can dogs sense labour?

[titmouse]

Anybody have any experience of their dog behaving differently or 'knowing' they were in labour?

[Lotster]

Not labour as such, but a week before I had my first baby, the dog went up to my room and peed on my pillow!!

He also wet himself whilst sitting in front of me when I was newly pregnant, before I even knew myself. So I do believe he definitely sensed something was different and felt anxious about it, and what it meant for him.

He has however taken little or no notice of my second baby or pregnancy!

[titmouse]

poor dog, sounds like he was sensitive to your hormone changes!
My sister's dog has been acting a bit funny around me for a day or so and interestingly my husband said I 'smell different' so I wondered if it might be early labour. Had a few signss.

[mags98]

My dog peed on the bed too - the day before I did my positive pregnancy test. She has never done that before, she doesn't even go on the bed! Interestingly, she never did it in my previous two pregnancies, both of which went on to end in miscarriages. May of course be a coincidence but even so it is odd.

I don't know about labour, I'm only 31 weeks so far but I'll report back afterwards.

[minouminou]

Interesting. When DS engaged I was very sick, but then I'd been very sick for months, often right in front of the dog, but this time she was very attentive, and sat by me in that special way they do when something's afoot.
Can't remember pre-labour or early labour, though. Will report back in a few weeks.

[chequersmate]

Nope, mine had no idea.

I remember walking round and round the dining room table every time I had a contraction and the little buggers darlings followed me thinking it was a game!

[LackaDAISYcal]

i don't have dogs, but my cat was stuck to me like velcro on the day i went into labour. She just wouldn't leave me alone and followed me round mewping.

[fannybanjo]

I was in labour in my mum's house 6 weeks ago and my mum's dog went really strange.

[Lulumama]

no, my dogs did nothing different. they are old and lazy though!

hey , fanny, should you not be packing !

[Rachmumoftwo]

My dog produced milk when I bought DD1 home from hospital (I didn't let her nurse her tho).

[wannaBe]

a work colleague of mine was heavily pregnant and due to leave work the following week (baby wasn't due for another three weeks). Anyway, she complained that day that she'd been having on-off contractions all day. We had to go into a meeting and she was behind me walking up the stairs, and my guide dog was trailing behind me constantly as if wanting to be near her (even though they had no kind of bond between them) rather than running ahead of me up the stairs as was the norm.

Anyway we'd been sitting down in the meeting for about ten minutes when she suddenly got up and said it really really hurt. She called her mum to collect her, her mum took her to the hospital and the baby was born an hour later .

When I personally went into labour I was upstairs though so the dog was nowhere near me to act differently iyswim. And I went straight from upstairs to the hospital and it was 3:00 in the morning so fairly sure she didn't even get out of bed lol.

[ernestosmum]

I had a homebirth and I stil don't think our stupid dog noticed a thing (maybe a boy dog/ girl dog thing?)