Why is my Labrador so jealous?

If your Labrador has been acting jealous you might want to know why and what you can do about it.

This post will show you a number of reasons why it might be acting jealous and what you can do to stop it.

So, why is my Labrador acting jealous? Possible reasons are that it wants attention, it’s being dominant, it’s being overly protective or you might have been inadvertently rewarding it.

Your Labrador might be doing it for a number of reasons and it could be due to a combination of them. However, there are also a number of things you can do about it.

Why your Labrador is jealous

Below, I will show you a number of reasons why your Labrador might be being jealous and what would make them more likely to be the main reason.

It wants attention

The cause could be that it is looking for extra attention. This would be more likely to be the reason if it does it more when you have not been giving it much attention and if you tend to give it extra attention when it does it.

It would help to give it attention throughout the day by playing with it, training it and exercising it. But, it would help to avoid rewarding it with attention when it gets jealous unless necessary and to use positive reinforcement training to change its behavior.

It is being dominant

It could be the case that it is actually being dominating. This would be more likely if it is also reluctant to listen to your command and if it is aggressive towards your other pets as well.

It is being protective

It might be the case that it does it because it is actually being protective. This would be more likely if it does it more when you are around other people or animals. In this case, it would help to use the tips mentioned in this blog post.

You have been reinforcing it

It could also be the case that it does it because you have been inadvertently rewarding the behavior. If you tend to give it things such as toys, treats or extra attention when it is jealous then it will likely do it more in order to get more rewards.

Instead, it would help to reward it when it is being well behaved and to use positive reinforcement training to get it to be less jealous.

You got new pets

If your Labrador started acting jealous when you got new pets it is likely that it feels left out. In this case, it would help to give it attention and rewards when it is being well behaved.

How to get your Labrador to be less jealous

Below are some options you have when getting your Labrador to be less jealous.

Give it attention

It would also help to give it attention throughout the day so that it is less likely to seek attention from you. Ways to give it attention would be to play with it, train it and to walk it.

However, when it starts being jealous, it would help to stop giving it attention, to wait for it to calm down and then to give it attention again.

Give it training

If you have not given your Labrador much training then it would help to make sure to do so. By giving your Labrador training you will be able to get it to listen to your command and to be better behaved.

When training your Labrador it would help to start out by training it easy things such as the down command in an environment without many distractions. Then, once it can do it, you would start to include the object of jealousy and train it to do the command then as well.

Avoid rewarding it

It would also help to avoid rewarding it when it is jealous. Instead, it would help to wait for it to calm down then to reward it for being well behaved.

Exercise

Labradors are a breed that needs a lot of exercise in order to be fully stimulated. Generally, it is recommended for them to get at least an hour of exercise daily. If your Labrador is not getting that much it would help to give it exercise by walking it yourself or by getting a dog walker to do it for you.

Things to consider

When it started being jealous

If it did not always act jealous, it would help to consider what else happened when it first started doing it since it might have been the case that there was an event that caused it to start.

If it started being jealous suddenly it would make it more likely to be due to things such as getting a new pet, rewarding the behavior or you stopped giving it as much attention. It would help to consider what else changed when it started being jealous.

When it becomes jealous

It would also help to consider if there is a certain time that it tends to be more jealous since it could be the case that the timing has something to do with it.

For example, if it only seems to get jealous when you have not been giving it much attention then it could be that it wants attention from you. Whereas, if it seems to be jealous when you are feeding it then it could be dominating behavior.