So I just came "home" for Christmas, the highlight of which is always seeing my dog, who lives with my grandmother. I Just got suddenly worried and desperately sad at the possibility that she might not recognize me by appearance, voice, or smell if I start T while I'm living out of town and only visiting her a couple of times a year.

It was a random thing I've never considered before, and i wonder if I'm just worrying over nothing.

Hard to say. I would say that you probably shouldn't worry except for the fact that when I tried transition the first time I had moved out of home and even though I visited my folks regularly in guy mode my cat, who needed to stay with them, became increasingly distant towards me. That could have been for any number of reason, probably because he was getting really old (14-15) and possibly going a bit senile. Maybe because I wasn't the one feeding him every morning and night. Hard to say. I did change physically (and no doubt my smell too) so maybe he was responding to that. But he didn't treat me as a stranger, just someone he didn't care about much. Typical cat!!

Hard to say. But the dog will respond to you differently for sure, my dog got more affectionate with me and recognized me as the alpha 1 month on T.

My cats have become super clingy. I have 3 and now they want to sleep with me, lay on top of me, cuddle with me 24/7. They normally were very distant and only asked for things like, food/water/clean litter box. Now, I wake up and they are under my sheets snuggling with me. Actually, as I'm typing this I'm fighting with my youngest cat because she keeps wanting to sit on my hands and I'm trying to type. lol

Quote from: Marcellow on December 25, 2014, 05:30:55 PM
Hard to say. But the dog will respond to you differently for sure, my dog got more affectionate with me and recognized me as the alpha 1 month on T.

Perhaps you started presenting more "alpha" after you started T?  I really don't think there is a connection with testoerone/males and animals reading us as alphas.  I don't think our dogs are sexist. 

Quote from: pianoforte on December 25, 2014, 05:18:44 PM
So I just came "home" for Christmas, the highlight of which is always seeing my dog, who lives with my grandmother. I Just got suddenly worried and desperately sad at the possibility that she might not recognize me by appearance, voice, or smell if I start T while I'm living out of town and only visiting her a couple of times a year.

It was a random thing I've never considered before, and i wonder if I'm just worrying over nothing.

I think you are worrying over nothing.  I wrote a thread about my dog having a funny reaction one day after I had just started T.  I had taken my shot, went to the gym, and didn't shower at the gym (so I was sweaty when I got home).  He got really hyper for the day and didn't want to sit next to me, but wanted to play like mad.  Except for that day he is not any less affectionate and still just as attached.

I can't imagine a dog no longer "knowing you".  My GF says I still smell like me, just "muskier".     I'm still early out though.

This is an interesting question, and one I was worried about.  My situation was different in that my dog lives with me, but I was unsure if she would react different after I started HRT.  I answer was it did not phase her.  I think it is likely that I still smelled enough like me after I started HRT that she knew it was me.  In my case it would have not been an instantaneous change, so that part is different.

My family has a cat that used to follow me around, sleep in my bed and sit in my lap all the time when I lived with my parents. She would do the same things whenever I visited after I moved out before starting hormones. After I started hormones she would growl or hiss at me like I'm a stranger in the house when I came over. On the other hand my 2 cats I live with never really changed their behaviors towards me.

I was terrified my bestest bunny friend would hate me once I started T. Rabbits, being prey animals, react much more strongly to changes than dogs and cats do and can be very finicky and skittish. And they do have an incredible sense of smell that they really depend on.

He adores me still. I was so relieved, I'd be completely lost without him. But I do live with him, we share a bedroom. It could take some adjustment if you're away most of the time. Could you maybe go visit your dog every few months in the beginning? Or, if your grandmother is supportive, send her a worn shirt every few weeks for your dog to cuddle with. I've heard of people doing that even when nothing changed except they were going to be away from their pets for an extended period of time.

Neither of my animals (2 cats and a dog) appeared to notice, well not quite true, one of my cats became more amorous. LOL. But I have heard guys say that their animals did notice and some became temporarily, at least, more scared of them. I believe that in some cases you might need to reacquaint yourself. IF that's the case, dogs esp are very interested in being friends. I think cats are a little slower to handle changes, but I believe even then that cats are more interested in their surroundings being familiar.
I have no experience with rabbits.

I agree with sending clothes back and some time.

--Jay

I hope my pets don't notice, since both my cat and dog love cuddling up next to me.

I've actually wondered this same exact thing about my dog. He's 14 years old so I wonder how he will respond to me the longer I'm on T.

I'm almost four months on T and my dog and cat haven't changed at all their behavior towards me; they're still very very affectionate with me, and these months while on T I only saw them like every other weekend so they must have noticed some changes. Now they're living with me.

I started T right before I left for college and after the semester was over, my pets were if anything more affectionate. Whether that's T or just being away I don't know. One of my dogs seemed a bit confused when she first smelled me but they were all super happy to see me. One of my dogs is a huge baby and he gets scared easily, he likes to go cuddle with my step dad for comfort, and he's been coming to me more since I started T. If I'm in the room and my step dad isn't, and he gets scared, he comes straight to me instead of running off to my step dad like he used to. He's more affectionate towards me now. None of my 5 pets had a negative reaction. Just one dog and one cat were momentarily confused, but they definitely recognized me.