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#1
12-09-2007, 01:02 PM
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Do You Talk to Your Dog?
I am under no illusions about canine intelligence. its just that I find my dog to be a most attentive listener. I will talk to him about my conderns, and he exhibits human-like expresseins-his ears will perk up, eyebrows will perk up, sometimes his forehead skin will furrow-as if he is pondering a difficult point. In short, he looks like many humans when you talk to them. Have dogs learned these expressions from us? Or do they puzzle over their humans, when we talk to them? Dogs learn a few command, like their names, walks, food, go out etc. What do they make of us when we send longs strings of words their way?
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#2
12-09-2007, 01:08 PM
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#3
12-09-2007, 01:10 PM
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Of course. When it's just me and the dog alone in the house, it's nice to have someone to talk to. I know she listens, because she looks at me, and I see thoughtful, measured agreement in her expression.
Or not. At any rate, I talk to the dog because of that sappy bit of prose: Speak to me often, for your voice is the world’s sweetest music, as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footsteps falls upon my waiting ear.
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#5
12-09-2007, 01:18 PM
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I talk to my cat. Does that count? Sometimes she'll chime in with a "meow!" but it's hard to tell if she's agreeing with me or telling me I'm an idiot.
Dogs do tend to be better listeners. When I had a dog he'd definitely pay attention to me when I started a conversation with him, but my cat tends to ignore me for the most part.
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#6
12-09-2007, 01:31 PM
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Sort of. I don't tell him about my day or anything, but do find myself explaining things when they concern him. For example, the other day he wanted to go for a walk (I know this because he brought his leash to me) and I told him we couldn't go right then, because [what ever the reason was], so he'd have to wait. Afterward, I felt silly about it, but still slip into doing this every so often.
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#7
12-09-2007, 01:35 PM
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I talk to my dog all the time. She attentively listens to whatever I say, tilting her head from side to side. I figure as long as I know that I'm talking to the dog, I'm okay...
Brendon Small
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#9
12-09-2007, 03:06 PM
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Yes, I do. And like others have said, my dog will listen attentively. It's to the point where if I say anything at all when we are alone, she assumes that I'm talking to her. I learned that the hard way when the 'Riders won the Grey Cup (Canadian football national championship for the unknowing) and I was shouting at the tv. It was causing a lot of canine anxiety.
Like many dogs she associates some words with specific meanings, such as "up", "out", "walk", "ride", "treat", "food", and "puppy" (which actually is her plush stuffed squeaky toy), "shake a paw" and "sit" and will react appropriately to the word.
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#11
12-09-2007, 03:34 PM
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What, not everyone does this? I talk to all of my pets...the dog, cats, horses, even the fish and snakes, occasionally.
And while I don't talk through my pets, I do talk for my pets. Ana the Arabian tends to "say" things like, "Whaaat's that? Will it eat me?" and "GRR GRR give me my food! Feed me!" ::I give an unimpressed angry glare:: "Oohh, sorry, sorry, didn't mean it...please may I have my bucket of joy now?" Firefly the mini "says" things like, "Back off, bitch!" "I can take you!" and "Feed me, dammit!" But really, she's very sweet when you get to know her.  And it goes on from there, with all of our animals personalities inspiring the "conversations."
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#12
12-09-2007, 04:00 PM
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#13
12-09-2007, 04:25 PM
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When I had them, I did.
Though when I am at my friends house who has 5 dogs, you might catch me talking or doing baby talk to one of them. They are cute.
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#14
12-09-2007, 04:33 PM
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#15
12-09-2007, 04:50 PM
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Exactly. Your cat is jealous. Meanie.
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#16
12-09-2007, 04:55 PM
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Yes, constantly. I have found though, that the chatter has caused her to tune into language a bit more than most dogs. She can follow commands easily enough, but also can execute two, three, and four part sequences that your run of the mill house dog doesn't normally perform. For example: "Sienna, get down of the bed, go get Boo-Boo, (A toy), Bring him here, and put him in your toy basket". She will be able to do this correctly in order about 85% of the time. I attribute this to the fact that she was bottle raised and didn't have the "litter-mates and nursing mother" experience and imprinted on humans as "mommy" from roughly 3 days old.
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#18
12-09-2007, 05:37 PM
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Yeah, I talk to my critters. The dog listens attentively, and the cats...well, sometimes they "talk" back, sometimes they ignore me.
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#21
12-09-2007, 09:33 PM
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Our pets have always been talked to. They recognize the "talking to animals" tone of voice. Currently we have 2 adult cats, a kitten and a middle-aged Pekingese. If I start talking to one, ("Aw, who's a sweetie kitten? Luci is a good girl....") pretty soon there's another, and another, and another animal showing up wanting some attention, too.
Many years ago, I was in the back yard hanging up clothes, and one of the cats came wandering by (this was back in the day when we permitted cats to go outside) and, being Siamese, she yammered at me, so of course I answered back and we had a little conversation. My daughter and a friend were inside but could hear me. "Who is your Mom talking to?!" asked the friend. "The cat," says Daughter. "She's talking to the CAT??????" Our dear departed Rocky the cat knew quite a number of words, no matter how casually uttered. No sooner would my husband request a tuna fish sandwich, than Rocky would be in the kitchen waiting for his saucer of drained-out tuna juice. OTOH, we've also noticed that if we say anything at all in a loving tone of voice, a dog becomes ecstatic. "Are you a dumb, ugly mutt? Are you a stupid dog? Oh, what a stupid dog you are!" is responded to with vigorous tail wagging, tongue-lolling, as if to say, "Yeah, I am!"
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#23
12-09-2007, 10:07 PM
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My black lab Dickens (okay you guys have given me two threads in one night where I can brag about a dog who has been gone 10 years-so sue me) knew at least 50 words. Yeah I'd try to fool him by saying something like, "Do you want to go to the...dinosaur?" [Instead of "French fry", as in french fry place/McDonald's, as he loved French fries] If I said "French fry", he'd start barking like mad, but if I said "dinosaur" he'd just cock his head quizzically as if to say, "Hey John that's not the word _I_ was thinking of, what you trying to pull?"
Yet I would tell people this, and they wouldn't believe me. Well he did.
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#26
12-10-2007, 10:13 AM
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I talk to all my pets, even the turtle.
Cassie is basically deaf so I signal to her more than talk. Hanna thinks everything you say to her equalls "outside" and Queenie will sit and listen as long as you want. Bob is my kitty talker. Me: Did you have a nice time outside? Bob: MEOW = Yeah Me: Oh your fur is cold. Bob: Meow = I know Me: You want some Num Nums? Bob: MEOOOW = Damn straight!
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#27
12-10-2007, 10:20 AM
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I talk to the dogs and the cat. The cat talks back all the time, the older dog talks back if I ask 'What do you say?'
We have also assigned a voice and personality to our older dog, Sichote. She sounds like Cartman on South Park (weird) and says things like: "Look at me, I'm a dog, wagging my tail." "Oh my Gawd, I am sooooo thirsty. That walk kicked my ass." And other stupid things.
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#28
12-10-2007, 10:40 AM
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I, too, talk to all of my animals, even the fish. Silly stuff, mostly. One of our cats likes to sprawl out on the bathroom rug while I'm getting ready for work in the morning. I talk to her, and ask questions like, "So, what are you going to do today, Fuzz?" It makes her purr. Then, when I come home from work, she has a LOT of things to tell me. I suspect she's saying, "Bitch, where have you been all damn day," or "Scritches! Now! Scritches! Now!"
I don't usually speak through my animals, but sometimes my husband and I tell each other that one of the cats or the dog told us something, such as "Buggy told me you might need a spanking," or "Buddy said I should keep an eye on you." At which point we either point out that the animal is a dirty liar or just plain doesn't speak English.
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#29
12-10-2007, 10:45 AM
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I talk and sing to my cats. I talk to the dogs that I take care of at the shelter. I talk to other people's dogs on the street. I talk to squirrels I see outside. I talk to stray cats.
I've also discovered that if I'm angry at my husband and expressing this through a raised voice (i.e., yelling at him), "my" cat will displace her anxiety onto the other cats by chasing them down and swatting the hell out of them. Last edited by lisacurl; 12-10-2007 at 10:47 AM.
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#30
12-10-2007, 10:58 AM
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My new dog LOVES being talked to. He'll look right in your eyes and appear to be taking in every word you say. I guess he likes the attention and finds it soothing.
The very first dog I had as an adult very much wanted to understand what we were saying and I remember him trying so hard to figure out what those sounds coming out of our mouths meant. Poor guy. He did end up learning what a lot of words and short phrases meant though. And he learned to spell w-a-l-k, too. 
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#31
12-10-2007, 11:09 AM
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Quote:
 Absolutely, I talk to all my pets. Apparently they are fine with that because they agree with everything I say.
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#33
12-10-2007, 07:58 PM
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I talk to all dogs and cats that I meet. Horses, too.
How would you feel if you were snubbed socially? You wouldn't like it. This might belong in that thread about why people think you're crazy...
__________________
Don't look back: it's just whiskey under the bridge
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#34
12-10-2007, 08:56 PM
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I still talk to my dog, but since he's gone almost totally deaf, I get little more than a semi-curious look in return. (And Ana is gorgeous!)
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#35
12-10-2007, 09:10 PM
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Mine texts.
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#40
12-11-2007, 02:25 AM
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I talk to our dogs a lot. One of them (Clancy, now gone) had a pretty extnensive vocabulary. I knew it's limits, but it was enough to convince many people that he understood every word I said. I worked pretty hard to always use the same words, and to choose words that sounded dfferent. It was "outside" and "house" rather than "inside". I gave each of his toys a simple name, and each room of the house a name. He'd also make a huge variety of different sounds...nothing that sounded at all like words mind you, but I could distinguish if he was telling me the water dish was dry vs. wanting to be let out.
The other two dogs not so much. I got Clancy as a very young puppy, and talked to him all the time. The other dogs were adopted at much later stage in life, I think that has a lot to do with it. The little one is more eager to please than Clancy ever was, but she just barely gets the idea that those sounds I make are intended as communication.
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#42
12-11-2007, 02:33 PM
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My old Ladybug would "talk" if you asked her if Timmy was in the well.
"Ladybug. Ladybug. Is Timmy in the well? Is he? Is Timmy in the well?" "WOOOF! RAWWWOOOAAAARRRR WOOOF! WOOF!" God, she was an awesome dog.
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#43
12-11-2007, 02:52 PM
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I just brought my cat home yesterday. He was a bit out of it as he had just been neutered, but I talked to him the entire ride home. I figured it would be soothing to hear a friendly voice while he was stuck in that box in the car. It seemed to work, he only meowed twice on the trip. Mostly it was just rambling chatter in a soothing tone. ("Here we come up to Hazeltine, just a few more minutes" "That jackass just pulled out in front of us, he's a bad bad driver isn't he?")
Thread and pics will appear soon, so don't yell at me!
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#45
12-11-2007, 03:11 PM
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#46
12-11-2007, 09:52 PM
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of course i talk to my two cats.
and to the dive master's four dogs, two cats and velociraptor from hell (extra-large greenwing macaw [aka a really big-ass parrot]). the macaw is the only one who talks back in understandable words: 'peekaboo, 'pretty bird,' 'here kitty kitty,' 'well, hello!' and many other phrases. the cats and dogs just look real attentive and from time to time answer me in canine/feline-speak, which probably translates to: FEED ME! 
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#47
12-12-2007, 12:56 AM
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*He's Fuggin nuts!
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#48
12-12-2007, 09:53 AM
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 the current macaw has lots of personality and is far more tractable than her predecessor.
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#49
12-12-2007, 10:21 AM
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Yep, talk to dogs all the time. Mostly to tell them how good they are.
Only have one now, a rescue we've had for two weeks. He's a smart little bugger who appears to listen to everything we say.
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#50
12-12-2007, 10:37 AM
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Of course I talk to my puddy-tat.
She greets me at the door everyday after work and we have the usual how was your day talk. Then we talk about what to do for dinner and then we talk what we're going to do that night. And we chit chat through out the night. Seriously though my cat is the most vocal cat I have ever known. I'll be watching tv and she'll come out of the bedroom andshe'll be meowing as she walks down the hall and as she walks up to me and as she jumps on the couch and as she sits down and looks at me meowing the whole time. Then I pet her for awhile and then she jumps down and goes back into the bedroom. Sometimes she'll watch tv with me on the couch and she meows back to the tv. It cracks me up.
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