That our canine companions can get jealous is not a new finding. As back as 1871 a figure no less than Charles Darwin wrote about it. However, it wasn't scientifically proven that because of lack of proper investigation methods. But more recently the scientists found out that dogs can actually feel jealous just like human beings. The research was conducted by scientists at San Diego.

Now it is proven, Scientifically…..

To cut long story short, 36 dog owners took an animated toy dog and played with it while their own pet dogs were nearby. It was observed that the dog’s reactions showed clear signs of jealousy. They did everything to seek their owners' attention: barking, biting, and even pushing at owner or the toy.

The personal experience

A dog owner Harris from America is more vocal about the jealousy in dog. She visited her parents who have adopted 3 border collies.

When Harris started patting two dogs, they kept on knocking her hands off the other dog so that she could pat each one with both her hands, not just one. "Each of them needed exclusive attention." For them patting with hands means love and they would not settle at "half love" (patting with one hand) but were vying for full love (patting with both the hands).

They can get jealous of each other

In one more experiment Friederike Range asked two dogs to perform same task individually but at the end of task only one dog was rewarded while the other was simply ignored. After a few repetitions the dog who was not rewarded stopped obeying the command. That shows that he grew jealous of his companion getting rewarded while he was being simply ignored. That also proves that dogs do feel jealousy.

How to handle dog Jealousy

Here are a few effective ways of handling Dog Jealousy. If you have recently adopted another canine companion and observe that the old companion is growing jealous of it here are several effective ways of tackling the situation:

Is it jealousy or misrepresentation of excitement?

Many times the dogs get so much excited at the presence of another dog that they just do not know how to express their excitement. In many such cases the entire excitement is directed towards the dog or the owner. So in some cases the "expression" that may look like jealousy is actually a misrepresentation of excitement. So the very first requirement is to hire a dog behavior expert to confirm whether your dog is jealous of the other dog's presence or it’s just a case of misrepresented excitement. The dog behavioral expert will not only help your dog to express his excitement in the right way but will also advice you about the role you can play in the entire scenario.

Are you more obsessed with the new member?

Dogs do have individual personalities. Your new dog might be more charming, more agile and smart enough to keep you completely engrossed. However, that does not mean that you should give him more attention than your old dog. Do not give an unreasonable importance to any one dog. It will engender a legitimate reason for jealousy and you, not the dog, will be responsible for the same.

Are you rewarding them for acting obstinate?

Some most widely used tactics by the dogs to get your attention involve pushing at you, barking or even chewing your clothes. Never reward such dogs with your instant attention. If you will do, that simply sends a message to your dog "Violent expressions for instant attention". Hence this way you will spoil your dog. It is advisable to ignore the excited dog and let him cool down first. As soon he could cools down, reward him with the attention. I will send a message that being excited or violent will not win it your attention, being calm certainly will.

Have you altered its routine?

One of the major reasons for your dog's excited or a bit violent reaction is change in routine. Dogs love a disciplined life. If you take them for morning walks regularly without fail or play ball with it during the evening but after adopting new dog, you stopped getting the sufficient time to keep up that routine it will irate the dog and result in mildly violent eruptions that might be a way to claim your attention. So even in case you are not able to maintain a particular routine, you should not abruptly force your dog to comply. Rather you should allow him the time to wean out of it.

Are you sharing the resources equally (we are not talking of bones only!)