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They are the most loyal of pets, so it is perhaps no surprise that dogs become jealous when we don't show the same level of devotion.

A study found that dogs, like people, can experience envy.

Faced to watch their owner pet a potential rival, they snap, jump, paw and push.

The University of California studied 36 dogs in their own homes while owners were told to ignore their pet in favour of a stuffed dog or a bucket. Dogs exhibited jealous behaviour such as snapping and pushing when their owner displayed affection for the stuffed toy. Stock image pictured

While dog owners may not find the result very surprising, some scientists have argued that the complexity of thought behind jealousy makes it a uniquely human emotion.

To find out if this was the case, the University of California researchers videoed 36 dogs in their own homes as their owners ignored them in favour of a stuffed dog, another toy or a book.

The toy dog barked, whined and wagged its tail at the push of a button and the real dogs seemed to be taken in by the act.

They were around twice as likely to push or touch their owner when he or she was petting and talking sweetly to the stuffed dog as when the owner was displaying the same behaviour towards the other toy.

Even fewer pushed or touched their owner when the book was being read aloud.

Just under a third of the dogs also tried to get between their owner and the stuffed animal and a quarter snapped at the 'other dog' but only one did so at the other toy and the book.

The study found the dogs were around twice as likely to push or touch their owner when he or she was petting and talking sweetly to the false dog (stock image pictured left) as when the owner was displaying the same behaviour towards the bucket (stock image pictured right)

Samwise (pictured) was one of three border collies that inspired the study on dog jealousy

This shows that the dogs weren't simply reacting to the loss of attention and affection.

Instead, their main concern seemed to be that this attention and affection had been switched to another dog, the journal PLOS ONE reports.

The fact that most of the pets tried to sniff the bottom of the toy dog also suggests that they thought it was real.

Researcher Professor Christine Harris said: 'Our study suggests not only that dogs do engage in what appear to be jealous behaviours but also that they were seeking to break up that connection between the owner and a seeming rival.

'We can't really speak to the dogs' subjective experiences, of course, but it looks as though they were motivated to protect an important social relationship.'

She added that research into jealousy is important because it can have far-reaching consequences, including, at the extreme, murder.

The professor said her findings suggest that jealousy is not uniquely human.  Nor is it simply tied to sex and romance.

And with babies as young as six weeks seemingly capable of experiencing envy, it may have evolved as a way of ensuring that the very young can compete with siblings for parental love and help.