Can Your Dog Really Get Jealous?

Have you ever noticed your dog pushing their way between you and someone else? Maybe they’ve given you the cold shoulder after you petted another pup. If you’ve dismissed it as coincidence or wishful thinking, hold that thought. Science might just prove what your gut already told you.

For years, researchers debated whether dogs could experience complex emotions like jealousy. Some argued it was just humans projecting their feelings onto their pets. Others wondered if our four-legged companions might share something deeper with us than simple loyalty. Turns out, the answer might surprise you.

What Science Says About Jealousy in Dogs

Research shows that dogs exhibited significantly more jealous behaviors like snapping, getting between the owner and object, and pushing or touching the object or owner when their owners displayed affectionate behaviors towards what appeared to be another dog compared to nonsocial objects. This isn’t just anecdotal observation anymore.

The first experimental test of jealous behaviors in dogs was published by UC San Diego psychology professor Christine Harris and former honors student Caroline Prouvost. These results lend support to the hypothesis that jealousy has some primordial form that exists in human infants and in at least one other social species besides humans. Think about that for a moment. Your dog may be experiencing something fundamentally similar to what human babies feel when a sibling gets attention.

Past surveys have shown that more than 80% of dog owners report observing jealous behaviors from their dogs, including vocalizations, agitated behavior, and pulling on a leash when they give attention to other dogs. The science is finally catching up with what we’ve known all along.

How Researchers Figured This Out

Since there had been no prior experiments on dog jealousy, researchers adapted a test used with 6-month-old human infants and worked with 36 dogs in their own homes. Picture this: owners were instructed to completely ignore their pets while interacting with three different objects.

The owners videotaped themselves ignoring their dogs in favor of a stuffed, animated dog or a jack-o-lantern pail, treating the objects as though they were real dogs by petting them and talking to them sweetly. The results were eye-opening. Dogs were about twice as likely to push or touch the owner when the owner was interacting with the faux dog at 78 percent compared to when the owner was attending to the pail at 42 percent, with even fewer at 22 percent doing this in the book condition.

Here’s where it gets really interesting. Almost all dogs, around 86 percent, sniffed the rear end of the stuffed dog, leading researchers to conclude that the dogs believed the toy was real. They weren’t just confused or bored. They genuinely perceived a rival.

New research published in the journal Psychological Science found that dogs also exhibit jealous behaviors when they merely imagine that their owner is interacting with a potential rival. Even when a barrier blocked their view, dogs still reacted if they believed their owner was petting another dog behind it.

Recognizing Jealousy in Your Own Dog

So what does canine jealousy actually look like in your living room? Dogs specifically tried to get between the owner and the object more often in the jealousy condition. This physical interference is one of the clearest signs.

Indications that your dog is feeling jealousy may include whining or vocalizations when you show affection for another animal or a person, pushing another animal out of the way to get attention for themselves, refusal to obey, and sometimes even signs of depression and a loss of appetite. Some dogs get creative with their protests. They might perform tricks unprompted, desperately trying to reclaim your attention and admiration.

Sometimes, instead of being aggressive towards the person or pet they are jealous of, some dogs take their frustration out on unrelated things like furniture, scratching the rug or chewing items when jealous. Others might withdraw completely. Sometimes dogs can be polite and leave the room when the person or pet that ignites envious feelings enters the room, and withdrawal is a sign that there is a problem in the relationship.

Why Dogs Experience Jealousy

Let’s be real, jealousy isn’t about being petty. The findings support the view that there may be a more basic form of jealousy, which evolved to protect social bonds from interlopers. It’s actually a survival mechanism. The first signs of human jealousy are seen in babies and young children, suggesting both that the emotion may have evolved with siblings competing for parental resources and that humans are wired up for it.

Dogs likely share this evolutionary programming. Most behaviorists agree that doggy jealousy is related to territorial instincts, and when someone new and beloved enters the home, your dog reads your body language and senses how much you like this new person. Jealous-like behaviors in pets typically suggest boredom or a ploy for attention from their owners, and sometimes, just like people, they can feel insecure.

A lack of resources, social conflict, too small of a space, stress, lack of exercise, and genetic disposition can cause jealous behavior. Temperament and life experiences can play a role, with dogs with a cautious temperament being more prone to jealous behaviors, and if dogs had a troubled past with a lack of food, they might not understand that resources are now plentiful and react by protecting what they have.

When Jealousy Becomes a Problem

Initially, a little jealousy might seem harmless or even endearing. While initially it may be cute, jealousy can become a problematic behavior, with jealous dogs potentially biting small children when left unattended, house-soiling becoming unsanitary and costly to manage, and true anxiety disorders potentially developing if a dog’s envy is allowed to take hold. That’s not something to take lightly.

Although jealousy can occur at any time and to any dog, there are certain circumstances which may be more likely to trigger an episode of jealous behavior. New babies, new partners, and new pets are common triggers. Adding a new baby to your family can be a huge cause of jealousy in dogs. The sudden shift in attention can feel devastating to a dog who’s used to being the center of your world.

For many dog owners, this is especially the case when a new significant other enters the picture, and unfortunately, this can often sour the dynamics in a relationship, with 48% of dog owners in a survey saying they would break up with someone they were dating if their dog did not like them. Here’s the thing though: a jealous dog doesn’t have to spell disaster.

What You Can Do to Help Your Jealous Dog

First, you’ll need to reward your dog when they act the way you want them to, and if your dog comes in between you and another person, just ignore them, and if your dog keeps getting in the way, get up and move to another space. Consistency matters more than you might think.

Don’t give one pet more attention than another. Avoid giving too much attention to one pet over another. Feed pets separately to avoid conflict during mealtimes and give your pets the same amount of treats. These practical steps create a sense of fairness that dogs absolutely recognize.

Punishment could make your dog feel more anxious, and they may ramp up their guarding, reactive, or otherwise jealous tendencies, so instead, use positive reinforcement training to teach your dog that sharing is rewarding. Catch your pets being good and give them attention and praise when they are acting calm and not showing jealous behaviors.

Try your best to keep established walks and playtime consistent and aim to feed your dog at the same time each day, and as you include the new baby or significant other in your routine, take care to give your dog plenty of affection to help them feel secure and loved. Routine provides comfort when everything else feels uncertain.

The Bigger Picture

Dogs appear to be one of the few species that might display jealous behaviors in ways similar to a human child showing jealousy when their mother gives affection to another child. That shared emotional landscape tells us something profound about our relationship with dogs. We’re not just cohabiting. We’re genuinely bonded.

Any dog can experience jealousy, and while some breeds may be more likely to have separation anxiety or struggle with the instinct to guard their pet parent like a possession, jealousy is not limited to certain breeds. Your sweet golden retriever and your feisty terrier are equally capable of feeling left out.

It is too early to say whether dogs experience jealousy as we do, but it is now clear that they react to jealousy-inducing situations, even if these occur out-of-sight. The emotional lives of our dogs may be richer and more complex than we ever imagined. They’re not just responding to external cues. They’re forming mental representations of social relationships and threats to those bonds.

Understanding this doesn’t just make us better dog owners. It deepens the connection we share with these remarkable animals who’ve chosen to share their lives with us.

What do you think about it? Have you noticed signs of jealousy in your own dog? Tell us in the comments.