Dogs get jealous just imagining owner with other dog - study

[FfFfFfFF 58,133]

To the surprise of no dog owner anywhere, a new study finds that dogs get jealous.

You may know the feeling when you’re out on a walk and stop to pet another pooch. Your dog may bark or whine, or even come in between you and the offending canine.

New research published in the journal Psychological Science finds that dogs exhibit these types of jealous behaviors even when they only imagine their owner is interacting with another dog.1 In the case of this study, the perceived rival was an artificial dog.

For the study, researchers set up an experiment where 18 dogs imagined their owners interacting with either a realistic-looking stuffed dog or a similarly sized fleece-covered cylinder that looked nothing like a dog. The fake dog played the role of a potential rival while the cylinder was a control.1

First, the dogs watched the stuffed dog next to their owner. Then, a barrier was placed between the dog and the stuffed animal so they could no longer see the potential rival. The dogs pulled strongly on their leashes when their owners appeared to be petting the fake dog behind the barrier. In a second experiment, the dogs pulled on the leashes with less force when the owners appeared to be petting the fleece cylinder.1 

“We developed a novel methodology whereby we could directly measure the amount of force a dog used to pull on its lead,” Bastos explains. “This provided the first easily quantifiable, objective measure of how strongly dogs attempt to approach a jealousy-inducing interaction between their owner and a social rival.”

This is called the “approach response” as the dog tries to get closer to the owner and the potential rival. It’s also how babies and kids respond when they are jealous, Bastos says.

Researchers were able to measure the actual strength of the approach response rather than relying on inconsistent behaviors like barking, whining, growling, or attempting to bite, which would vary among dogs.

https://www.treehugger.com/dog-gets-jealous-imagining-you-with-another-canine-5176457

[GooberChill 456]

My dog gets VERY jealous if I even pet another dog. Last time I did he screamed bloody murder, ran under my bed, and started whining.

Because he's a good buy I went to get him, gave him cuddles, and put on a show.

[Alannah 2,988]

Same. 

[Chic 20,830]

There’s a reason they’re human’s best friend! 

[Mother of Puppies 36,615]

My dog gets super jealous when I pet our cats... as soon as the cat walks towards me, he overtakes her and jumps on my lap before the cat can, because he's so jealous.

[PartySick 172,545]

My coworker and I take our dogs on hikes. If I dare to pet her dog, mine just looks at me with this "wtf " face until I stop

[ANTI WP 19,828]

24 minutes ago, PartySick said:

My coworker and I take our dogs on hikes. If I dare to pet her dog, mine just looks at me with this "wtf " face until I stop

That is not very Born this way of her 

[GucciGa 3,729]

Yes. My dog is jealous of my new puppy. He could be asleep and as soon as I start giving the pup attention he is all over me. 

[Guest]

not this being me in when I was thinking of getting tattooed 'heart of a dog' ... 

Spoiler

 

 

[pussycat 3,514]

Ugh i can relate 

[Stephen 30,433]

Aww 

[INNA 3,788]

[Kadikaado 4,302]

lol My dogs are jealous of each other, they are sisters and they often fight out of jealousy. If one of the dogs enter the house the other one in the backyard growls at them when they leave the house.

[River 127,556]

My dog is friendly with every single dog up to the moment I pet them, then they are the worst enemy for him

Once I fell down because he literally pushed my legs away like bitch no you're mine bang down