If the owner pays attention to a potential «competitor»,dogs can demonstrate real jealous behavior.
It is believed that a sense of jealousy is impossible without a high level of self-awareness.All this sounds too «humane»,but dog owners often notice that their pets are able to behave extremely jealously if the owner pays too much attention to another animal.That was reported by scientists i an article published in the journal Psychological Science.
Amalia Bastos and her colleagues from the University of Auckland in New Zealand conducted experiment with 18 domestic dos,putting them in a situation that causes a lack of love on the part of the owner.The animals were shown a scene in which the owner caressed another dog,or a fluffy fleece cylinder.Then the barrier was lowered between them and the first dog.At the sight of a «competitor»,the animals rushed at him with much more force than when they saw an «enemy» with soft and clearly inanimate toy.
According to the authors of the study,this behavior carries thee key signs of jealousy.It manifested itself only in the interaction of the owner with a potential social competitor,but not with an inanimate object:it was a direct consequence of this interaction,and not the simple presence of a competitor nearby.Finally,it continued if the interaction took place out of line of sight.
