A
recent study was published last week in PLOS ONE in an attempt to show
something that dog owners have known for years.
Our dogs get jealous when we share our attention. The study observed 36 dogs as their owners
ignored them and interacted with three different objects. In one study, they used a stuffed dog that
could briefly bark, whine, and wag its tail, a jack-o-lantern pail, and a
pop-up storybook.
When
the dog's owner gave all of their attention to the stuffed dog, their dog tried
to push itself in between the stuffed dog and/or touch its owner. A small percentage showed jealousy when the
owner talked to the jack-o-lantern. They
showed little concern to the pop-up storybook.
Researchers
state this is not definitive proof that our dogs have the ability to feel
jealousy. It is sometimes hard for
scientific minds to accept the fact that dogs have real feelings. From a dog mom’s point of view, I have zero
doubt that Bentley and Pierre both feel and display jealousy.
In
this photo, I am giving hugs and kisses to Bentley. Pierre observes intently when Bentley sits up for a
belly scratch.
Pierre
jumped on my lap to get his own hugs and kisses. You can see Bentley leaving his upright
position to lean into me and prevent Pierre from getting my love. Jealous dogs!
Resources:
Thanks
to Sugar the Golden
Retriever and Dachshund Nola for hosting Black and White Sunday’s blog
hop. Hop by to see them along with today’s other B & W blogs.
I get real jealous when my momma pets Finley - I don't mind when she's paying attenshun to da kitties.
ReplyDeleteWhy you gotta make my baby jealous like that?! Lol just kidding :) he loves his Gramma and Bentley (and especially his Papaw!)
ReplyDeleteLOL that last pic says it all. Have a serene Sunday and get in some big easy today.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Molly
Oohh I am a little jealous myself if Vaks is too close to dad :-)
ReplyDeletewe just shook our heads and laughed when we saw this on the news - ANYONE who has ever had a dog in their lives KNOWS they get jealous, just as they can get happy, sad, depressed, annoyed and angry. Can't believe they wasted money researching this
ReplyDeleteWe so agree with that. We only have one dog and many cats and the dog does get jealous when the cats get attention. Dogs and cats very definitely have feelings. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, I am a jealous dog. I get pretty steamed when Bailie or Katie get a lot of attention and I am left out. I like to be the center of attention, and especially if it is Mom giving out the loving!
ReplyDeleteWhen there were two big dogs here they always shared everything, including all of the attention. They were very close sisters.
ReplyDeletethat is normal I think,even Speedy gets jealous of his dad at times,xx Rachel
ReplyDeleteWe ALWAYS joke about how jealous Dakota is! Whenever we say Cody's name in a loving manner, or call Cody to come to us, Dakota ALWAYS has to butt in (literally) and get in our face showering us with kisses. He is shameless! lol. Cody, could care less........cats don't grovel lol
ReplyDeleteNot too long ago scientists thought that dogs had no emotions, only instincts. The more they study dogs, the smarter the scientists get. I'd love to have one of those jobs where we prove "scientifically" what dog owners have known about dogs from the beginning of our relationship with them, back when humans lived in caves and dogs ate our garbage.They have taken on so many human characteristics.
ReplyDeleteI'd be jealous too if you weren't giving me hugs and cuddles, MK!
ReplyDeleteI read about this in the New York Times. Simply put: dogs want attention when other dogs in their family/pack are getting attention. Whether you call it jealousy or not, it's an easily observed behavior in any family with more than one dog.
ReplyDelete--Wags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats
We sort of have this issue too. Everybody we meet wants to pet me cuz I am gentle and Stanley gets jealous fast cuz he is going "wild wif joy" and it is harder for people to pet him.
ReplyDeleteYour pals,
Murphy & Stanley
Soooooo cute! Look at that litle chubby butt! They love their momma!
ReplyDeleteThese photos are fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteGreat experiment. Who needs those scientists when you have Pierre and Bentley.
ReplyDeleteAH Melissa, you are so right! It makes me laugh when they do these 'studies' and they probably spend thousands when a simple survey of dog owners (and we wouldn't be hard to find would we? since we all love talking about our pups!) would have given them the exact same results!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pictures as always, that's pretty much what it goes like in our house too!
Hugs Carrie and pups x
P.S. We have invited you along to the Writing Process Tour on our blog today, we thought it would be right up your street! :) http://pawedblog.wordpress.com/2014/07/27/black-white-sunday-my-writing-process-blog-tour/
Oh, you are so right, pawedblog! I have three shelties and a boxer. Colin, the colour-headed white, sleeps on the bed with me and the other two shelties. He gets along with them because they are very standoffish, don't want to come around for pets. But HiJinx? She walks in the bedroom door and Colin rushes to the foot, growling like a maniac! I have to hold him to me while HiJinx gets settled at my other side. It pisses him off to no end that Jinxy gets to sleep on the bed. He is fine with her when she is away from me, but if she gets close to me, he rushes her. Little jerk! Jealous as can be!
ReplyDeleteTHis is a pretty easy experiment to perform at home, isn't it.
ReplyDeleteAny dog owner knows that dogs feel jealousy. We see it all the time! ;)
ReplyDeleteHmmm... I will be curious to see if Cello and Hooch do this!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, and in certain felines, too! (yes, Faraday, YOU. ha!)
ReplyDeleteMr. N totally gets jealous. He's not aggressive about it but if I was paying attention to Onyxx, he'd plot how he could steal the spotlight.
ReplyDeleteThey love their momma! My dogs are definitely jealous.
ReplyDeleteAwwwww!!!!! I love those photos!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely adorable! My huskies DEFINITELY get jealous! Especially Koda, him being the youngest, still wants my 100% attention always! Any time I pet one of the other ones, he instantly comes up and nudges his way in between.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
There is no doubt in my mind, I don't know why they needed a scientific experiment for this!! The only thing I would wonder is whether boys or girls are more jealous, or if it's about the same. Our golden Moses was very jealous, and now Luke is too. When anyone is hugging or kissing, Luke has to get in between them! Not just the other dogs, he does it to me and my hubby as well!
ReplyDeleteOur house is surrounded in jealousy!! BOL!!
ReplyDeleteWe see this in our house...mainly between Dory and Arty. We just do our best t "spread the love".
ReplyDeleteSmileys!
Dory. Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
We shared article links on our FB/G+ page and not surprised on the comments we got. One reason we are hesitant to get another Golden. Love the photos :-) Golden Woofs
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that the green monster lives inside me too.... Think jealous is my middle name... and therefore I'm probably an only child here... fortunately :o)
ReplyDeleteIt blows my mind that we needed a scientific study to prove something that dog owners have know for years! How can you not see that dogs (and cats in my opinion) have feelings? My dogs are attention hogs and get jealous all of the time. Dogs are amazing animals and I don't think a lot of folks realize that. :)
ReplyDeleteYep we have that here too...and even with the cats...I call one of the girls and another will charge up to get to me first..and with the pups the same.and even with the sheep..shows sentient creatures all love attention :) and that cute tushie stretched up is to die for :) hugs Fozziemum xx
ReplyDeletethose were awesome mugging photos. Love them
ReplyDeleteOh yes,, jealousy!!!
ReplyDeletelove
tweedles
The hardest part of having 4 dogs is making sure everyone has enough attention; but I love trying.
ReplyDelete