Introduction
How can you tell when you're dog knows, though, and can you train your pooch to provide you with a little extra comfort and love during your particularly difficult hormonal swings? We're here to give you all the answers you need. Read on to get the skinny on how your dog will likely react to your hormone changes, how they can tell, and how you can train them to help you during your hormonal times!
Signs Your Dog Senses Your Hormones
Sure, your dog probably doesn't fully understand what those things mean, but they do know that something different is going on than usual.
Your dog will probably let you know they can detect a difference by giving you a pretty obsessive dose of sniffing and licking. That's right, you can expect your dog to get all up in your business - speaking of which, you can probably expect that your dog will get up close and personal with some of your hormonal zones, so keep a lookout for doggo snouts trying nose into places they don't belong.
Your dog also might try to give you extra comfort and love - they might nuzzle up with you, give you kisses, or just try to be closer to you than normal because they're detecting a physiological and hormonal shift.
Body Language
- Alert
- Sniffing
- Tail up
- Licking
- Ears up
- Tongue hanging
- Nose wrinkled
Other Signs
- Excessive sniffing and licking
- Putting their snout where it doesn't belong
- Forgetting about personal space
- Extra comfort and attention
The History of Dogs' Sense of Smell
Because dogs evolved from wolves, they have a heightened sense of smell that many other domesticated animals do not. Dogs have been used in law enforcement since the early 14th century for hunting, guarding, and tracking down criminals. In fact, a gang of specially trained Bloodhounds can be credited for tracking down the notorious Jack the Ripper in the 1880s in London.
Additionally, the United States employed dog's noses in World War II to detect German mines in North Africa. Now, dogs are even used to detect cancer in its earliest stages just by smelling blood, urine, or specific lab samples.
Science Behind Dogs Sensing Female Hormones
That being said, it's not unbelievable that dogs would be able to smell small, physical changes that are happening in our bodies (that we're not even fully aware of). When our hormones change, micro-chemicals are released - and though we can't smell these small changes, our dogs definitely can. So, when your female hormones are changing, balancing out, or are completely out of whack, you're releasing small odors that your dog can certainly pick up on.
Training Your Dog to Sense Hormones
If you're looking for a more casual approach to training your dog to seek out particular scents, you can certainly do this at home. First, we suggest training your dog to recognize that playing with a certain toy counts as a reward. Every time your dog does something good, give him or her a particular toy and play for awhile. Do this consistently.
Once your dog understands the toy is the reward, introduce the toy with the scent you're hoping to train your dog to detect. Make sure your dog understands the two are related through even more play and reward behavior.
Next, start hiding the toy and the scent. When your dog recovers it, reward them with the toy. Once your dog can do this consistently, stop hiding the toy and let your dog track down the scent by itself. When your dog does this, reward them with the toy. Repeat this process until your dog can consistently track down the scent.
How to React if Your Dog is Sniffing Out Your Female Hormones
-
Don't punish your dog for alerting you to changes in your body.
-
Make sure your dog knows that just because he or she can sense your hormones changing doesn't mean that they can go sniffing around rudely.
-
Allow your dog to comfort and cuddle if they want to.
-
Work on training your dog to hold back on the sniffing and licking if it's getting in your way, but reward your dog for alerting you to a change