Community post

Who needs pregnancy tests when I have my dog?

I've found my German Shepherd girl, who's name is Ninja, seems much more reliable in confirming pregnancy than many pregnancy tests out there. Now let me make this clear, I am not saying she knows what is different is in fact pregnancy. It should also be said that all dogs will have their own reaction (if any) to the changes they sense. Dogs do sense a change in your scent due to hormones, but I wouldn't think they know exactly why.

During my pregnancy (that did unfortunately fail), before I was even aware I was pregnant, my dog Ninja became extremely close. She had started to show extreme concern for me to an extent that is not typical for her.

Let's break her obsession into four parts - Sniffing, Staring, Hovering, and Stubbornness

Sniffing:
One of the first signs of odd behavior was the excessive sniffing of my body. Now these weren't the usual quick in-out-in-out sniffs dogs usually do. She would brace herself physically to prevent me from being able to push her away, shove her face against me, and take in a very deep inhale that would make her nose feel like it was suctioning to my body as a turned on vacuum hose placed on your clothes would. She is always very in tune with smells and can smell the slightest things, but the way she sniffed was very extreme and unusual for any dog.

Staring:
She quickly added another quirky behavior to her sniffing which is the staring. Her eyes were on me at all times as though something bad would happen the moment she blinked. I like to take naps and my three dogs love to take them with me. She started skipping being involved in the group napping sessions so she could sit by my side of the bed and stare at me the entire nap. I started catching on so when I would wake up I would stay very still, I thought maybe she was reacting to my sudden movement. I was as sneaky as I could be opening one eye half way. What I always saw was her sitting near my bed staring directly at me, or her head would be resting on the bed in front of my face watching me inches away. Maybe it was getting hard to hold her head up after all this look-out....the bed was almost a brace for her head so she could relax and keep an eye on me at the same time. I love you Ninja, but it was creepy at times.....

Hovering:
This girl never left my side. She even insisted on being in the bathroom with me when I prefer privacy. I would have to trick her and run quick into the bathroom to try and close the door before she came in. She is quick and it usually resulted in her getting part of her body in preventing me from closing the door all the way leading to her barging her way in. The one time she would sleep was durning the regular nights sleep - but she went to the extreme with her new obsession even then. She found the best way to be sure she was near while sleeping was to share a pillow with me. She usually is a foot of the bed sleeper and even when we try to cuddle and pet her to keep her near, as soon as we stop petting her she moves to the foot of the bed. It made sleeping hard with her now insisting on sharing my side of the bed (and pillow) sleeping like a human does. I'd wake up in the middle of the night with her entire body laid out like a human press against me with no space in between us from head to toe.

Stubbornness:
By the time I found out I was pregnant her watchful obsession had become just that - a full blown obsession. She made it her new job to be with me under all circumstances when my husband wasn't home. My husband works random eight hour shifts. Sometimes nights, days...it's just very random. She would now refuse during his entire eight hour shifts, whenever they took place, to go outside with my other dogs to use the bathroom. In any given shift I could sometimes succeed once or twice in physically shoving the 70 pounder out the deck door (nothing that would hurt her). She would put on the brakes and would try to prevent me from succeeding. I usually would resort to this after about four to five hours of her refusing as I was worried about accidents from her holding it in for so long. She is extremely smart and quickly adjusted to a way where I could no longer do this.
This next part is where I am in awe -
Ninja loves her dog food so much she has a heart attack by simply hearing the word "food". (Keep in mind her appetite remained healthy throughout this experience and she continued having her daily heart attacks during feeding times). I was now desperate to get her to go to the bathroom, so I did what usually works - I threw a couple kibble onto the deck and the only reaction I got was her look that says "Nice try, I'm not leaving you in here alone." After this failed I thought I would give her a bribe she couldn't turn down. I started filling a couple cups worth of food (equaling to one meal session for her) and tossed the kibble everywhere onto the deck. The dog I knew that would have always run out to clean off the deck met my bribe with not even a flinch. In fact she kept her eyes fixed on me the entire time and stayed true to her stubbornness sitting in a spot there was no way I could push her out the door. Ninja normally puts Scout (one of my other dogs) in his place when he comes near any food. I was in awe, she didn't fall for it and didn't even care Kiba and Scout were eating up all the kibble on the deck without her. I think Scout was in heaven not having to be bullied by her while eating an unexpected awesome treat.

Eventually I had a miscarriage. My hormone levels depleted and disappeared quickly and her behavior lightened up as my HCG levels dropped. She now is enjoying the group naps again and is going to the bathroom outside whenever she needs. This makes me happy.

I fear for her during my next pregnancy. I hope to be pregnant for nine months....how on Earth will she handle nine months of no bathroom breaks or group naps?

3 Replies • 11 years ago

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