Scientists Show That Dogs Experience Jealousy
Just a few short years after scientists conclusively proved that dogs have unique personalities–something that every dog lover already knew–a new study has shown that canine temperament is more nuanced than many people suspected.
NPR reported yesterday on a new study that shows dogs have a sense of fairness and experience jealousy. Here is a quote from the story.
Friederike Range, a researcher at the University of Vienna in Austria, and her colleagues did a series of experiments with dogs who knew how to respond to the command “give the paw,” or shake. The dogs were normally happy to repeatedly give the paw, whether they got a reward or not.
But that changed if they saw that another dog was being rewarded with a piece of food, while they received nothing.
“We found that the dogs hesitated significantly longer when obeying the command to give the paw,” the researchers write. The unrewarded dogs eventually stopped cooperating.
Frans de Waal, a scientist at Emory University, was not surprised by the findings. He and colleagues performed research that demonstrated jealousy and a sense of fairness in monkeys.
Dogs, like monkeys, live in cooperative societies, so de Waal was not surprised that they would have also some sense of fairness. He expects other animals do as well. For example, he says, lions hunt cooperatively, and he “would predict that lions would be sensitive to who has done what and what do they get for it.”
The emotional lives of animals are very poorly understood by humans. But it is clear that animal emotions are much more complex than many people had formerly believed.
Thank you to Elizabeth of Washington, DC for alerting me to the article.
Photo: Skye King is ready to shake, treat or no treat.
You have questions. 
De Waal, if I am not mistaken, has performed some fascinating experiments. I believe his team was the first to introduce monetary currency to a group of monkeys. The researchers exchanged tokens for grapes, and the monkeys quickly realized the value of the tokens. However, the experiment was cut short after researchers observed one monkey exchange tokens for sexual favors from another monkey–it was the first scientifically documented case of animal prostitution.
(Source: Steven Levitt, lecture to California Commonwealth Club, c. 2005)
It’s amazing humans have to do “scientific experiments” to find out what most humans living with dogs already know. My Mom knows when she gives one of us a treat, she better give ALL of us a treat or she will get the “LOOK”. Somebody is getting luvvies, all of us want them. This is not something you need a lab to find out. Silly silly humans, of course we know when one of us is getting something that the other isn’t. We’re not blind. Yes and another thing Mom has noticed is that we act up when she is on the phone just like her human children used to. Don’t need to do a study of that though, just take a poll on Dogster. LOL
My 2 shih tzus keep me on my toes trying to show equal attention and loving. The smaller but lead dog. Binky wants all the attention, but if I don’t love on Su Su as much, I’m afraid she won’t feel loved equally. Aren’t we such good parents!
Anyone that has ever owned two dogs knows they can show jealousy. Just pet one more than the other or allow it a bigger treat and you will get the entire picture. It hardly takes a scientific study.
Mardi Gras, my 9 year old standard poodle, allows Magique, my 3 year old labradoodle to cuddle closer to me in bed primarily because that was never her favorite thing to do. But not give them equal attention before settling in for the night and snarling and snapping can occur. Mardi is senior dog and she calls the shots. Magique will frequently look for Mardi’s approval before accepting attention from me.
This made ne think soo much of my two dogs that I have! Carmen, the oldest, is so used to getting ALL the attention bfore squirt, the youngest, came along. So carmen started to get grumpy and nip at squirt and push her away when we were petting her. But now they are best buds! Carmen still gets a little jealous and squirt, well, shes to stupid to kow what jealousy is! LOL!!
This is a wonderful article that I had already known about jealousy, but I was doing vet course over the course of 3 weeks, and out of 48 students, 18 of them knew about jealousy between animals.
Furthermore, my daughter has a maltese poodle/jack russell, and last Friday we found a kitten dumped into our garden. I could tell straight away that jealousy was brooding in Rags eyes’.
I’m just trying to say that I am glad so many people are now going to be able to figure out their pet’s un-realistic behaviour, without paying!
Dr. Jeni Walks
This is a very interesting study. I wonder if some dog breeds are more jealous than others, or whether jealousy is equal among different breeds.
On the link below I’ve posted an article which I feel most definitively explains what the dog/fairness experiment truly reveals. I trust you will find it intriguing, Kevin Behan
http://www.naturaldogtraining.com/articles/do-dogs-have-a-sense-of-fairness/