Three border collies, from left, Samwise, Arwen and Frodo, inspired emotion researcher Christine Harris to do a study on pet jealousy. Harris is a professor of psychology at the University of California-San Diego.LOS ANGELES – When Shetland sheepdog Maggie comes home from the groomer, her owners praise and pet her shiny coat, much to the chagrin of pit bull Stormy, who will head-butt her until their family cuts out the compliments.
“Stormy’s jealous,” said owner Amy Putnam, who lives 45 miles east of Los Angeles. “You know how you’re supposed to treat your kids the same? Well, that goes for dogs, too. They get along great and go with the flow until one thinks she is being slighted.”
After hearing stories like Putnam’s, a psychology professor decided to study for the first time whether the human emotion of jealousy really happens in dogs. The nine-month study published in July in the science journal PLOS ONE hints that it could be possible, but other experts aren’t so sure behavior like Stormy’s can be called jealousy.
“While I will not say that dogs do not experience jealousy, this article does not prove that they actually do,” said Dr. Bonnie Beaver, executive director of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists and a professor at Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Beaver also insists dogs lack shame. Despite what people think, the guilty look — head cowered, ears back, eyes droopy — is a reaction to people throwing tantrums over chewed-up shoes and accidents on the carpet, she said.