Pregnant woman’s dog suddenly acted strange and cried near her belly — 12 hours later, she realized why

Sometimes, our pets know something’s wrong before we do. A quiet moment between a woman and her dog turned out to be far more meaningful than it first appeared. TikTok user Gianna, who goes by the handle @gpm1798, shared a video that quickly went viral after showing her dog’s surprising intuition. When she noticed her pet doodle constantly whining near her pregnant belly, she didn't know it had actually sensed something far more serious. 

In the clip, posted on August 15, 2024, Gianna is seen sitting down while her dog nestles close to her belly. The dog appears restless, whining softly, and refusing to leave her side. As she comforts him with a gentle “It’s okay,” the onscreen text reveals the deeper story, “My dog knew I was in labor.” Her furry companion’s behavior turned out to be more than just a concern; it was a sign of what was about to come. In the caption, Gianna wrote, “If it wasn’t for my dog acting weird and crying at my belly, I wouldn’t have called my doctor! My son was born 12 hours later.”

The video has since gained over 4.7 million views, with thousands of comments praising the dog’s awareness and loyalty. @niacartier767 shared a similar experience in the comment section, "My dog acted like this when I was laboring too. She was whining and howling every time I had a contraction." @notonethingywa noted, "They can hear our heartbeats, and they can smell our sugar and hormone changes in the blood. How insane that is. What an amazing dog, looking after you." @tatiannapearson3 exclaimed, "Aww, he’s trying so hard to comfort you and make sure you're okay." @twishwish wrote, "Dogs are super smellers; they can detect the tiniest changes in us, simply by smell."

Science seems to agree with the observations raised in the comments. According to a report by the National Library of Medicine, dogs can tell when people are stressed by smelling changes in their breath and sweat. In a study, four dogs correctly identified stress-related scents from 36 people with up to 94% accuracy. The researchers collected breath and sweat samples before and after a stress-inducing task, like mental math. Dogs were trained to sniff out the difference between calm and stressed samples using a special testing method. This shows that dogs can detect stress through smell, which could help in training emotional support or PTSD service dogs. 

Canine pets have also often detected a forthcoming illness. In one case, a family shared how their dogs' strange habit of licking one side of their dad’s head for nearly two years ended up being more significant than they realized. The dogs were consistently drawn to a specific spot, which turned out to be the exact location of a brain tumor, detected only after a fall led to medical tests. The family had initially thought the behavior was just quirky, but it became clear that the dogs had sensed something was wrong long before doctors did.

For more heartwarming dog content, follow @gpm1798 on TikTok.