Do Dogs Sense Pregnancy?
Among the many virtues of dogs there is also this: they perceive a woman’s pregnancy. They can also “feel” various diseases and portend earthquakes and other natural disasters. Do they have supernatural abilities? Absolutely not.
Numerous researches are being carried out aimed at discovering the exact causes of these curious canine behaviors and everything seems to indicate that at the basis of these premonitions there are the extraordinary sense of smell and hearing of dogs.
Dogs smell hormonal changes
Even if you communicate with your dog and understand most of the things he conveys to you, don’t expect the dog to call a family reunion to announce the hostess’s pregnancy.
The fact is these animals immediately perceive the hormonal changes that are produced in the body of pregnant women, they notice it even before them.
And what are the effects of this discovery on the dog? The animal will change its attitude. Generally, he binds even more to his mistress. Other times, it moves away from it. Each animal will make it clear, in its own way, that something is changing.
It is therefore not wrong to say that it is the best pregnancy test there can be.
Reasons why dogs can sense pregnancy
That dogs’ sense of smell far surpasses that of humans is nothing new. It is estimated that dogs’ ability to discern smells is about 1000 times greater than that of humans. But what perhaps not everyone knows is that dogs can also smell all the chemical variations that are produced in the woman’s body during pregnancy.
We see below some curiosities about the prodigious sense of smell of these animals.
- The number of olfactory receptors varies from 250 to 280 million in dogs, while in humans they are “just” 20 million.
- They have about 200-300 million olfactory cells. Humans “only” 5 million.
- Even though the dog’s brain is much smaller than the human brain, the part that controls the sense of smell is proportionately 40 times larger.
Other things dogs can smell
In addition to being able to sense pregnancy, dogs can also foretell:
- The onset of labor
- Climate change or the arrival of thunderstorms
- The seismic tremors
- Changes in the mood of people
- Various diseases, especially some cancers
- The impending death
Some dogs can even predict episodes of hypoglycemia in diabetic patients or the imminence of a seizure. Many animals try to warn people by signaling the onset of a stroke, embolism or heart attack in advance. For this reason, many dogs are used as assistance dogs.
Dogs and the sense of hearing
Everyone knows that hearing is another highly developed sense in dogs and that for this reason they perceive the arrival of thunderstorms and earthquakes long before us.
The reason is that the hearing threshold of dogs extends up to 45,000 Hz while the human being is able to hear only sounds whose frequency is between 20 and 20,000 Hz.
As for the perception of distant sounds, dogs can perceive a sound at a distance of four to five times greater than humans.
Dogs and pregnancy
Once the dog has noticed the pregnancy and made it known through unusual behaviors, what else happens? Women who have had children and who live with a dog surely could tell a myriad of stories about it.
For instance:
- Some animals who at first preferred the man of the house, suddenly worry about the woman and spend all the time with her.
- They become more protective and “stick” to the mistress. They wait for her behind the door if the woman goes to the bathroom, sleep as close to her as possible, etc.
- They bark and growl at anyone who approaches the woman. And, even, some dogs block the passage of anyone who dares to approach the future mother.
- When the time for giving birth is about to arrive, the dogs notice it in advance and try to warn the owner.
It is completely normal for the dog to smell the growing belly.
However, some animals react to this new situation by engaging in certain stress and anxiety-related behaviors, for example, they begin to compulsively lick.
If such a situation arises, contact your trusted veterinarian to resolve the problem and to make pregnancy a wonderful time for the mother-to-be as well as for the dog.
