The last time you brought a date over to your place; did your dog act abnormally? Don’t be surprised because your dog is probably jealous. The strong bond that you built between you and your canine can go deeper into creating a love triangle with your significant other.

Prior to recent studies, dogs were previously believed to not harbor emotions like jealousy, embarrassment, empathy, or guilt. This is quite the contrary as Dr. Friederike Range of the University of Vienna’s neurobiology department has found that “dogs feel intense jealousy when they are unfairly treated compared with other dogs.” “Dogs show a strong aversion to inequity.” The study also involved other animals such as cats, horses, cows, and sheep. “They can suffer simple forms of many emotions we once thought only primates could experience,” says Dr. Paul Morris, psychologist at the University of Portsmouth.

Dr. Morris also found that among dog owners, almost all reported jealous behavior. The dog often tried to pry their owner away from a new lover in the early days of a relationship. Behavioral experts think that the best thing to do is keep their dog’s routine as much as possible when a new partner or child comes along to prevent jealous activity by the dog such as barking or whining.