A woman from Sweden had dog lovers welling up online after revealing the special way her Labrador showed he knew she was pregnant.
Mikaela Bätz, 37, shared footage to TikTok showing the adorable way her 7-year-old pet pooch Elvis interacted with her now-4-month-old daughter Lilly, when she was still in the womb.
Bätz is a mother of three but would probably say it is more like four with Elvis around. “For me, family life and dog life are one and the same—Elvis is very much a part of our family,” Bätz told Newsweek. “One of my dreams is to one day live on a big plot of land with several dogs. It might feel far away right now, but one can always dream!”
TikTok/@elvisbatzthelab
Bätz grew up around dogs and had fond memories of her grandmother’s Labrador. So when she and husband Tobias bought their first house together, it wasn’t long before they began searching for a canine companion, having agreed upon the idea of getting a black Labrador.
In early 2018, they got the email they had been dreaming of from a local kennel: a litter of black Labrador puppies had been born and there was a boy waiting to meet them. “It was love at first sight,” Bätz said. “That was our Elvis. He was 8 weeks old when he came home with us.”
Elvis loves all the things you would expect from a dog: swimming, games of fetch and long walks. But if there is one thing he loves more than anything in life, it’s his family.
“He’s happiest and most content when the whole family is together,” Bätz said.
Bätz and Tobias already had a daughter, Mira, 15, by the time Elvis became part of the family. However, he’s been on hand to witness the arrival of younger brother Ted, 6, and Lilly, who is soon to be 4 months old.
That’s when the “booping” first started: to Bätz’s way of thinking it was Elvis’s way of telling her he “knew” she was pregnant. “The booping actually started when I was pregnant with Ted,” Bätz said. “Elvis loved resting his head on or near my belly. I used to tell him, ‘There’s a baby in there,’ because I always speak to Elvis like he’s one of my children. Eventually, I could just ask, “Where’s the baby?” and he would gently boop my belly with his nose.”
Experts have long-debated whether dogs can tell if a human companion is pregnant. Dr. Rachel Barrack, DVM, owner of Animal Acupuncture in New York City, told the American Kennel Club that any change in canine behavior is “likely due to the scent and your hormones, as well as possible changes in your mood.”
Dogs also pick up on changes around the home. “Your dog is smart enough to pick up on these changes during pregnancy, both in a physical way—which is how your body will be changing, your stomach, your smell—and in an emotional way, such as your feelings and your mood,” Barrack said.
Seeing Elvis respond in this way while she was carrying Ted was special, but it was even more magical when it started happening while Bätz was pregnant with Lily. “He remembered,” she said. “It was incredibly sweet and moving—and pretty convincing that he knew exactly who was in there. Even now, if I ask ‘Where’s the baby?’ he’ll boop Lilly.”
Elvis has a special bond with Lily. “He’s very attentive,” Bätz said. “He’s amazing with children—he truly loves them. With Lilly, he’s very attentive. He often lies next to her, always stays by my chair when I’m breastfeeding, and if she cries because of tummy pain, he comes running. But if she’s just mad or loud—he doesn’t bother, haha. He can tell the difference.”
Bätz loves watching back the videos of Elvis booping Lily in her belly, so had no hesitation about sharing the footage to TikTok under the handle elvisbatzthelab. The clip went viral, amassing 1.6 million views and plenty of tears among those watching online. “Such a good boy,” one viewer wrote, with another declaring: “we don’t deserve dogs.”
“I still get teary-eyed every time I watch it,” Bätz said. “I want to show how gentle and intelligent Elvis is—and really, how wonderful dogs can be. There’s so much negativity in the world right now, and we want to be a little bright spot on social media.”
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