Jealousy

[angelicfruitcake]

I have owned Lola for a year, and most of that time I have been single and living alone...just me and her. But I have had a boyfriend for about 4 months now, and she HATES us getting too close.

When we're sat on the sofa together, she'll come over and start barking. I've tried ignoring her but I need to be careful because the neighbours complain...plus it doesn't seem to work. She usually stops if we allow her up onto the sofa, but sometimes she still makes little woofs just sat there!

She gets worse if we actually kiss etc. He takes her for walks regularly, feeds her and plays with her, and I have tried making lots of fuss of her but I'm not sure if I am inadvertantly re-enforcing this behaviour.

She has her own bed and I have tried praising her and giving her treats when she is sat there quietly. At night she is quite happy to stay in the living room on her own.

Some help would be great!

 

[Dekka]

Its not jealousy.. dogs don't get jealous. It could be that she feels uncomforable with you two so close. I often hear of JRTs who don't like their owners kissing. It seems to much like 'fighting'. Part of it could be resource guarding (as in guarding you).

My suggestion would be to calmly put her in another room for a time out when she does it. It means you will have a lot of 'up and down' time though lol. So a few min time out everytime she does it. I would NOT make a huge fuss of her in the situation where she barks at you (feel free to make huge fuss of her at all other times though ).

You could also try giving her a busy toy or a chewie in the evenings to give her somethign else to think about..

 

[angelicfruitcake]

Ooops, my fault for anthropomorphising (sp?!) there! Thanks, will give it a try

 

[Doberluv]

Oh I think dogs feel something akin to our kind of jealousy. I think dogs share many of our kinds of emotions, albeit a little different. When one dog is getting oodles of attention and the other one whines or wants to get in on it, that's jealousy. It's wanting that attention he's seeing the other dog get to be given to him. It probably isn't as complex a thought process as we experience. But I do think they have their own brand of jealousy among many other emotions.

Here are a couple of interesting articles on the subject:

Jilted dogs feel intense jealousy, new study reveals

Dogs can be jealous, say scientists - Telegraph

 

[aussiemyf7]

Yes, I too think dogs can be jealous.
They can feel love, hurt, happiness, why not jealousy?
I would just put her in another room with toys and some treats.
Keep her busy.

 

[Doberluv]

When we're sat on the sofa together, she'll come over and start barking. I've tried ignoring her but I need to be careful because the neighbours complain...plus it doesn't seem to work. She usually stops if we allow her up onto the sofa, but sometimes she still makes little woofs just sat there!

What you can do too, is when she gets pushy/barky, immediately get up off the couch and walk into another room and close the door, leaving her out for just 30 seconds or so and return to what you were doing on the couch. Repeat as needed. When she is quiet and not pushy...even for a couple of seconds, reward her. Try to not make her wait too long. Catch it before she starts and reward her quietness. Show her that non-pushy, non-barky behavior will get her what she wants. "Reward pushy and you'll get puhsy." I think Ian Dunbar said that. You'll have to be VERY consistent and immediate with the consequences in order for her to eventually make the connection. Your timing is everthing, both with the getting up and walking away and with the reward you give for her good behavior. Use treats and affection. It won't happen right away so keep it up.

 

[angelicfruitcake]

Thanks guys! I will try that too, Doberluv

Interesting reading as well!