5 ms·

In all honesty I just speak full sentences to my dog. Sure, she doesn't understand it all, but she knows my daughters' nicknames, mommy, cat, pigs ear, bed, ups

In all honesty I just speak full sentences to my dog. Sure, she doesn't understand it all, but she knows my daughters' nicknames, mommy, cat, pigs ear, bed, upstairs. Pretty good vocabulary really.

spicybright 5y ago
Same! They definitely enjoy trying to figure out what we're saying.
spitfire 5y ago
Not just a few words. They can form full, coherent self referential sentences. In one of the videos Bunny uses assistive buttons to ask who she is after she looks in the mirror. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEa46rlHqEP6ClWitFd2QOQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEa46rlHqEP6ClWitFd2QOQ
- jart 5y ago
  Can you link to that video?
  - henriquemaia 5y ago
    I'm not OP. But I think I've found it. Quite interesting: https://youtu.be/vLD7GIc8kZQ?t=96 https://youtu.be/vLD7GIc8kZQ?t=96
- expensive_news 5y ago
  I’m skeptical of this. This sounds similar to the way Koko “learned” sign language. While this video is long, it explains the controversy very well: https://youtu.be/e7wFotDKEF4 https://youtu.be/e7wFotDKEF4
  - OJFord 5y ago
    Or even worse, I'd like to at least see the buttons get jumbled up, and the dog realise it's wrong and find the new location of what it wants to say. And then it would still suffer from potential human over-interpretation, finding meaning where there isn't, as described in the Koko video you linked.
  - vidarh 5y ago
    It's worth being skeptical, and a lot of the Instagram/YouTube animals that "speak" clearly do nowhere as well as their owners suggest. But look at more of Bunny's videos. Some of the interpretations are fanciful (a pet peeve of mine is the "love you" interactions where there's little reason to think the "love you" means more than "I want attention"), but there are enough of fairly complex interactions that I think it's unreasonable to dismiss it entirely.
  - vimy 5y ago
    This video is pretty convincing: https://youtu.be/6MMGmRVal6M https://youtu.be/6MMGmRVal6M
- i67vw3 5y ago
  Bogus
Hayvok 5y ago
My previous dog hardly understood anything. She was a nightmare to train. My current dog is practically a genius by comparison. She understands complex instructions (“go outside and go potty and then let’s go to bed” - and off she goes!) Amazing the breadth of comprehension and intelligence from dog to dog.
- fosk 5y ago
  What breed do you have now? And was the old dog of the same breed?
  - brk 5y ago
    We’ve had Boxers for several years now, 5 as puppies and 1 rescue at 2.5 years old. I’ve noticed a fairly large difference dog to dog from the same breed. Some have been quick learners, and others not so much. One of our current dogs can learn things almost instantly, if she understands the benefit to her. I showed her exactly once to scratch at the door to go outside (something she enjoys) and she picked that up immediately. Then she also on her own translated it to other things she wants -a scratch at the pantry where we keep treats, a scratch at a storage area at our old condo where her toys were kept out of the way, etc.
  - Hayvok 5y ago
    First dog was a thoroughly mixed lab. Lab, huskie, German shepherd… little bit of everything going on there. My current dog (the smart one) appears to be a miniature pincher / Chihuahua mix. Hard to say for sure since we rescued her off the street.
- drmpeg 5y ago
  Years ago I had a Doberman / German Shepard mix that I paid $25 for at the San Jose flea market. An incredibly smart dog that never pooped or peed in the house, even as a puppy. She would just wake me up in the morning when she had to go.
- lordnacho 5y ago
  I've come across the same. I have a dog who gave birth at Christmas and now I'm training two of the puppies. The mom is not great with coming when asked, never has been. Her kids though, as soon as I whistle a certain way they show up and sit in front of me. Generally they are really good at following instructions, perhaps it's because the father is a working dog.
vijaykiran 5y ago
Same with my dog, I always “talk” to him and he’s pretty good at vocabulary so far. https://www.reddit.com/r/BorderCollie/comments/rrgckg/bowie_learning_toys_names_like_a_champ/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BorderCollie/comments/rrgckg/bowie_...
blippage 5y ago
When my dad was doing some household maintenance he sometimes used to explain the procedure to the dog. On a couple of occasions I've given short technical talks my dog. She just used to sit there with a look that said "I'm not sure I've grasped all the nuances of your argument, but I love you, and you're a genius."
- brk 5y ago
  A variant of rubber duck debugging?

In all honesty I just speak full sentences to my dog. Sure, she doesn't understand it all, but she knows my daughters' nicknames, mommy, cat, pigs ear, bed, upstairs. Pretty good vocabulary really.

spicybright 5y ago

Same! They definitely enjoy trying to figure out what we're saying.

spitfire 5y ago

Not just a few words. They can form full, coherent self referential sentences. In one of the videos Bunny uses assistive buttons to ask who she is after she looks in the mirror. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEa46rlHqEP6ClWitFd2QOQ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEa46rlHqEP6ClWitFd2QOQ

jart 5y ago
Can you link to that video?
- henriquemaia 5y ago
  I'm not OP. But I think I've found it. Quite interesting: https://youtu.be/vLD7GIc8kZQ?t=96 https://youtu.be/vLD7GIc8kZQ?t=96
expensive_news 5y ago
I’m skeptical of this. This sounds similar to the way Koko “learned” sign language. While this video is long, it explains the controversy very well: https://youtu.be/e7wFotDKEF4 https://youtu.be/e7wFotDKEF4
- OJFord 5y ago
  Or even worse, I'd like to at least see the buttons get jumbled up, and the dog realise it's wrong and find the new location of what it wants to say. And then it would still suffer from potential human over-interpretation, finding meaning where there isn't, as described in the Koko video you linked.
- vidarh 5y ago
  It's worth being skeptical, and a lot of the Instagram/YouTube animals that "speak" clearly do nowhere as well as their owners suggest. But look at more of Bunny's videos. Some of the interpretations are fanciful (a pet peeve of mine is the "love you" interactions where there's little reason to think the "love you" means more than "I want attention"), but there are enough of fairly complex interactions that I think it's unreasonable to dismiss it entirely.
- vimy 5y ago
  This video is pretty convincing: https://youtu.be/6MMGmRVal6M https://youtu.be/6MMGmRVal6M
i67vw3 5y ago
Bogus

Hayvok 5y ago

My previous dog hardly understood anything. She was a nightmare to train. My current dog is practically a genius by comparison. She understands complex instructions (“go outside and go potty and then let’s go to bed” - and off she goes!) Amazing the breadth of comprehension and intelligence from dog to dog.

fosk 5y ago
What breed do you have now? And was the old dog of the same breed?
- brk 5y ago
  We’ve had Boxers for several years now, 5 as puppies and 1 rescue at 2.5 years old. I’ve noticed a fairly large difference dog to dog from the same breed. Some have been quick learners, and others not so much. One of our current dogs can learn things almost instantly, if she understands the benefit to her. I showed her exactly once to scratch at the door to go outside (something she enjoys) and she picked that up immediately. Then she also on her own translated it to other things she wants -a scratch at the pantry where we keep treats, a scratch at a storage area at our old condo where her toys were kept out of the way, etc.
- Hayvok 5y ago
  First dog was a thoroughly mixed lab. Lab, huskie, German shepherd… little bit of everything going on there. My current dog (the smart one) appears to be a miniature pincher / Chihuahua mix. Hard to say for sure since we rescued her off the street.
drmpeg 5y ago
Years ago I had a Doberman / German Shepard mix that I paid $25 for at the San Jose flea market. An incredibly smart dog that never pooped or peed in the house, even as a puppy. She would just wake me up in the morning when she had to go.
lordnacho 5y ago
I've come across the same. I have a dog who gave birth at Christmas and now I'm training two of the puppies. The mom is not great with coming when asked, never has been. Her kids though, as soon as I whistle a certain way they show up and sit in front of me. Generally they are really good at following instructions, perhaps it's because the father is a working dog.

vijaykiran 5y ago

Same with my dog, I always “talk” to him and he’s pretty good at vocabulary so far. https://www.reddit.com/r/BorderCollie/comments/rrgckg/bowie_learning_toys_names_like_a_champ/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BorderCollie/comments/rrgckg/bowie_...

blippage 5y ago

When my dad was doing some household maintenance he sometimes used to explain the procedure to the dog. On a couple of occasions I've given short technical talks my dog. She just used to sit there with a look that said "I'm not sure I've grasped all the nuances of your argument, but I love you, and you're a genius."

brk 5y ago
A variant of rubber duck debugging?