“Saw you petting the neighbor’s dog. Want to tell me what that’s about?” Did your pooch ever give that look of jealousy when your attention was divided? Pet parents may have experienced jealousy in dogs at least once during their companionship. Though there were no scientific proofs to this release of emotion in dogs, Charles Darwin had noted it before years that dogs do get jealous when his master shows affection for any other creature.
There have been many debates among scientists regarding a dog’s jealousy and since then, several experiments have been conducted. According to the researchers of the University of California, canines are capable of showing jealousy just like the humans do.
According to the study…
The prime or may be the only one reason of jealousy in dogs is the attention given to any other creature. Yes, they will react strongly to your talking to the child or other pet than simply not paying attention.
The University of California conducted an adapted test for six month old babies to observe the reaction of 36 dogs in their own homes. Three scenarios were used to observe jealousy in pooches, one while talking to a faux dog that could bark or wag his tail, second while talking to a bucket with a Halloween design and third while reading a book aloud that played tunes.
The canines were filmed for their aggressive behavior during this study. Most of the dogs were observed to be pushing or touching their parents strongly for seeking their attention while they were petting the false dog. Half of the dogs from the positives of first scenario were seen to be touching their parents when they would talk to the bucket. And, even fewer were affected by the reading scenario. Prof. Harris concluded, “We can’t really speak to the dogs’ subjective experiences, of course, but it looks as though they were motivated to protect an important social relationship.”
So, the prime reason of the jealousy in your furry friend is your divided attention, which is normal. Pooches are smarter than we think and tend to get jealous at reasonable events like you petting some other dog or maybe even your own child. They do not seem to notice when you are involved in some less relational aspect like reading a book and may not seek your attention constantly.
All in all, canines are just as susceptible to jealousy as humans are. So, try to handle their insecurities with love and making them feel that they too are special may help reduce this feeling in them.
