Dogs Act Jealously Even When They Don't See Their Rival
Published:14 Apr.2021    Source:Association for Psychological Science

Past surveys have shown that more than 80% of dog owners report observing jealous behaviors from their dogs -- vocalizations, agitated behavior, pulling on a leash -- when they give attention to other dogs. New research published in the journal Psychological Science supports these observations and finds that dogs also exhibit jealous behaviors when they merely imagine that their owner is interacting with a potential rival, in this case, a highly realistic artificial dog.

 
"Research has supported what many dog owners firmly believe -- dogs exhibit jealous behavior when their human companion interacts with a potential rival," said Amalia Bastos with the University of Auckland and lead author on the paper. "We wanted to study this behavior more fully to determine if dogs could, like humans, mentally represent a situation that evoked jealousy."