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Having a dog at home is a rewarding experience. Once you bond, you gain a lifetime best friend. One fascinating characteristic of dogs is their incredible sense of smell and sharp instincts. For instance, though they cannot realize that you are pregnant, they can detect some changes through scent.
The minute you become pregnant, your body changes, starting with your hormones. As hormonal changes continue, your body’s scent becomes different in the process. This change is what your dog smells and senses something is different. Do dogs really know you’re pregnant? Some people say yes. However, it’s important to note that this sense of perception is not yet backed by scientific data.
Meanwhile, dogs are brilliant animals; once they pick up on something, you’ll notice their behavior change. They become more protective and want to stay near you. This remarkable trait warrants more research, which we will cover in this article.
How Do Dogs Sense Pregnancy in Humans?
The bond between a human and a dog is all about scents. A dog falls in love with your natural scent when you are together. The more you bond, the more familiar the scent becomes to your furry friend. They can smell you anywhere and know you’re around.
However, pregnancy marks a period of change in a woman’s life.1 Your body has to make specific changes to accommodate the new life growing in your womb. The process includes loads of hormonal changes that impact your natural scent.
Hormones Change Body Odor
One day, your dog takes a whiff of you and realizes something is different. They understand your body is changing significantly. The change in appearance and behavior helps your dog confirm its fears.
Pregnancy hormones start immediately. They not only impact your body’s scent but also affect how you behave and appear. For example, you produce gonadotropin on week two after successful fertilization. The hormone is quite crucial because it’s what doctors use to confirm pregnancy from a sample of your blood or urine.
Your body’s scent is also altered by several other hormones like prolactin, which stimulates your breasts to produce milk and relaxin, which is responsible for loosening your body’s ligaments and muscles as you get ready to give birth.
Finally, another pregnancy hormone is progesterone, which is responsible for feeling tired and exhausted. But, it’s crucial because its effects on the womb maintain a supportive environment for the fetus’s development. Pregnancy hormones influence your natural scent, even if you don’t notice this change.
They also impact how you feel and your mood. Your dog not only smells the change but also observes a shift in behavior.
Changes in Emotions and Routines
When pregnant, your emotions and everyday routines take a dramatic change. It happens as your body adjusts to the new way of life for the next nine months. Since your best friend is used to a particular routine, they will notice when you change.
For example, if the walks aren’t as long and a specific room is different in the house, they will notice it. It’s because a dog is sensitive and gets accustomed to certain things and practices. Seeing you tired, walking slower, or any other behavioral change confirms what they smell.
How Early Can a Dog Detect Pregnancy?
Picture this: you are pregnant and have no clue! You go about your days oblivious to the changes in your body. However, your perceptive best friend smells the change even before your belly extends.
Your dog can detect pregnancy from as early as the first month. It’s because pregnancy hormones begin working on your body early. Even at week 2, you already have hormones flooding your body. These hormones change your scent, and your dog smells it.
Still, not all dogs can smell the body scent change, and others can wait until your belly starts to grow. That’s when you notice your dog’s behavior dramatically shifting.
Will a Dog’s Behavior Change When You Are Pregnant?
You won’t be the same after confirming you’re pregnant. Well, your dog isn’t any different. They, too will change their behavior and want to be close to you always.
One issue many dog owners have in common is a clingy best friend. A dog that only occasionally wanted cuddles and to sleep next to you changes their behavior. Now, you trip over them since they don’t want to leave your side.
Another reason a dog’s behavior can change is because they notice your behavioral changes. For instance, if you feel nauseated, move slower, and sleep most of the time, your dog will act differently. If they were bouncy and running everywhere before, they may calm down and even start sleeping by your side all day.
Expect More Affection from Your Dog
It’s pretty standard for your dog to be more affectionate. Even if they usually are, the level of affection changes dramatically throughout your pregnancy. Your dog may become more alert and protective. This is even from the people close to you, including your partner.
As your belly grows, your dog tends to lie on it often. They want to get close, and some believe they listen to the baby’s heartbeat. Your dog cuddling up to the growing baby bump is typical behavior and shows you extra affection.
However, some dogs take a step in the opposite direction. You may notice your dog is acting out. Apart from acting out, a dog may become unfriendly. The change in scent and behavior perhaps overwhelms them. You may notice your dog starts growling, not communicating, and starts barking at you. In such cases, you should consult your vet or a specialized animal behaviorist, or you will need to keep a distance between the two of you for the foreseeable future.
How Can You Prepare Your Dog for the New Arrival?
If your dog’s behavior changes when you’re pregnant, the behavior may persist even after the baby arrives. They sense a change coming but can’t grasp its meaning.
However, instead of winging it to see how they react, it’s safer to prepare your dog because you can’t tell how they will respond to a newborn. It’s primarily a critical moment if this is the first baby your dog is coming into contact with. The tips below will come in handy:
1. Bring Them to the Park
In the park, dogs meet other dogs, birds, people, and babies. You can have them interact with a small child or a baby in the park while taking caution. When you bring a baby home, your dog will know how to behave near the fragile new arrival.
Some dogs even become close protectors and guides to the baby after they start moving around. It’s all about that first interaction and making a dog understand that a baby should be handled gently, protected, and loved.
2. Be Less Affectionate and Attentive
Hold back a little! This doesn’t mean you should ignore your dog. It means you have to reduce how attentive and affectionate you are toward them. Less attention is crucial because you won’t always have the time to be with your dog once the baby arrives.
So, you can try simple ways to detach that won’t affect your dog. In time, they’ll get used to the change and won’t be too reactive when you are more attentive to the newborn.
3. Keep Your Dog on a Leash
When you come home from the hospital, your dog might get excited. This excitement continues when they notice the newborn. To be safe, it’s better to have them on a leash and have someone holding them firmly until they calm down.
Having a newborn in the house will require everyone to make adjustments. This includes your dog, who will want to bless the new family member with love and affection.
4. Train Your Dog Not to Jump
A growing baby is still fragile and will move around the house a lot. It’s better to have a calm dog that doesn’t jump up and down since it can be dangerous. If your dog behaves this way, you might need to train them differently before the baby arrives.
Final Thoughts
Dogs are intelligent and quite perceptive. They use scent and observation to notice changes around them, which is how your dog sees you are pregnant even before you confirm it. As you start secreting pregnancy hormones, your body’s scent changes.
Even if they don’t notice the scent, they notice the change in your behavior. As your pregnancy develops, you might have less or more energy. In addition, your dog sees your belly grow and senses a difference in your general behavior. So, we can conclusively say that a dog will sense pregnancy, even if they don’t understand it.
See Also:
- Can Dogs Sense When Someone Is About to Die?
- Do Male Dogs Know Their Puppies? You’ll Be Surprised to Learn
Featured Image Credit: eva_blanco, Shutterstock
