They gave the dogs a sample of their own smell, and then changed something slightly about the odour. When the dogs were presented with the changed smell they became enthralled and couldn't stop smelling themselves, suggesting that the recognised the difference between themselves and other dogs. According to the researchers, this meant that the dogs were self-aware.Previous studies had been conducted to test this theory, but they had, unfortunately, failed. One was called the "mirror test" which involved presenting the dogs with the image of themselves, and then changing something about their appearance to see if they would react. The dogs did not, and so it was assumed that they were not self-aware. But, like most things, the mirror test is not entirely foolproof. Some children have even failed the test so it was assumed that a group of dogs' inability to pass may actually mean a lot less than originally thought. And, thankfully, it did, because dogs are self-aware now, and that's just great news for everyone. Images via Dogs of Instagram.