DO DOGS GET JEALOUS?

By Wednesday, February 23, 2022 4 No tags Permalink

Do dogs get jealous? This inquiring mind wants to know!…

I often hear people at the hospital tell me (as they’re playing with Jaxson) that their dog is going to be – sooooooo jealous…

…when they get home.

Last week, my Podcast partner posted this on #thebookoftheface…

Busted… I went to visit friends and my friends have dogs. And a few of our other friends were there…with their dogs. I got the sniff down when I came home and Apollo has been my shadow all evening… 

MYTH OR REALITY? – 

So which is it, myth or reality? Do our dogs have the ability and/or intellect to become jealous when we spend time with other dogs?

First let’s understand what our dogs are thinking.

Jealousy is a combination of love, fear and frustration of our dogs perspective and his past experiences of sharing you will effect his behavior in the future.

What’s My Dog Thinking

Harley was extremely jealous towards Jaxson the puppy. He was okay with sharing toys, treats, and any other human – but not me. Harley did not like for Jaxson to cuddle up to me at all.

Doodle Doc made sure – that while I thought this was flattering – it was really a sign of Harley’s insecurity about losing my attention and he was desperately trying to control Jaxson’s access to me. 

I wish I knew then about the Function Formula.

WHAT’S THE FUNCTION FORMULA?  

Humans look at the things they do as either right or wrong.

Our canine companions only want to know if what they do is useful to their survival or not.

Understanding the function helps you figure out what’s really going on.

Keep in mind though –

Our dog’s behavior isn’t good or bad – it just …is!

Check out this function formula below …

Now let’s apply this to Harley’s puppy jealousy game –

  1. How often does the behavior happen?every time Jaxson wanted some attention
  2. What are the circumstances?New puppy in Harley’s world – and no one asked him!
  3. What happened just before the behavior?Harley would approach us being very pushy
  4. What are (were) the consequences – what does (did) the dog gain/avoid?Jaxson would retreat and/or flee allowing Harley to move in for the attention, which I gave him.

OMDoodle, typing this makes me think of myself as such a stupid gullible pet parent back then.

NOW THAT I KNOW – 

Let us go back to the beginning of this post – do dogs get jealous if we are around other dogs?

AbsoDOODLEtutely!

Research has supported what many dog owners firmly believe – dogs exhibit jealous behavior when their human companion interacts with a potential rival.

Psychologist Amalia Bastos
YouTube player
Dogs mentally represent jealousy-inducing social interactions

Dog jealousy is real ya’ll –

Whether your dog’s jealous streaks are mild (because you’ve been around another dog) or major (bringing another pet into the home), understanding –

  • what causes the behavior some experts say boredom and a ploy for attention from us humans
  • the signsaggression, potty accidents in the house, being clingy, trying to fight other pets, crowding your space, leaving the room
  • how to stop the behaviorbe it time with you, toys, treats, food, fun, etc….

– can be the first step towards helping your pup with this behavior. #ifyouwantto

ONE MORE THING –

In case you’re wondering…

All on his own, Harley quickly figured out that Jaxson wasn’t going anywhere. I made it a point to make Harley my go-to pup for everything. He was greeted first, leashed first, his dish was even plated first, #yougettheidea and he seemed to enjoy his rightful place as King of Doodleville.

Interesting enough, Jax started to look at him as if he was the King too! #gofigure

Neither one of the Boys ever show signs of jealousy when I come home from work. As a therapy dog coordinator, I interact with multiple dogs each day yet they both seem pretty cool about it.

Dogs are the heartbeat at our feet ❤️

AFFILIATE LINK DISCLOSURE: Cathy C. Bennett is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

4 Comments
  • Tails Around the Ranch
    February 24, 2022

    Jealousy has become a bit of an issue since Norman joined the pack. Elsa (my puppy mill survivor/standard poodle) never bothered Sam but when Norman joined, she began demonstrating lots of bullying tactics whenever he was close at hand. Outweighing her by a good 20 pounds, he could clearly put her in her place but avoids all conflict, preferring to retreat. When he becomes jealous of her, he barks (and it’s that very loud bark of your typical OES!) at me so I’m having to put my thinking cap on sorting these two knuckleheads out. When I began pet therapy I never thought I’d have to be a dog therapist!

    • Cathy Bennett
      March 16, 2022

      Anyone with more than one dog is a therapist in my book 🙂 Harley was a hot mess when it came to Jaxson. I think age also plays a factor – most older dogs just don’t have the patience and in the beginning I think they resent the fact that we’ve brought this energizer puppy into the house.

  • Samantha Sebastiani
    March 15, 2022

    An interesting observation, I find that my youngest dog Hollie often will make a situation where she wants either me or my husband to be jealous of her time, we find it amusing but it’s very clear when she does it that she wants us to both want her attention, as a way to get more attention maybe? Feel a little bit more secure about her position in our family? Some would say that we are putting our human emotions onto our dogs, I’m not sure – but for what other reason would she deliberately choose to snuggle with me, my husband or even our other dog Ivy and watch us for of r reaction? ☺️

    • Cathy Bennett
      March 16, 2022

      Hi Samantha – I am a firm believer that dogs do have emotions similar to ours. Perhaps your pup wants to know who loves him more. Super interesting theory. Thanks so much for stopping by, please come again soon!