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Dogs show jealous behaviour even in imagined social situations – study finds
"These results support claims that dogs display jealous behaviour." Amalia Bastos, lead author.

Researchers gauged dogs' reactions when owners gave attention to a perceived rival.

New research from the University of Auckland has bolstered theories that dogs act jealously when their owners give attention to another dog, even when that other dog is out-of-sight.

In the past surveys have shown that more than 80 per cent of dog owners report observing jealous behaviours from their dog, including vocalizations, agitated behaviour and lead-pulling, when they give attention to other dogs.

The new research, published in Psychological Science, used a highly realistic artificial dog to show that dogs exhibit these behaviours even when simply imagining a situation where their owner is interacting with a perceived rival dog.

In the experiment, 18 dogs were shown the fake-dog rival positioned next to their owner. Then a barrier was placed between the dog and the potential rival. Despite the rival being obscured from view, the dogs demonstrated great efforts to reach their owners when they appeared to stroke the rival fake dog behind the barrier.

The experiment was then repeated using a fleece cylinder, rather than an artificial dog. In this instance, the dogs were far less forceful in their efforts to get to their owner.

Amalia Bastos, lead author said: “These results support claims that dogs display jealous behaviour. They also provide the first evidence that dogs can mentally represent jealousy-inducing social interactions.

“Previous studies confounded jealous behaviour with play, interest, or aggression, because they never tested the dogs’ reactions to the owner and the social rival being present in the same room but not interacting.”

She continued: “There is still plenty of work to do to establish the extent of the similarities between the minds of humans and other animals, especially in terms of understanding the nature of nonhuman animals’ emotional experiences.

“It is too early to say whether dogs experience jealousy as we do, but it is now clear that they react to jealousy-inducing situations, even if these occur out-of-sight.”

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RUMA CA&E extends survey deadline

News Story 1
 RUMA CA&E has extended the deadline for its online survey into vaccine availability.

Vets, SQPs, retailers and wholesalers will now have until Friday, 26 September at 5pm to submit their response.

The survey aims to further understanding into the vaccine supply challenges faced by the sector. It will also consider the short and long term impacts of disruption issues.

Insights are anonymous, and will be shared with industry stakeholders and government bodies.

The survey can be accessed here

Click here for more...
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BSAVA publishes Guide to Nutrition in Small Animal Practice

The BSAVA has added a small animal nutrition advice booklet to its series of BSAVA guides.

The BSAVA Guide to Nutrition in Small Animal Practice offers a resource for veterinary professionals to provide appropriate nutrition for animals. As well as maintaining the wellbeing of healthy pets, the guide explores how nutritional requirements change in times of illness and disease.

The guide is divided into five sections, which explore the importance of nutritional assessment; diet types; feeding at different life stages; feeding for specific situations; and feeding for specific diseases. Online resources are also in the BSAVA Library including client handouts and videos.

It is designed to be suitable for referencing, in-depth case planning and team training sessions.

The BSAVA Guide to Nutrition in Small Animal Practice can be purchased online from the BSAVA store.