Does your dog speak to you?
Our cocker spaniel Leaf has started a new behavior that has us puzzled and pleased. He sits by us and while we pat his head, he starts to vocalize. We can touch his throat and feel his vocal chords vibrating. He moves his mouth and emits sounds as if he is trying to form words.
These vocalizations are accompanied by intermittent licks and kisses. The expression on his face is intensely loving.
To us, it seems like Leaf is trying to say, "I love you," the way he hears us humans do.
We remember when Barbara Walters on "The View" confided to her table of skeptical co-hosts that her dog Cha-Cha talks to her. She endured a lot of ridicule after making that remark.
So we're opening ourselves up here to the assumption that we are reading much more into Leaf's new behavior than any dog would be capable of doing. But from all indications Leaf is trying to talk to us.
What do you think? Does your dog speak to you?
Absolutely. My pets speak. All animals speak or try in some fashion to communicate with us. The odd thing: We require them to learn our language and think them dumb if they miss a cue but make no effort to learn their unique code and no similar pronouncement on ourselves for the same fault of missing a cue or miscuing... because (in part) we hold ourselves to be superior.
Communication requires effort and investment from both parties to reach common ground.
Reply to this
When we adopted Paco, our Chihuahua mix dog a few years ago, a friend went with us to bring him home from his foster home. A few weeks later at Christmas time she stopped by with some gifts & her husband. Upon seeing them Paco became very upset. He ran to them and with a yodeling type of bark, he gave out with an absolutely audible voice - "No, no, no" Our friends exclaimed, "What is all that about?" What I determined it to be was Paco remembered our friend who took him from the foster and was afraid she had come to take him away again. It was clear to us he had decided he liked it here and was determined to stay!
Reply to this
I have a friend who says "want one?" asking her dog if he would like a biscuit and Jed replies "want one!" He sort of sounds like the Jetson's dog Astro
Reply to this