Dogs may have been man’s best friend — and treated as such— since the earliest days of domestication.

According to a study published recently in the Journal of Archaeological Science, prehistoric people likely cared for a sick puppy for weeks before it died, suggesting an emotional attachment to the animal.

In 1914, workers uncovered a grave at Oberkassel, today a suburb of Bonn, Germany. The remains — a dog, a man, and woman, along with several decorated objects made from antler, bone, and teeth — date back to the Paleolithic era, around 14,000 years ago.

It is the oldest known grave where humans and dogs were buried together and provides some of the earliest evidence of domestication.

Now, new analyses show this puppy