Dogs can talk now. It’s a thing.
If you spend any time on social media, you have by now been treated to the wonderment-inducing delight of either Stella @hunger4words or Bunny @whataboutbunny speaking quite clearly with their owners by pressing buttons that “speak” the word that’s written on them.
Stella is a Blue Heeler/ Catahoula mix, who’s human mother happens to be a speech-language pathologist, named Christina Hunger. Soon after adopting the puppy, she realized her dog was demonstrating some of the same communication skills toddlers use before they start using actual words. So hunger decided to use the AAC (augmentative and alternative communication devices) that she used as a therapist to help her patients to express themselves.
Most intelligent dogs have a vocabulary of 165 words they understand. So Hunger decided to use speech “buttons” to teach Stella to use some of these words. The experiment was a stunning success and now Stella regularly communicates to her human parents with dozens of words and creates phrases, as well, to make herself understood.
What does a dog talk about? Not surprisingly, Stella wants to have her needs met. “Mom, outside, now. Come play. Stella hungry now. Stella mad! When Hunger asks why she answers that she wants food and Hunger realizes that because she hasn’t left the house to go to work as usual Stella did not get her goodbye treat.
Any successful dog parent might argue they have no trouble understanding their pet’s non-verbal communication and I would agree that there is a strong bond between pets and their owners that allows them to understand each other. But why not give the animals the tools to go further with their ability to communicate?
Take Bunny for example. She is a Sheep-a-doodle, also adopted as a puppy and given the button tools at an early age. A recent exchange between Bunny and her owner, Alexis Devine, went something like this. Bunny was barking like crazy at the friends who were visiting the neighbor next door because she perceived them as strangers ( a word she uses regularly). After being brought inside she asked for “more look”. Alexis told her that she couldn’t go outside because she was too mad. Bunny then goes to her word board, takes a moment, then pushes the “happy” button. Her mother laughs and then lets her out, not fully trusting she won’t continue to be “mad” at the strangers. Instead, the dog stands on her hind legs and greets the people next door with a wagging tail.
Bunny seems to have quite a lot of curiosity as to what she is in relation to her human parents. After learning the words human and animal there are a number of videos where she’s asking Alexis to sort out her role as friend, family, dog, or human. And she’s working out the concept of time, including conjugating the verb is, as in “today is” and “tomorrow was”. Alexis corrects her on that one. Bunny is very smart.
The latest completely adorable entry into the chatty dog society is a little terrier named Bastian(@bastianandbrews). If a terrier could verbalize I would imagine he would be just as frenetic and repetitive as Bastian is with his buttons. He’ll push treat, dinner, fridge, treats over and over, until he gets a response. He’s also from New York and has some attitude, go figure. In one interaction with his pet parent, he asks for food for the cat, Kiley. She had recently been diagnosed with kidney disease and he started advocating for water for her as well.
Bastian’s buttons were brought along on a camping trip and when he asks for his “fridge” treats and is told there is no fridge but there will be tomorrow when they get home he responds with the following button communication- “Okay, okay, okay, later, inside.”
It’s endlessly entertaining to follow these verbal interactions between humans and dogs, but it’s fascinating to take a step back and realize the concepts and constructs the dogs are understanding and utilizing. Love, time, different species, using words as a way of getting their needs met and expressing their feelings. We have taught dogs many things over hundreds of years and they are keen observers of our behavior, but this new ability may mark a radical change in our understanding of how intelligent they really are. ]
And oh, by the way, there’s now a cat @Billispeaks and a trio of birds that can read. @myreadingpets. Although come to think of it, birds have been talking with us for a very long time. And they actually do speak.
