Pregnancy and Newf behaviour

[Charlie'sMom]

Hey,

I haven't been posting much lately, I still lurk around and read things, but have spending more time on trying to conceive and then pregnancy boards. After a 13 month struggle to conceive, me and Troy have finally gotten lucky (without fertility treatment - YAY) and I am 9 weeks pregnant.

Charlie has been acting really odd around me ever since a couple weeks in. I have been really ill (lots of morning aka all the time sickness), extremely tired etc, and I am not sure if it is contributing to his behaviour.

He stares at me a lot, but won't come up and cuddle with me. He will take a pet, but won't get really close and snuggle, when he lays on the bed, instead of coming up and putting his head on my chest, he lays on the end of the bed, facing away from me and not touching me.

He is behaving the same as usual with Troy, the cat, visitors etc. So the new behaviour is isolated to me.

Did anyone experience something like this when they were pregnant? I don't know what to do except for to give him space to figure me out and hope he comes around ...

 

[new_2_newf]

I'm not sure if Nessa will see this or not, but I am pretty sure her boy Pooka knew she was pregnant before she did, or at least before she was able to take a pregnancy test. I am confident he knows something is different, he can likely smell the difference. It might take him a little while to adjust to the 'new you', but he also may be treating you rather delicately because of your pregnancy. And congratulations I really, really hope everything works out for the best and you have a little bundle of joy in the spring

 

[ElvisTheNewf]

Congrats!! No advice as we don't have babies yet, but I'm excited to see the answers you get.

 

[pabusinesswoman]

Congrats!

I did not have newfs at the time of pregnancy, but the chow became my shadow. She had to follow me to every room...but... . she wasn't real touchy feely .She knew something was different and went into protection mode. Her job was to make sure I was "safe". Touchy/ feely may get her off guard.

When Savannah came she slept beside the crib and there was not going to be anyone who dare touched that baby that was not supposed to.. that was her new found job... to protect that baby... and until she died.. she took it very seriously.

Anyone that rough housed too much with the baby was barked at and told to knock it off.. any time Savannah cried and she did not think I moved quick enough, she came to find me. When Sadie came and was in crazy puppy mode with one bark, Kayra would correct her.

 

[R Taft]

Congratulations.........

 

[Ksullivan]

Congratulations!! With my daughters 1st pregnancy they had a Min Pin, and she got very protective of my daughter toward the end of the pregnancy. She wouldn't even let my daughters husband touch my daughter. Then when my grandson was born, she didn't like anyone outside of the immediate family holding him.
I do believe they sence the pregnancy.

 

[mulenag]

So happy for you on the pregnancy!!! Congrats! Best wishes!

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

I was already (6 months) pregnant when Mila came into my life so I have no idea whether she knew or not, but I will say that the amount of hormonal changes that occur in your body during pregnancy is comparable only to puberty. I have no doubt that at the very least, Charlie (or any dog for that matter) can detect that sudden and dramatic shift by scent. Even if he doesn't quite understand what that change means, he absolutely would know that something is different.

Also, CONGRATULATIONS!!! I remember you posting a couple times before in the past referencing your efforts to start a family and I always wondered, but obviously wouldn't want to ask you VERY good news!

 

[padkins]

Congratulations! :bear:

 

[Bucephalus]

Congratulations!

 

[LoveLandseers]

YAYYYY Congrats! I'm 21 weeks along and I think Morris has been a little more protective but otherwise clueless.

 

[drulzelot]

Congratulations! I hope he gets back to snuggling once he realizes you're okay. My guess is he smells something "different" about you, like the others have said. Wishing you the very best!

Congratulations to you, too, Amy,Tom, and Morris!

 

[Charlie'sMom]

Thanks for all the well wishes! We are obviously thrilled, and so far everything is going well, an early ultrasound showed a healthy little bean with a great heart rate, and I get another one in a week.

I am sure he can sense something is off, several times, when he hasn't thought I was paying attention he has given me a thorough sniff (when I was in bed falling asleep). This morning while I was in the throws of morning sickness, he was really sniffing me, and then settled in sitting with his back pressed against my side, so that is a little progress. Usually he lays down outside the bathroom door when I am being sick.

There is just a lot of staring, and being not as cuddly in general (like usually we have a nightly cuddle on the bed where he puts his head on my chest and lays with me for about 20 minutes). The nightly cuddle hasn't happened since around the time I got a positive test (which was extremely early in the pregnancy - basically as early as they recommend testing). He will cuddle with Troy when I am not in bed, so my scent in the bed isn't deterring him.

I guess I feel a little rejected, I was essentially single when I got him, so he is more my dog than Troy's and now I feel like he is abandoning me or something. I just hope he decides he likes me again soon (LOL).

 

[KodysGrandma]

He still loves you, perhaps he's not sure if you love him. Just a thought.

 

[new_2_newf]

I'm sure he still loves you, he just doesn't understand exactly whats happening yet. Once you guys are a little more comfortable with the stability of your pregnancy (if I were in your shoes, I think I'd be walking on freaking egg shells after everything), I bet things will settle down. Hopefully the morning sickness passes soon!

 

[NinaA]

Congratulations. I suspect, also, that you smell funny. You are throwing up and feel bad and he's sure to know that, too. As said above, as things settle down some, he'll feel better, too. Newfs are great with babies and children they "own", so you can look forward to a wonderful experience.

 

[NessaM]

Pooka did know before we did, both times I got pregnant. I didnt know what his behavior meant the first time around, the second time, when he started with the protective barking and standing between me & strangers I went out and bought a pregnancy test.

You smell different. You are acting differently, and he may just be giving you space until you feel better. Most female dogs become total psychopaths when they are ill or pregnant, he may instinctively be trying to save himself from getting his nose figuratively snapped off.

Just make an effort, when the vomiting stops, to do special things with him, and he will adjust to the new normal.

 

[mcjhannon]

Congratulations! Such happy news! I hope you're feeling better!
I think Oliver knew something was different for sure. He was very gentle with me and didn't rough house with me. I was so tired in the beginning, I would sleep everyday after work when normally I would have been out walking him. The funny thing is, he didn't complain. He would come take a nap with me on the bed and then perk up when my husband got home and pester him for a walk and a wrestle. He did sniff me a lot and I always wondered if he could hear the heartbeats when his head was near my stomach.
I was on bed rest for a month at the end and again, he was really patient and would spend a lot of time napping next to the couch. He wouldn't come ask me for a walk or to be let out but would wait until someone else was in the room to ask. It was like he knew I wasn't allowed to haul my huge belly off the couch
He's been really great since we've brought the babies home. Very patient and gentle with them. I think the crying gets to him sometimes but at most, he sighs and leaves the room for a bit. Amidst all the chaos, we've tried to maintain his regular schedule of exercise so he's always got that to look forward to.
Best of luck for the upcoming months!

 

[Charlie'sMom]

Thanks for the support, Charlie has started treating me normally again. He sometimes still gives me weird extended sniffs, but he is back to cuddling with me, and playing with me, and isn't staring at me as much anymore (though he still does from time to time).

We did have an incident this weekend where we were playing on the floor, and he tried to jump over me, missed and landed with both back feet on my lower abdomen. I got checked out and baby is fine, but I know now that I have to stop playing with him on the floor, because accidents happen.

I hope that he adjusts well once the baby is here, I am sure he will because he LOVES babies, but we are really working on re-enforcing the gentle command before the time comes!

 

[YorkvilleNewfie]

Ooh, scary...certainly glad that all is well!

I always recommend teaching a command that's sort of like Leave It. My girl will lick and lick and lick the baby, forever, if I let her. So I had to teach her "Enough", which means, stop licking and step away from the baby. Very helpful if you have a Newf that can overwhelm people or little ones with it's love Gentle is good too!