14/04/2021
New study published in Psychological Science found that dogs show signs of jealously even when they can't see their rival.
Although most dog owners believe their dogs get jealous, scientists are cautious in recognising this emotion in dogs. Because it is associated with self-awareness, some doubt dogs can think with this level of sophistication.
In the study, 18 dogs watched their human next to a realistic fake dog (fake to keep things constant between trials). A barrier was moved in front of the fake dog so it could no longer be seen. The dog's human then interacted with the fake dog, petting it and talking to it kindly.
The watching dog was tethered and a force meter was used to measure the force with which the dog pulled. Pulling on the leash indicates a 'desire to approach', which is recognised as a jealous behaviour in children.
In the second part of the experiment, a fleece cylinder was used instead of a fake dog to act as a control. The fake dog was left in view for this part to test if the mere presence of a potential rival triggered jealous behaviour.
Dogs pulled with much greater force when their human appeared to be interacting with a dog rather than an inanimate object (the fleece cylinder).
The results of the experiment provide 3 pieces of evidence that dogs behave in a human-like jealous way. 1: they had a strong desire to approach when their human interacted with a perceived rival, not an inanimate object. 2: this desire only emerged when there was an interaction, not when the rival was merely present. 3: it happened even when the rival was out of sight.
This is the first evidence that dogs can make a mental picture of a jealousy-inducing social interaction.
Do you think dogs feel jealousy? What does your dog do when they are feeling jealous?
Paper: Dogs Mentally Represent Jealousy-Inducing Social Interactions - Psychological Science, April 2021
Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797620979149 #
