A golden retriever's reaction to her owner's pregnant belly moving has TikTokers in tears

• Liz Lovery shared a video of her dog, Winnie, reacting to her pregnant belly after the baby kicked.
• In the now-viral TikTok, Winnie stops and stares at Lovery's bump before nuzzling into it.

A TikTok video appears to show the moment a dog realized her owner was pregnant — and her sweet reaction has gone viral.

Liz Lovery, who is eight months pregnant, was snuggling with her golden retriever, Winnie, when the baby started kicking. As a TikTok video shows, Winnie looked around after apparently feeling the movement. She then snuggled in closer, leaning her head against Lovery's belly.

"My dog realizing that I'm pregnant," Lovery captioned the video, which has been viewed more than 1.7 million times as of Tuesday.

Later in the video, 1-year-old Winnie gets up and looks at Lovery's belly, while putting a paw on her shoulder. She then leans her head against Lovery's belly.

"I'm actually crying this is so so so sweet," another TikTok user commented.

Lovery told Insider that she wasn't surprised by Winnie's reaction as she's "naturally very intuitive and curious," whereas her other dog, 5-year-old Teddy, "is still oblivious to the pregnancy."

"But I was glad to have captured those moments on camera since her reaction was incredibly heartwarming," she said, adding: "I'm glad [she's] so in-tune with me that she was able to figure out what was going on."

Lovery, who lives in San Diego, California, is expecting her first child, a daughter, in August, and Winnie definitely knows something's up.

"If anything, I'd say she follows me from room to room MORE than she did before," Lovery said.

There's no research that decisively indicates dogs can sense a pregnancy, but there are plenty of anecdotal examples

People have shared their experiences of dogs becoming more affectionate or protective after their owner's pregnancy. Other pregnant people have claimed their dogs knew of their pregnancy before they did.

"Although there isn't clear research to confirm dogs' ability to sniff out pregnancy, there are lots of anecdotal reports," Philippa Pavia, a board-certified veterinary surgeon and the vice president of medical strategy at Bond Vet in New York City, previously told Insider.

And while there is no study proving dogs can smell hormonal changes in pregnant people, evidence suggests dogs do pick up on other human hormones, in addition to other scent changes.

"In pregnancy, a woman's hormonal milieu changes so dramatically that it would make sense that our canine friends would pick up on that scent difference," Rebecca Greenstein, a veterinary medical advisor for Rover, previously told Insider.

Rachel Barrack, a doctor of veterinary medicine, agreed that although a dog may detect changes in a person's scent when they are pregnant, it is unlikely the dog understands the reason.

She added that dogs will likely sense other changes at home, however.

"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," she told the American Kennel Club.