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Dog lovers have known since time began that pets get jealous, but now a new study has shown that it is true. A professor the University California conducted research into what makes dogs jealous. Dr Christine Harris first decided to investigate canine jealousy she noticed strange behaviour her parents' three border collies. She noticed that when she stroked two the pooches the same time, they became aggressive towards each other. Both dogs tried to knock her hand away the other so they could receive maximum attention. She said: "To me, that really fit the core motivation jealousy….I was petting them both my hands, not just one. They wanted exclusive attention. That got me to thinking jealousy dogs."

Professor Harris adapted a jealousy test commonly used young children. Her research team conducted tests 36 different dogs their homes and videoed their reactions. The dogs' owner had to read a short passage a book while petting a toy dog that wagged its tail and a Halloween lantern. Harris wanted to see how the dogs reacted their owner petting the toy dog, as well as looking if they had any reaction to the petting the lantern. She noticed that the dogs were twice as likely to be jealous the toy dog. A third the dogs tried to muscle in between the toy and its owner. Professor Harris thinks it is important to understand jealousy more. She said: "Jealousy is the third-leading cause non-accidental homicide cultures."