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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Does my dog know I am pregnant?

31 replies

FineFanks · 29/03/2019 18:08

He cuddles up to me and rests his chin or paw on my growing bump.

When I walk him alone, he barely leaves my side. When I walk him with DH or DM he will run a bit further, but constantly looks back, but when it’s just me & him he doesn’t leave me - like he doesn’t want me to be left unattended.

DH noticed yesterday on a walkies that if another dog or person approaches me, our doggie will stand in front of me, almost guarding.

He is only 1 and hasn’t been around any pregnant people before in his life.

Do you think he is aware? Or am I just reading in to things?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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BloodyWorried · 29/03/2019 18:17

Might be. I was sick of our dog with my first pregnancy - he wouldn’t leave me in the bathroom alone, started to sleep under our bed and became really protective. I was pregnant and he knew for a good 3 weeks before I did. But no way to know for sure without POAS and being far enough along.
Hope you get the news you are looking for.

Prequelle · 29/03/2019 18:19

Yep, sounds like it. They're so clever

Mine is more clingy than usual. has stopped kicking me with his back legs when I'm not stroking him (yes he would actually stare me in the eyes then give me a super fast kick to say ey wench), he also jumps right to my side if the doorbell rings or DP comes walking into the room.

billybagpuss · 29/03/2019 18:19

Oh he definitely knows, there was a similar thread on here a month or so ago. My cat spent 9 months asleep on my bump. Had the shock of his life when baby kicked while he was on there it was very funny

NeverHadANickname · 29/03/2019 18:23

Before we even found out I'm pregnant ours was being weird with being near me. She sleeps in the middle at the bottom of our bed, if she gets in the way we tell her to move and she does. For a week before I did a test she would get at the bottom of my side and would not move! DH had to physically lift her out of the way so I could stretch my legs out.

Original poster

FineFanks · 29/03/2019 18:24

So sweet!!!

@Bloodyworried I’m 20 weeks

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shopaholics · 29/03/2019 18:36

Mine won't jump up at me anymore like he used to, and when I'm sat down will instead sit or stand between my legs rather than lie across me.
My other dog will attack anyone she thinks is getting too rough/threatening to me
It's very sweet 😊

Iputthescrewinthetuna · 29/03/2019 18:49

My dog was a hyper staffie. I would walk through the door and she would jump up for a cuddle, wait until I sat down then 'koala bear' me.
One day, I got home, she backed away from me, when I sat down she calmly came and rested her head on my tummy. I thought she was either ill or she hated me. 3 weeks later I found out I was pregnant.
Ddog was like this throughout my whole pregnancy. About an hour before I went into labour Ddog started whining and kept licking me. I couldn't understand why she was acting like this.

When I brought the baby home, Ddog was amazing. She never got too close to baby, she gave me space when I fed baby, she came for cuddles when baby was sleeping. When baby was a toddler, she and my beautiful dog were like bestfriends until DDog was pts!

So answer to your question, I totally believe your dog definitely knows!

Congratulations on your pregnancy by the way

Fsz3 · 29/03/2019 19:54

I'm quite sure they can smell hormonal changes as well as picking up on our behavioral changes. My German shepherd follows me around and particularly likes to let himself into the bathroom whilst I'm having a shower and lay on the bath mat 😂 X

Chocolate35 · 29/03/2019 19:55

Love this thread. My dog used to sit in front of my bump and growl if someone tried to stroke it, they pick up on it definitely.

Cosmogirl86 · 29/03/2019 21:46

My dog doesn't seem to have noticed! She's a very hyper border collar cross, and she's always been very very affectionate. I haven't noticed any changes in her behaviour and I'm 18 weeks with twins with a definite bump

Original poster

FineFanks · 29/03/2019 22:28

@Iputthescrewinthetuna That is so sweet! I love staffs 💗 Also great to hear your dog was totally calm & measured around baby. I’m not worried mine will be jealous or aggressive, as he is very loving, only worried he will try to lick baby on the face. But we’ll see how it goes.

And thank you 😊

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hipstercat · 29/03/2019 23:23

My mum says that when she was pregnant with me her cat would sit by her head all night, guarding her. If cats (generally the most self-absobed creatures in the world) can sense pregnancy and become protective of their owners, no doubt dogs can too! It's probably hormonal changes they can smell.

Fortheloveofscience · 29/03/2019 23:27

My dogs don’t give a damn. I can’t work out if the cat knows or that he’s just taking advantage of the fact I’m spending longer resting in bed to demand extra cuddles

ItProtectsMyHead · 29/03/2019 23:29

I think my chihuahua knows I'm pregnant but doesn't particularly care. The cats have become really protective, one of them even comes upstairs to put me to bed every night which she never used to do, she waits for me to fall asleep and comes back first thing in the morning (often waking me before 6am). I've got one of those U-shaped pregnancy pillows and she's even been known to cram herself in next to me. There was one night that I had really bad sickness and she stayed with me the whole time. I love how affectionate they've been lately

elf1985 · 29/03/2019 23:32

Absolutely. I was outed by a woman hating cat who knlynliked pregnant women.

Triskaidekaphilia · 29/03/2019 23:40

I'm 23 weeks and while one of my cats has always cuddled with me he's started putting his front legs/'arms' around my bump when we cuddle or rests his head on it. I wonder if they can hear each other! He also stayed very close to me early on when I had bad morning sickness and dizziness, but he's less clingy now. I had a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago though and when he caught me throwing up he went and 'told' DH

My other cat usually favours DH but he's been giving me a lot more attention in the past couple of months. Pets definitely know something's up, but I can never work out if they can sense that it's reproduction, or if they just sense something's different but don't quite know what.

movinonup · 30/03/2019 00:33

My dearly departed German shepherd knew well before I did that I was pregnant, She stopped jumping up on me when I came home a good week before I found out.

squee123 · 30/03/2019 00:43

totally. Their hearing and sense of smell is way better than ours. No doubt he can smell the baby and hear its heartbeat. He knows there is a little person in there and it is part of the family so his natural instincts to protect the young have kicked in.

Original poster

FineFanks · 30/03/2019 02:03

@ItProtectsMyHead so sweet!

@elf 😂😂😂

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Original poster

FineFanks · 30/03/2019 02:04

@squee123 oh that’s made me almost cry!! I am an emotional wreck!

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Eliza1419 · 30/03/2019 02:22

Exactly what @Fsz3 said - I googled the same thing and read that dogs are acutely aware of the change in your hormones. When pregnant you're almost an entirely different identity to them, and they can sense that you're more vulnerable. T'aww... mine love to crowd round me and bark at the door if the doorbell goes 🙄

Poppins2016 · 30/03/2019 02:27

Animals can definitely sense pregnancy.

My fiesty tortie cat became very affectionate towards me during pregnancy and she even stayed by my side during labour before I transferred to hospital. My other (male) cats were more interested in me than usual but didn't take it to such an extreme.

... Tortie cat is now very interested in my baby and will actively encourage him to touch her in ways that would earn us adults an evil stare or a swipe! Her body language with my baby is completely different, she's much less guarded/defensive and far more comfortable with him than with most adults. It's a beautiful relationship. My male cats are also very patient with the baby but don't encourage touch as often and will walk away much faster.
Disclaimer: baby is always closely supervised and my cats take the lead with any touching by actively putting themselves within reach.

hipstercat · 30/03/2019 07:10

@Poppins that's so sweet! I really hope my cats will be like this but so far they've been acting like the selfish twats they are, the only protective instinct they ever show is towards their food bowl.

With cats (don't know if the same applies to dogs) I read also that they can be more cuddly because of a slight raise in your temperature.

Booboostwo · 30/03/2019 08:20

My bitch knew. She would not leave my side, to the point where it became a bit worrying. I had trouble walking as she was always tangled up in my legs and I didn’t have the best balance.

She returned to normal as soon as I gave birth and was lovely, in a balanced and not overly obsessive way, with the baby.

coral13 · 30/03/2019 13:08

I'm loving this thread and finding it funny as my dog is sooo completely oblivious! He's a loving and attentive all the time but he definitely has no idea in hell that anything is different.

I'm sure one of my cat knows something though as she will come and cuddle my bump - the other cat hopefully doesn't know as she keeps trying to stand on baby's head haha

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