behaviour change during my pregnancy

Question
We have an intact 3 and a half year old male akita.  He has always had a fabulous temperament with no behaviour issues and up until we found out I was pregnant, lived indoors with us, going outside only to walk or go to the toilet.  When I found out we were having a baby, I wanted to make changes right away so that he did not associate the baby with any changes.

We started by gently moving him out to the yard during the day which he seemed fine with.  He has a large shed and bed etc and room to run around.  Next after a month or two he diodn't appear to want to come in at night when he was called, peferring to stay in the shed so we took this as a positive sign and started letting him stay over night in the shed.  We made sure he always got a got walk and was brought in for a few hours company with us in the evenings.

Everything was going great for about 3 months with no problems and now lately we have a ton of issues with him.  It began with him howling really loudly around 6am, I guessed because he was bored being on his own all night.  We tried to ignore it, not wanting to give him attention for this behavious but it kept up.  He also started to refuse to go outside at night when we were going to bed, getting to the point where I dreaded bed time as it was always such an issue.  My husband perservered and always made sure he went out so he did not think he could decide not to follow commands.  I however have no control over him whatso ever now and he will never go outside for me if my husband is not home, so sometimes when he works late, the dog gets to sleep indoors until 2am when he gets home to put him outside.  I realise now this is confusing him.

We decided to compromise as I felt so guilty about it all and the dog obviously wasn't adjusting well to being outside so much, by allowing him to stay in the kitchen during the night.  This worked for a day or two, and now is refusing to go in the kitchen at night and as soon as he is put outdoors in the morning he is crying and howling.

I realise us not sticking to plans is confusing Simba but I just really don't know where to go from here.  I now can not trust him around a new baby as he doesn't obey us.  I tried to do my very best in preparing him and it seems all I have done is introduce behaviour problems in him we never had before.  My husband now says he will have to stay outdoors for the majority of the day as he is completly refusing to go out but I know this will make things worse.  I jsut don't know what to do to help the situation and our baby is due in 4 weeks.  I'm desperate to not have to rehome him due to these issues which are likely our fault.  He just wants to be inside all the time.  Please can you help us???

Answer
Hi Louise,

Firstly, congratulations! I hope your little one is born safe and well.

There are a couple of reasons as to why your dog has a sudden change in attitude toward his outdoor living.

Firstly, dogs can sense pregnancy. They are very instinctive creatures.
Because you are pregnant, you have hundreds of hormones running through your body at the moment, which your dog can sense. Just as animals can sense fear, they can sense changes in their owners.
I wouldn't find it worrying, more flattering than anything. However, if your dog starts showing any signs of aggression at all, even if he has the smallest growl, I would start getting worried and yes, I would consider sending him out for adoption. There is no room for aggression, not when there is a baby coming.
Any dog, whether large or small, can be dangerous near a baby. Even if the dog has never bitten or shown aggression, 24/7 supervision must always be given. That doesn't mean your boy will be aggressive so do not stress for now.


The other that I am also suspecting is that there is something outside that is upsetting him. Keep an eye out and if you suspect something or someone (animal or human) is upsetting your dog, remove the problem immediately.


But let me just say that there are countless accounts of dogs acting strangely when their owner is pregnant. Your dog wanting to be inside and around you at all times is certainly not uncommon. A dog's instinct is to protect their master/s.
And we all know that in the wild, animals can act very strangely when they know a baby is coming.


Therefore, I say again that I would not worry and instead, be flattered that he is making such an absolute fuss about being with you. You are obviously loved by him. It may seem like he is being disobedient, but you must realise that he is not being disobedient for no reason. There is a very good reason and my suspicion is that it is you.
If you do not want him around, then keep him outside. But once you have your baby, things tend to go back to the norm.

Here is a site that should ease your nerves.
http://www.babycenter.com/404_can-pets-sense-pregnancy_1379572.bc


If you are still worried, please send a follow-up question.
I apologise for my tardiness. Work has been hectic as of late!

My most sincere well wishes for your coming newborn.