4 minute read
Stella, The Talking Dog Putting mom’s speech therapy
We all know dogs understand us. We know they respond to our voice commands, our body language—and seemingly our thoughts! But what if we could teach our dogs to not only respond, but to initiate conversations with us—to talk to us? Not with nudges to our legs, pushes with noses to our arms, or with whimpers, barks, or intense eye contact.
What if they could be taught to communicate with us with words? What if they could tell us how they are feeling; are they happy, sad, mad? What if they could choose words to specifically tell us what they’d like to
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do, where they’d like to go, what they’d like to eat?
Think of a toddler you know or one you interacted with in the past. Was that child able to speak to you in five-word sentences? Did the child get frustrated when you didn’t know what her baby talk meant? Did you ever interact with an older child or an adult with special needs who had limited verbal skills?
If you answered yes to any of these situations, you will know it takes a person with special language skills to be able to understand what is being communicated and to teach strategies that enable verbally challenged individuals to communicate. To speak.
Enter Christina Hunger, a speech-language pathologist from San Diego, who uses adaptive devices to work with one- and two-year-old children to help them communicate.
And enter her dog, Stella, a Catahoula/Blue Heeler mix, who at age eight weeks began benefitting from her mom’s expertise. Christina wondered if she could use an adaptive device with her pup, similar to what she used with her children. In short, could she teach Stella to speak? Christina decided to see if it was possible. She devised a custom-made “soundboard” for Stella. The device is made up of colorful “buttons,” in which Christina has pre-recorded specific words such as beach, play, tired, water, and sad. Next to each button is the corresponding word. When Stella wants to “talk,” she simply steps on the button that expresses what she wishes to “say.”
One of the first words she learned was walk. Christina said Stella was so happy she ran back and forth to her soundboard and used the word over and over.
Big deal, you may be thinking. We all know when we say the word walk, our dogs go nuts. They grab their leashes and run back and forth, telling us they’re ready to go.
But do our dogs know how to tell us they want a walk to the beach as opposed to the park, that they want a drink first, or that they’re sad and want a hug before walking?
These are the kinds of advancements Christina is making with Stella, who is now a 50-pound dog, knows at least 29 words, and can combine up to five words
that mimic phrases and sentences. An example of Stella’s use of language happened one day when she was pacing back and forth and whining at the front door. Christina assumed Stella wanted to go outside. But instead, Stella went to her soundboard and tapped her paw on three consecutive words: want, Jake, and come. She then stood at the front door and waited for Jake, Christina’s fiancé, to come home. When he arrived, she immediately went to her soundboard and punched happy, and rolled over for a belly rub.
Stella also shows her displeasure when one of the buttons malfunctions and she is unable to say what’s on her mind. When beach did not light up and make a sound, she got around the problem by stepping on outside and water. But first she stepped on mad! Come on, Mom; come and fix this button!
Christina is both shocked and amazed at the progress Stella is making. “Every day she says something cooler than she said the day before.” Christina wants to teach other dogs to “speak” and has a blog , Hunger for Words, which documents Stella’s skills and the techniques used to enhance her ability to communicate using words.
"I think of how important dogs are to their humans,” Christina explains. “I just imagine how much deeper the bond will be.”
So, if some morning before your walk, you’d like your best friend to strike up a conversation, just bring out his soundboard and grab a cup of coffee and listen. It just may be the best conversation you’ll have all day.
Judy Force, DVM FAVD, DAVDC Diplomate, American Veterinary Dental College
Practice devoted to dentistry & oral surgery
