Hey so this is kind of a pathetic one, so sorry in advance but I need some kind of solidarity or comfort or reassurance - I don't even really know, but there's a small amount of context here that makes this slightly different to other posts I've searched for on the topic so please forgive me if this have been overly covered! 😩
_
So early on in my pregnancy my dearest doggo went REALLY off with me.
He'd usually always be super happy to see me, massive wiggly bum shakes, give me happy morning growls when I woke up and gave him fuss, and would smother me with bedtime kisses - About 6-12 weeks into pregnancy, ALL of that went away and he would avoid me like the plague and go very stiff any time I got too close.
This eventually faded away as the pregnancy progressed and I got my furbaby back to his normal self - GREAT! I thought. I was super happy to have my wee boy back and I was relived that everything was okay!
But now here I am at a little over 5 months pregnant and the last week or so he's gone back to avoiding me like the plague again.
No morning growls, no bedtime kisses, he won't come ANYWHERE near me in the bed or on the sofa, and he will go stiff and growl at me when I try and give him affection.
He won't even wag his tail at me.
The only time he shows any reciprocation at all is if I try and bribe him with ham, cheese or playtime and even then it's only for so long as there's food or active play.
The second it runs out, he's gone.
He just wants me nowhere near him at all and it's completely breaking my heart because he was SUCH a mama's boy before, he wouldn't ever leave me alone. He used to whine and cry if he didn't get enough cuddles from me - Now if I so much as try and give him fuss even on his own terms, he growls.
I truly thought we'd passed the awkward phase where he was unsure of my changing hormones and scent, but he's seemingly not only gone back to it, but now it's worse than ever! :/
My hubby thinks it's because I have a visible bump now (It's popped up relatively quickly to be fair!) and that my scent has probably changed again?
But I'm sure I read somewhere that after the first trimester your hormones don't really change that much - So I'm not really sure what's going on with my precious doggo...
I just miss him so much and tbh it's REALLY getting me down not having my furbaby smother me with love the way he did before.
Ik it's beyond stupid and probably just my hormones making me extra emotional but I genuinely want to cry I miss him that much - Like I'm tearing up writing this right now tbh :')
Is there anything I can do to help my furbaby adjust to my pregnancy better?
Has anyone else experienced multiple behaviour changes from their furry friend during pregnancy too?
I've read about dogs acting "off" with people until the baby's actually arrived, but I've never read about multiple behavioural changes and flip flopping like this.
I just miss my dog so so so SO much and I don't know what to do to get him to love me again :'/