Do Dogs Really Get Jealous?

We all know our dogs can exhibit feelings such as loneliness or frustration. But can they feel a more complex emotion like jealousy? It is not unusual for humans to assign human feelings to our beloved animals. Could this be the case? A recent study at the University of California San Diego published in PLOS ONE might put us closer to the answer.

Researchers took 36 dogs and videotaped how the dogs reacted as their owners totally ignored them and payed attention instead to toy stuffed animals. More than 75% of the dogs pushed or touched their owner/ pet parents, muzzled their way between them, or growled at the toy, indicating something very much like human jealousy.

This probably comes as no surprise to anyone who has more than one dog, who has ever had their dog try to come between them and their significant other, or had their dog act out when they paid attention to someone else.

While it may take a while for science to delve into the minds of animals, chances are pretty good that they will only confirm what we already know to be true. We share a lot of emotions with our pets. They connect with us, and we with them.

And if the study was in the reverse, it would not come as any surprise that we would be equally jealous if our dogs were choosing the company of someone else over us! 

Is dog jealousy the same as human jealously? Probably not. But I’ll bet it is no less complex.

I guess the moral to this story is if you have two dogs, schedule their groomings on the same day so we at Awesome Doggies can show equal….. totally equal… amounts of love.

Check out our other blog posts for more on dog behavior!