It might be interesting to know that dogs can also feel jealous, but more at a basic level. Researchers from University of California San Diego said the jealously might be the result of protecting social bonds against intruders.

With an aim to study the emotions in canines, researchers carried out an interesting experiment. During the research, scientists observed the behaviour of a dog in a situation where its owner showed affection towards a stuffed dog.

For the study, researchers carried out the experiment on 36 puppies and all were below the age of six months. Researchers noted signs including attention-seeking, interest and aggression towards their owner showing signs of jealousy.

"Our study suggests not only that dogs do engage in what appear to be jealous behaviors but also that they were seeking to break up the connection between the owner and a seeming rival", affirmed Christine Harris, a psychology professor.

After noticing the expressions of the dogs, researchers thought that dogs were trying to protect a social relationship that is important to them. Researchers noted that when owners showed interest in stuffed dogs then only dogs
gave a reaction like touching their owner or pushing the intruder away. But when the owners showed interest in other things like a book or any other object, the canines did not show the signs of jealous behaviour.

It was earlier considered that only humans could have this emotion. The study has been published in the journal PLOS ONE.