Dog - Nutley,NJ

Your hormones, posture, smell, and the way you move all change when you're pregnant. We may never know whether the dog knows you're pregnant, exactly, but it is very common for dogs to observe changes in the behavior or smell of their masters, and react accordingly. Your dog undoubtedly knows you are physically more fragile right now.

6 moms found this helpful

My dog knew something was up each time I was pregnant. She is very much a mama's girl, but it got even worse when I was pregnant. The night before I went to the hospital with my oldest she even climbed up in the recliner and slept with me (I had severe toxemia and had to sleep in the recliner) and she is a 90+ lb dog and was/is never allowed on the furniture!!!
She seriously would not leave my side and she would try to wedge herself between me and anyone who got too close :) and now she "protects" my boys! I swear she thinks they are her babies!!

4 moms found this helpful

My aunt's dog would let you know if you were ovulating, if aunt flo was about to visit, and if you were pregs. He'd want nothing to do with anyone except my aunt, but if you had a girl thing going on, he'd give you a couple of crotch sniffs and a bunch of barking.

dogs are awesome.
Fanged bunny

2 moms found this helpful

aww he knows. love the stories people are posting about how protective their dogs were when they were pregnant. my 8 lb mini dachshund is a huge scaredy cat but she'll "protect" my 2 year old son when people move too quickly towards him (i.e. uncle, grandfather going to pick him up). she'll bark and bark and pretend lunge but kind of run away at the same time b/c she's still really scared. lol. aren't dogs the best? :)

2 moms found this helpful

they know. I'm 13.5 weeks and my saint bernard does the same thing. When I was pregnant with my son my dad's dog never left my side-she slept in my room even though she was dad's dog. The day I went into labor she wouldn't leave me alone-tried climbing in the car to go to the store-would cry outside the bathroom etc.

2 moms found this helpful

Not only did my dog know I was pregnant but when the babies came home he would alert me before they were awake that I needed to go to the babies. He would come grab my arm or hand and pull me towards the baby's room.
THey are incredibly sensitive to what is happening in our lives.

My dogs now know when my kids are feeling down or are sick. One will not allow my son to go out "back", near the swamp. There are snakes back there and a beaver.

He really does know and he is being protective of you. How super sweet.

1 mom found this helpful

He most likely smells change on you. Hormones, urine, and sweat. These are change in smell when pregnant. Does he know? not likely but he knows somethings different. By the way I know you dont pee on yourself, but he can smell that with out peeing. LOL. Dogs are intuitive. You also have a different Electrical signal. He might be tuned into that!!!

1 mom found this helpful

He totally knows!!! I think dogs are much smarter than most give them credit for. Especially big dogs!
Like RunnerMomOf2, I had a Saint Bernand and German Shepard mix. The Saint was my baby, and when I got pregnant he got very proctective of me. He actually started fighting with our other dog if he thought the other one was too close or something. It only lasted for the first trimester or so. We had them for four years and they never fought until I got pregnant and we think it was because he was trying to protect me or something.

1 mom found this helpful

Some dogs have sniffed out cancer in their owners so yes, on some level he knows. I love these stories as I just love dogs...

1 mom found this helpful

No, my dog did that both to my best friend and to me when we were pregnant. She would come right up and poke her nose in our bellies. Most people have no problem whatsoever with adding a baby to the home. The only issue we had was the dog would want to be involved when the baby started crying. LOL It's hard to change a diaper when a 65 lb dog is trying to get between you and the changing table to see what is going on. :)

Dogs are very intuitive about these changes. Mine began to whine a lot and look forlorn and acted clingly before mine were born. Upset tummies too. Ours adjusted very well when we brought the babies home. The dog will smell the baby's scent on your husband so when he gets home the dog knows and will be familiar when you new addition comes home. Congrats!

My normally quiet, timid dog totally changed once I became pregnant.
She would try to "protect" us when we would go for a walk if someone got too close. She would get between the person & me w/the stroller.
She never, ever barked before but now she barks if someone comes to the door or pulls into the driveway (guests, UPS guy, mailman, people trying to sell stuff door-to-door etc) as if to alert me.
She's very loving & sweet to the baby. She has a great disposition.

My dog knew when I was pregnant and he also knew when I miscarried. He was extremely attentive and wouldn't leave my side when I miscarried, and he is extremely gentle when I'm pregnant. He is a pug and and extremely lap dog. He will not lay across my belly when I'm pregnant. He lays across my legs instead. As for bringing your baby home, they suggest taking a baby blanket from the hospital and letting your dog smell it. We didn't do that, but we didn't shield the baby from our dog when we got home. We basically stuck our baby right under our dogs nose and let him sniff her out. He was so kind. After that, he would not leave her alone. He watched over her all the time. I suggest doing the introduction as soon as possible.

In 5 years, my dalmatian had never come upstairs to our bedroom. After initial gate-training while he was a puppy, we removed the gate and Tino knew to stop at the bottom. He watched me go up every night and waited for me come down every morning. He was the pooch love of my life but still not allowed in our room.

Suddenly, I awoke in the middle of one night to find Tino's nose in my face as he stood at the side of my bed. What a shock! I took him back downstairs but he continued this each night - I woke up to find a spotted dog staring at me with his nose/chin on the bed.

Shortly thereafter, I was put on bedrest for risk of preterm labor. I swear, he knew something was wrong!

And of course, I couldn't spend the next two months upstairs without him so he was finally granted permission to extend his home to the upstairs. He had earned it! I no longer cared what the cats thought, what the carpet looked like (seriously, if i let the cats throw up on it why was i worried about big muddy paws?), I needed him and he needed me. For the remaining 3.5 years of his life, he was my favorite part of going to sleep as he slumbered on the floor next to my side of the bed.