A definitive guide and workbook for training your dog to talk using button communication, from the It’s a question that has crossed every dog owner''s mind: What would it be like to know what my dog is thinking? In For the first time in history, we have a window into our dogs’ minds and can hear firsthand how they’re experiencing the environment we share with them. When we know exactly what our pets need and are thinking about, we can better care for them, strengthen our bond, and create a relationship grounded in mutual respect and communication.; <Teach Your Dog to Talk< is an indispensable resource for long-time dog owners, new puppy parents, and everyone in between. Using the methods she developed with her own dog, Stella, Hunger shows readers how to create an easy-to-implement speech training plan for their beloved pups. Filled with simple explanations, realistic goals for owners, and step-by-step instructions, as well as helpful anecdotes from Hunger’s own experiences working with thousands of dogs, <Teach Your Dog to Talk< makes button communication more understandable and accessible than ever before.

Autorentext

Christina Hunger

Leseprobe
Introduction

When I was twenty-four years old, I made a decision in a grocery store parking lot that changed the course of my life and the world forever. I said yes to bringing home Stella, an adorable eight-week-old puppy that my boyfriend and I had fallen in love with.

At the time, I was working as a pediatric speech-language pathologist. Specifically, I helped nonverbal children learn to talk using communication devices. These devices looked like iPads with hundreds of icons, each representing a different word. When the child pressed a button, the device would say the word, allowing the child to express their thoughts, needs, and wants with words for the first time in their lives.

All day, every day, I focused on communication at work. When I came home at night, I couldn’t turn this part of my brain off. Within a week of adopting our new puppy, Stella, I had a lightbulb moment: If dogs can understand the words we say to them, why can’t they say words back to us? I noticed Stella pawing at her water dish when it was empty, gesturing that she needed more. I saw that she was starting to understand the words we were saying to her frequently. I observed Stella barking to get our attention and using different barks for different reasons. I noticed just how many similarities Stella shared with babies and toddlers right before they start talking.

All these observations led me to try something that had never been done before. I decided to see what would happen if I used my skills as a speech therapist with Stella. Could I teach her to “talk” using a communication device? Could Stella learn to communicate with words if she had a way to say them? I put my questions to the test, creating a device for her by adapting the technology I used with children and teaching her words in ways similar to how I taught children every day.

Fast-forward to now, just seven years after I programmed my first few buttons for Stella. She has learned to use fifty different words independently. She combines words every day to create her own phrases and short sentences. Stella asks and answers questions, makes comments about what is happening around her, and says how she feels, all thanks to speech therapy.

After my work with Stella became public in 2019, hundreds of thousands of dogs and their humans have followed in Stella’s and my footsteps, creating a global talking dog movement. My first book, How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog, hit the New York Times bestseller list as soon as it was published in 2021, and videos of talking dogs under the hashtag hunger4words have been viewed over 1 billion times across social media platforms. A study involving thousands of dogs who use buttons to communicate is under way. Research has been published showing that dogs do understand the button words and are creating meaningful, intentional word combinations. I founded the Hunger for Words Talking Pet line of buttons that is sold by major retailers globally, and have spent years working with individual pet parents teaching their own dogs to talk.

Talking dogs are changing the world as we know it. For the first time in history, we have a window into our dogs’ minds and can hear firsthand how they’re experiencing the environment we share with them. Dogs are using buttons to communicate about concepts that researchers once thought were too advanced for dogs to comprehend, such as time, emotions, and people or places not in their current environment. When we know exactly what our pets need and are thinking about, we can better care for them, strengthen our bond, and create a relationship grounded in mutual respect and communication. When dogs have access to say the words they’re understanding, they have agency and autonomy, experience far less frustration from being misunderstood, and become active participants in their lives.

Your Dog Can Talk is the culmination of my years spent studying and practicing speech-language pathology, developing a button communication system for Stella and other dogs to use words, working individually with pet owners, and observing the patterns of thousands of dogs who have used my strategies.

With this book, I invite you to join the talking dog movement to hear what your own dog has to say. The guidance you’ll find throughout this book will support you through your entire teaching journey, no matter which stage of learning your pet is in. This guidebook is designed to be a resource you can read and work within as you teach, return to when you have a question or are seeking inspiration, and serve as a keepsake for years to come of your dog’s progress.

Part One, “Beginning Learners,” will teach you how to recognize your dog’s current communication patterns, introduce buttons in the most effective and meaningful ways, and guide you through the exciting first-word milestone. Part Two, “Intermediate Learners,” provides expert guidance as you watch your dog blossom into an independent talker, introduce more types of vocabulary, and teach your dog to use words in more complex ways than simply requesting an object or action. Part Three, “Advanced Learners,” equips you with everything you need to engage in short conversations with your pet, teach advanced concepts, and work toward becoming a proficient button communicator.

When we believe in our pets’ potential to learn and in our own potential to teach, extraordinary things can happen. I’m so excited to support your button communication journey—let’s get started!