It has long been said that dog owners look like their pets and it’s a subject that has left scientists bemused for years. But now researchers say that the resemblance is no coincidence and found strangers can identify owners and their dogs with an 80 per cent accuracy – and the clue is in the eyes. Japanese psychologist Sadahiko Nakajima, of Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, has been determined to resolve the idea after becoming doubtful over people’s belief that there is any likeness. Scroll down for video . David Beckham (right) and the family's pet bulldog Coco (left) - but do their eyes look similar? Scientists believe the resemblance between dogs and their owners lies in a similarity in the eye shape . Do you think Simon Cowell (left) resemblances one half of his pet dog duo Diddly and Sqiddly? New research says that there is evidence strangers can identify dogs and their owners in 80 per cent of instances . He took pictures of dogs and their owners at a ‘dog lovers field festival’ before asking 502 students to look at two sets of test sheets of the 20 dog-owner pairs with their faces side by side – one sheet was a real pair while other was fake. They were also put into four different ‘masking’ situations where they were shown either the entire face or versions that had certain features covered, for example the eyes or the mouth. Participants were simply asked ‘choose the dog-owner pairs that physically resemble each other’. In the trial showing the full face, 80 per cent picked the correct pairing. The group that was only shown the dogs and owners with a panel covering the mouth scored 73 per cent. But most surprisingly 40 students of the group of 50 (74 per cent) that were shown only the eyes still correctly guessed the dog-owner pair. Nakajima, who has done previous research into the same subject, was so surprised by their ability to do this by only seeing the eye regions that he ran the same experiment on a fresh group of students - and they scored even higher with 42 of the 55 (76 per cent) choosing the right image set. However, the group that was shown the faces with the eye region covered only scored a chance level of around 50 per cent – strongly suggesting that the resemblance is in the eyes. Elle Macpherson (left) and her pet Labradoodle Bella - who followed in her owners foosteps and landed her own modelling contract . Does Andy Murray look like his dog Maggie? Some may so after the report was published by Japanese psychologist Sadahiko Nakajima where he showed participants strangers and their dogs and most got it right . Does the Duchess of Cambridge (left) look anything like her pet black Cocker Spaniel Lupo? Participants in the most recent study ruled out that things like hairstyles were not a feature that mattered in resemblance . The report published in journal Anthrozoös also ruled out the possibility of features such as hairstyles or similarity in obesity make any difference. However in previous research by Stanley Coren, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia, he found that when women were shown portraits of dogs and asked how friendly and loyal they looked, they would favour the ones that shared similar hairstyles. His findings showed that people with long hair covering their ears would give higher scores to springer spaniels and those with short hair and visible ears were more generous in their rating of the ‘cock-eared’ Siberian Husky. But Professor Coren has said these most recent findings could support his own research into the resemblance debate. He told The Times: ‘There's a phenomenon in psychology called the ‘mere exposure' effect. ‘If you see something a lot, you tend to develop affection for it. One of the things we see all the time is our own face.’ ‘There is a remarkable amount of variety in eye shape. You have the big round eyes of the spaniel, almond-eyed retrievers and gorgeous human shaped eyes on whippets.’ Elton John (left) is often spotted out and about on the red carpet with his pet Cocker Spaniel Arthur (right) who was 'best man' at his wedding to David Furnish in May . Sienna Miller (right) has two dogs - mixed breed Porgy and Bess (left) who she is often spotted out walking . President Barack Obama with his family's Portugese water dog who is held on a lead by daughter Malia . Famous pairing Ashley and Pudsey, who won Britain's Got Talent in 2012 - and the dog even has his own movie .
New research has revealed that there is a resemblance in pets and owners .
Participants were able to correctly guess dog-owner pairs in 80% of cases .
Japanese psychologist Sadahiko Nakajima found the eyes were biggest clue .
Report dismissed that hairstyles or similarity in obesity made any difference .
It has long been said that dog owners look like their pets and it’s a subject that has left scientists bemused for years. But now researchers say that the resemblance is no coincidence and found strangers can identify owners and their dogs with an 80 per cent accuracy – and the clue is in the eyes. Japanese psychologist Sadahiko Nakajima, of Kwansei Gakuin University in Japan, has been determined to resolve the idea after becoming doubtful over people’s belief that there is any likeness. Scroll down for video . David Beckham (right) and the family's pet bulldog Coco (left) - but do their eyes look similar? Scientists believe the resemblance between dogs and their owners lies in a similarity in the eye shape . Do you think Simon Cowell (left) resemblances one half of his pet dog duo Diddly and Sqiddly? New research says that there is evidence strangers can identify dogs and their owners in 80 per cent of instances . He took pictures of dogs and their owners at a ‘dog lovers field festival’ before asking 502 students to look at two sets of test sheets of the 20 dog-owner pairs with their faces side by side – one sheet was a real pair while other was fake. They were also put into four different ‘masking’ situations where they were shown either the entire face or versions that had certain features covered, for example the eyes or the mouth. Participants were simply asked ‘choose the dog-owner pairs that physically resemble each other’. In the trial showing the full face, 80 per cent picked the correct pairing. The group that was only shown the dogs and owners with a panel covering the mouth scored 73 per cent. But most surprisingly 40 students of the group of 50 (74 per cent) that were shown only the eyes still correctly guessed the dog-owner pair. Nakajima, who has done previous research into the same subject, was so surprised by their ability to do this by only seeing the eye regions that he ran the same experiment on a fresh group of students - and they scored even higher with 42 of the 55 (76 per cent) choosing the right image set. However, the group that was shown the faces with the eye region covered only scored a chance level of around 50 per cent – strongly suggesting that the resemblance is in the eyes. Elle Macpherson (left) and her pet Labradoodle Bella - who followed in her owners foosteps and landed her own modelling contract . Does Andy Murray look like his dog Maggie? Some may so after the report was published by Japanese psychologist Sadahiko Nakajima where he showed participants strangers and their dogs and most got it right . Does the Duchess of Cambridge (left) look anything like her pet black Cocker Spaniel Lupo? Participants in the most recent study ruled out that things like hairstyles were not a feature that mattered in resemblance . The report published in journal Anthrozoös also ruled out the possibility of features such as hairstyles or similarity in obesity make any difference. However in previous research by Stanley Coren, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of British Columbia, he found that when women were shown portraits of dogs and asked how friendly and loyal they looked, they would favour the ones that shared similar hairstyles. His findings showed that people with long hair covering their ears would give higher scores to springer spaniels and those with short hair and visible ears were more generous in their rating of the ‘cock-eared’ Siberian Husky. But Professor Coren has said these most recent findings could support his own research into the resemblance debate. He told The Times: ‘There's a phenomenon in psychology called the ‘mere exposure' effect. ‘If you see something a lot, you tend to develop affection for it. One of the things we see all the time is our own face.’ ‘There is a remarkable amount of variety in eye shape. You have the big round eyes of the spaniel, almond-eyed retrievers and gorgeous human shaped eyes on whippets.’ Elton John (left) is often spotted out and about on the red carpet with his pet Cocker Spaniel Arthur (right) who was 'best man' at his wedding to David Furnish in May . Sienna Miller (right) has two dogs - mixed breed Porgy and Bess (left) who she is often spotted out walking . President Barack Obama with his family's Portugese water dog who is held on a lead by daughter Malia . Famous pairing Ashley and Pudsey, who won Britain's Got Talent in 2012 - and the dog even has his own movie .
their pets and it’s a subject that has left is in the eyes. Japanese psychologist Sadahiko and Sqiddly? New research says that there is owners in 80 per cent of instances . He took Participants were simply asked ‘choose the correctly guessed the dog-owner pair. Nakajima, features such as hairstyles or similarity in obesity make any difference. However in previous