A dog really is a man’s or woman’s best friend when it comes to finding love, according to a new study.

Pet Wingman, carried out by Webbox, reveals that singletons can increase their chances of finding their perfect match by 117% if they use their pet dog to help them do it.

On average, men receive 38% more swipes on Tinder and Bumble if their profile picture features a dog, whereas women can see a massive 69% increase by adopting the same tactic.

The study followed a man and woman as they used the two dating apps for a period of two weeks. The first week, they used a single profile picture of themselves on both platforms and swiped right 100 times. For the second week, they included their four-legged friend in the photo and used the exact same tactic, then recorded the results.

Potential partners unanimously favoured the dogs being in their photo for both men and women. The male candidate Dan, 24, saw the number of matches (30%) and Super Likes (200%) increase across Tinder, with a significant jump in messages (75%) and even some messages specifically about his dog Ted.

The female candidate Gemma, 35, saw a massive jump in the number of matches (117%) and Super Likes (100%) on Tinder, with another major increase in messages (150%) and also messages directly about her dog, Ralph.

It was a similar story on Bumble, with Dan seeing an increase in matches (42%) and messages (40%), and more than a third of his matches commenting on Ted.

Gemma also received more matches (22%) and Super Swipes (100%) on Bumble when Ralph was in her profile photo. As girls have to message first on Bumble, that statistic wasn't counted for Gemma.

Both singletons found that their pet dogs played a major role in helping them to find potential suitors, with Gemma even going on a date with another dog owner after striking up a conversation about their canine companions.

The Manchester-based actress and presenter said: “Ralph really is my pet wingman! Not only did he help me secure more matches, I couldn’t believe how many times he was mentioned in messages.

“I also found that it was a good conversation starter, particularly for men who had dogs themselves, as it instantly gives you some common ground. I’ve already been on a date with a fellow dog owner so watch this space!”

Dan said one of the most frequent messages he received was that having a dog makes a man seem more approachable and easier to relate to.

The ecommerce manager from West Yorkshire said: “Ted has been the star of the show - I think some women actually swiped right more for him than me! It’s so much better to start a conversation with ‘your dog is so cute’ rather than a standard ‘hey’ or ‘hello’.

“Although I’m still single, it’s showed me that there are some lovely people out there. Who knows - the next date time I go on a first date we could swap a drink in a bar for a dog walk!”

To view the results of Pet Wingman and see how much your four-legged friend could contribute to your love life, visit: https://www.webbox.co.uk/pet-wingman/.