If you're currently trying to have a baby, you'll no doubt be keeping an eye out for all those typical pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and tender breasts. While you wait to be able to finally take a pregnancy test, should you also be keeping an eye out to see if your dog is giving an indication that you're expecting as well?
Can dogs sense pregnancy?
While there are currently no studies which confirm that dogs can indeed sense pregnancy in their owners, many women report their pups starting to follow them around or even become more protective over them when they are pregnant.
The point at which this starts to happen differs from case to case. Some women notice that it happens very early on in pregnancy while others say their dogs didn't act differently until they were visibly showing and had a bump.
It is believed that dogs can sense pregnancy because of both the changes in your behaviour along with all those pregnancy hormones.
Changes in behaviour
Whether you already know for sure that you're pregnant or just think you are, it's likely that you may be acting a bit differently as a result. This could be simply feeling more tired or even just nesting.
Dogs are very attentive animals and can notice even small changes in how their owners are acting. This is why it's not uncommon for dogs to be trained as emotional support companions to provide mental comfort for people with emotional disabilities or issues.
Changes in pregnancy hormones
Hormones are an important part of pregnancy and are vital to your body's and your baby's development. Research has found that these pregnancy hormones can actually change your body odour.
Now your dog’s sense of smell is around 10,000 - 100,000 times better than ours. According to Purina, they "possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses compared to about six million in ours and the part of their brains that analyses and processes scents are (proportionally) 40 times greater than ours."
This all means that it's entirely possible that your pooch and their sensitive nose can pick up on this new change and yep — effectively smell that you are pregnant.
Will my dog’s behaviour change during pregnancy?
Just like pregnancies and babies, all dogs are different and even though your pup may be able to sense that you're pregnant, it doesn't mean that their behaviour will change. While they could be a bit clingy and enjoy cuddling up to your bump, they might even steer clear of you more than usual or even be completely indifferent.
How to introduce your dog to your baby
It's likely that you have a bit of time to wait until your little one arrives but there are a few things to think about when it comes to introducing your dog to your baby.