Can dogs sense pregnancy before a positive test?

Wingingitlife · 2025-07-26T10:25:31+00:00

Ok so this is going to sound absolutely mad. I’ve just started ttc #4 after using a coil for around 8ish years. This is our first month trying. im estimating that I may have ovulated on the 21st July and beleive I’m probably 5dpo. from 3dpo my 11 month old whippet has started being obsessed with my tummy, he will sniff it and lick it. If my trousers are covering my tummy he will dig at my waistband so he can get to my tummy!! it’s so wierd he has never done this before! has this happened to anyone else?

KnickerlessParsons · 26/07/2025 11:31

I’m pretty sure my cat knew I was pregnant before I did.

Coconutter24 · 26/07/2025 11:36

I suppose the only way to know the answer to this is when the time comes do a pregnancy test

Okdaisy · 26/07/2025 11:39

My cat definitely knew about all my pregnancies before I tested positive. He was constantly cuddled up to my tummy. Very strange!

wonderstuff · 26/07/2025 11:42

I’m sure that dogs would be able to sense it, their sense of smell is hundreds of times more sensitive than humans. My dd was the first to sense I was pg with ds, I was breastfeeding and she said the milk tasted ‘yucky’. Took me 24 hours to work out why that might be..

Original poster

Wingingitlife · 26/07/2025 12:06

wonderstuff · 26/07/2025 11:42

I’m sure that dogs would be able to sense it, their sense of smell is hundreds of times more sensitive than humans. My dd was the first to sense I was pg with ds, I was breastfeeding and she said the milk tasted ‘yucky’. Took me 24 hours to work out why that might be..

Oh wow! I would never have even thought of that!

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KnickerlessParsons · 26/07/2025 12:58

Actually my DH knew I was pregnant before I did. He said I smelled different.

Original poster

Wingingitlife · 26/07/2025 13:13

KnickerlessParsons · 26/07/2025 12:58

Actually my DH knew I was pregnant before I did. He said I smelled different.

Wow! Super senses!!

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PottersBarn · 26/07/2025 14:22

I’m not saying it’s not possible because I don’t actually KNOW obviously. But at 3 or 5 dpo you’re not actually pregnant yet. You just have a fertilised embryo floating about inside you. (Sorry it sounds weird can’t think of how better to word it). So I just can’t think how that would be detected. Especially as it’s possible many eggs get fertilised but are never good enough to implant.

DustlandFairytaleBeginning · 26/07/2025 14:26

Haha my dog knew something. It was a big clue when he started sticking his head in my crotch and sniffing (he'd never been the type to do that before!).

Original poster

Wingingitlife · 26/07/2025 15:02

DustlandFairytaleBeginning · 26/07/2025 14:26

Haha my dog knew something. It was a big clue when he started sticking his head in my crotch and sniffing (he'd never been the type to do that before!).

How early was it when he started doing this? I’m convinced mine knows something! But I think it’s far too early for me to take a test yet and it’s driving me crazy 😂

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Original poster

Wingingitlife · 26/07/2025 15:03

PottersBarn · 26/07/2025 14:22

I’m not saying it’s not possible because I don’t actually KNOW obviously. But at 3 or 5 dpo you’re not actually pregnant yet. You just have a fertilised embryo floating about inside you. (Sorry it sounds weird can’t think of how better to word it). So I just can’t think how that would be detected. Especially as it’s possible many eggs get fertilised but are never good enough to implant.

Yeah I know that’s what has got me baffled! Because he has never done this before it is so wierd!

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GiraffesAtThePark · 26/07/2025 15:24

I don’t think this sounds that crazy. Dogs can detect cancer due to a smell change.

Original poster

Wingingitlife · 26/07/2025 15:28

GiraffesAtThePark · 26/07/2025 15:24

I don’t think this sounds that crazy. Dogs can detect cancer due to a smell change.

Yeah I read about that too!! Hopefully he can smell my fertilized egg 😂 it’s either that or he knows I’m going to get my period 😂

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PhilippaGeorgiou · 26/07/2025 15:54

PottersBarn · 26/07/2025 14:22

I’m not saying it’s not possible because I don’t actually KNOW obviously. But at 3 or 5 dpo you’re not actually pregnant yet. You just have a fertilised embryo floating about inside you. (Sorry it sounds weird can’t think of how better to word it). So I just can’t think how that would be detected. Especially as it’s possible many eggs get fertilised but are never good enough to implant.

Dogs can smell the slightest changes in humans. There are already minute changes going on. So the OP may not be "pregnant" yet, but that doesn't mean that a dog can't tell something is happening. Even a slight hormonal change can be detected by a dog. There are certainly differences in terms of the degree to which breeds can detect things - there's plenty of evidence of some breeds being used to detect cancers which humans / machiones can't, for example, and during the early days of Covid I recall reading about training some dogs to detect Covid even in people with no symptoms.

That said, no they don't actually know if someone is pregnant - they have no concept of that kind of detail - but they can detect changes in people and react to them.

PottersBarn · 26/07/2025 16:15

PhilippaGeorgiou · 26/07/2025 15:54

Dogs can smell the slightest changes in humans. There are already minute changes going on. So the OP may not be "pregnant" yet, but that doesn't mean that a dog can't tell something is happening. Even a slight hormonal change can be detected by a dog. There are certainly differences in terms of the degree to which breeds can detect things - there's plenty of evidence of some breeds being used to detect cancers which humans / machiones can't, for example, and during the early days of Covid I recall reading about training some dogs to detect Covid even in people with no symptoms.

That said, no they don't actually know if someone is pregnant - they have no concept of that kind of detail - but they can detect changes in people and react to them.

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But are there any hormonal changes after an egg is fertilised? There’s nothing we know about medically at the moment anyway is what I mean. I guess as humans we have no way to know if something can smell different to another animal I’m not denying that. My point is that as far as we know scientifically at the moment, there is nothing for the dogs or any other animals to detect as nothing is happening hormonally. But, obviously I completely agree that we have no way of knowing what an animal can detect that as it stands we humans do not know about. But yes like you say dogs and other animals can detect other things that as it stands humans cannot.

PhilippaGeorgiou · 26/07/2025 21:13

But are there any hormonal changes after an egg is fertilised?

Yes. Both estrogen and (especially) progesterone levels rise significantly after fertilisation. They are both essential for the first stage of development.

AcquadiP · 26/07/2025 21:27

I had an acquaintance at my house and one of my Border Collies did something I'd never seen him do previously. He was sniffing her tummy area in a very interested way. She was slim with no sign of a bulge but I was so intrigued by his behaviour I gently asked if she was pregnant. She looked amazed and asked how I knew. I laughed and replied that my dog had shown me! It's likely that pregnancy gives off a scent that dogs can pick up on.

DustlandFairytaleBeginning · 26/07/2025 22:51

Wingingitlife · 26/07/2025 15:02

How early was it when he started doing this? I’m convinced mine knows something! But I think it’s far too early for me to take a test yet and it’s driving me crazy 😂

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It was only a day or two before I took the test that I really noticed it/ it was quite embarrassing trying to get his head out of my legs when I had a friend round and that stuck in my mind... so I guess a day or so after my period would have been late. Not as early as you would be.

walkthedoggie · 26/07/2025 23:11

My dog was the one who made me think to even check! She’s normally pretty chill but one day she just became obsessed with smelling my crotch and underarms, I knew something was really going on when she stuck her face in the toilet to smell my wee which she would never ever do (because she’s a lady) so I was straight to Tesco for some tests!

Original poster

Wingingitlife · 03/08/2025 07:26

I just wanted to share this in case anyone comes on to this thread…maybe he knew 🤔

Can dogs sense pregnancy before a positive test?

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Mumof2boys2325 · 03/08/2025 08:06

They definitely can! My friend has a dog who I’ve never been around more than twice, one day I went to visit and her dog would not leave me alone and my friend was really confused as her dog doesn’t take to anyone yet her dog was all over me. We joke I should take a pregnancy test and the next day I did and it was positive! Unfortunately ended in a chemical but fell pregnant the next month and now currently 33 weeks!

CatsorDogsrule · 03/08/2025 08:12

Congratulations! Puppies are amazing.

DoctorMartin · 03/08/2025 08:42

Aww congratulations OP!

tripleginandtonic · 03/08/2025 09:26

KnickerlessParsons · 26/07/2025 11:31

I’m pretty sure my cat knew I was pregnant before I did.

Mine did too.

Original poster

Wingingitlife · 08/08/2025 16:24

Just a little update… sadly I started bleeding today and I think I’m having a chemical pregnancy.

After I posted that pic of my positive test, Hugo stopped with his obsession with my belly and stopped stuffing as much. 4 days later I took another test and my line hadn’t got any darker so I had a feeling I was having a chemical.

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