RESEARCH: Dogs Do Have a Sense of Fairness

(CAPTION: Dolly content to gnaw on a big stick!)
Dogs Do Have a Sense of Fairness(as if we dog owners didn't already know it)
FROM CNN: Scientists in England have been studying dogs to determine if they, like chimpanzees, have a sense of fair play, and a wide range of emotions. They do.
Results indicated that dogs appear to experience a range of complex, unpleasant emotions such as jealousy and pride, scientists have discovered.

(CAPTION: Franklin pouting because he can't go outside and chase squirrels)
The research team was led by Paul Morris, a psychologist at the University of Portsmouth, England, who studies animal emotions. Scientists noted that dogs hate to see their owners being affectionate to other dogs and can suffer if a new baby or partner arrives on the scene. To test the theory, Friederike Range and colleagues at the University of Vienna in Austria asked 33 trained dogs to extend a paw to a human.
The animals performed the trick virtually all of the time whether they were given a reward or not -- when alone or with another dog. But the dogs' enthusiasm waned when they saw other dogs being rewarded but received nothing themselves. Dogs that were ignored extended their paws much less often, doing so in only 13 out of 30 trials. They also showed more stress, such as licking or scratching themselves. "They are clearly unhappy with the unfair situation", Range told New Scientist magazine. She also suspects that this sensitivity might stretch beyond food to more abstract things like praise and attention. "It might explain why some dogs react with 'new baby envy' when their owners have a child," she said.