A Speech-Language Pathologist Is Teaching Her Dog to 'Talk'

Smart dogs? Very much so. Dogs that talk? They definitely do in their own way. But dogs that talk in human words? While Hollywood has never tired of giving dogs, cats, and other animals voiceovers, this is very different. Speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger has an 18-month-old beauty named Stella, and the two are working on building a new language platform for dogs and humans. A board with dozens of buttons lets Stella express herself directly or create more complex phrases by combining several words.

They say the capacity for association is one of the most basic signs of intelligence. My pets recognize the sound of someone familiar walking down the hall before they even enter the house, they know that at certain times the kitchen will be occupied, and they detect (with chilling accuracy) the noise the refrigerator door makes when it opens. In essence, they are the masters of the place, and they communicate it very well. (?)

Can Dogs Learn Human Words?

Now, could it be that someday they will talk like humans? Consider dogs: Our relationship with them is very ancient. Thousands of years of hunting, working, giving and receiving protection. The training of dogs can become very advanced, with specific tasks in mind. But let's imagine for a moment simple words and phrases. "Eat", "Happy", "Play outside" It seems very complicated, however, speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger developed a method worth following closely:

Stella's Language Board

Her dog is named Stella, she is 18 months old and weighs more than 20 kilograms. Christina and Stella have reached a deep level of communication with the help of a board that has dozens of buttons. Each of those buttons plays a word: "Ball", "food", "play" and "outside" are some of the available words. Stella not only learned to express herself with individual words, but has shown a certain ability to form sentences. For example, Stella frequently uses "Look" to get Christina and her partner Jake's attention, but she has gone on to create expressions like "Happy-Ball-Want-Outside" to go outside and play with her ball.

Stella also learned to use both front paws to press the buttons, an extra benefit that allows her to be faster and more accurate. The number of words on the board is slowly increasing (29 for now), but it is clear that Stella does not press buttons at random. "Outside", "Walk" and "Beach" are some of her favorite words, and the dog's happiness when using them is evident. Want to know more about her progress? Feel free to visit Christina's official blog, Hunger for Words, and her Instagram profile.