Does Your Dog Know You’re Pregnant?

You can't talk to your pets—yet— luckily, there are experts who can help us translate dog and cat.
writer Catherine Zuckerman came to us with a question about her house-trained Coton de Tulear, Zucco.

Zuckerman, who's pregnant, is confused why Zucco has started urinating in her daughter's playroom. She wondered whether the dog is aware of her pregnancy.

Her first task should be a trip to the veterinarian to rule out medical problems, such as a urinary tract infection, says Carlo Siracusa, a University of Pennsylvania veterinarian and animal behaviorist.

Barring a health issue, it's possible that Zucco can detect the hormonal changes caused by Zuckerman's pregnancy, and may be behaving differently in response. For instance, dogs whose owners begin hormonal treatments sometimes deviate from their normal behavior, says Siracusa.

In addition to their keen sense of smell, dogs are very intuitive, and can notice changes in their humans' actions and routines, notes Dennis Turner, of the Institute for applied Ethology and Animal Psychology in Horgen, Switzerland.