We’ve known for centuries that dogs can understand words we say, but have you ever imagined a world where they can talk back? How different would our lives be if our dogs could tell us they were hungry/thirsty, hot/cold, or in pain? Removing the guess work from what your pup needs or how they feel may not be too far fetched. Bunny the talking Doodle is probably the most famous dog on TikTok for her incredible ability to communicate with her human, Alexis Devine, via recordable buttons for dogs with words she’s learned such as “Ugh.”
@whataboutbunny UGH is pretty much my 2020 motto #ugh #talkingdog #cutedog #2020 #fypシ #bunnythedog #tiktokdog
She’s also learned essential words and phrases including “Scritches,” “Love you,” and “Play.”
@whataboutbunny Her sentences are getting longer and her understanding of time is growing? #talkingdog #fyp #bunnythedog #tiktokdogs #pup
With 5.7 million followers and growing, this pup from Salmon Beach — a gated community along the water in Tacoma, WA — quickly caught the attention of the Comparative Cognition Lab at UC San Diego. They decided to begin a project “to determine whether, and if so, how and how much non-humans are able to express themselves in language-like ways.”
Bunny’s journey started in October 2019 after seeing videos of speech-language pathologist, Christina Hunger, teaching her blue heeler/catahoula hound mix pup, Stella, to communicate using an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device aka the AAC buttons for dogs. The level of [perceived] comprehension achieved by Stella and Bunny is truly astounding. Bunny’s most recent verbal endeavors are related to concepts of time including “morning,” “evening,” “yesterday,” and “tomorrow.” Just how much Bunny actually comprehends or can conceptualize is still not 100% clear. However, it will be interesting to see how the study progresses.
@whataboutbunny Big brain concepts #NeedToKnow #bunnythedog #tiktokdogs #talkingdog #fypシ #communication
Thanks to Bunny, you can teach your pup how to use recordable buttons for dogs to communicate with them too! Bunny’s FluentPet word board uses ideas from speech language pathology and cognitive science to design intuitive arrangements, that help you and your pup remember which buttons are where. You record your own voice into the button and it can be played back with a light tap. The starting pack has 6 buttons and 3 HexTiles. They recommend sorting your buttons and HexTiles into categories and spreading them around the house, then joining them together as your pup’s learning progresses. The maximum number of buttons available is 32. The FluentPet HexTiles take up little room and can easily be connected together to form a memorable hexagonal grid that can be arranged into a “Fitzgerald Key.” FluentPet is currently sold out of all buttons and HexTiles. You can pre-order to save your place in line for the next batch of buttons. There is also a forum for the TheyCanTalk community where folks from all over are using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to teach their dogs to communicate.
Learn more about how Alexis Devine uses FluentPet’s recordable buttons for dogs with Bunny in the video below:
Read more about training your pup in these posts:
Ask a Trainer: How Do I Get My Dog to Stop Barking?
