What is my dog trying to tell me? Many of us wonder the same thing about our furry family members. Now, speech pathologist, creator of the talking dog movement, and the best-selling author of ‘How Stella Learned to Talk’, Christina Hunger helps dog owners unlock even more ways to communicate with their pets.
Christina and her adorable dog Stella rose to international fame on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok when she gave Stella a ‘voice’ to communicate using the same type of recordable speech buttons now available from Hunger for Words. Learn more about this innovative range that brings humans and their beloved pets closer together.
What is Hunger for Words?
Hunger for Words is a range of interactive tools that help pet lovers unlock their pet’s communication potential. The range offers recordable and pre-recorded speech buttons that dogs learn to use in order to communicate their needs and express their feelings.
Owners are encouraged to teach first words such as “outside”, “play”, “walk”, and “eat”, while building an understanding of their pet’s communication skills, and at the same time, they’ll learn how to look for progress and tips on being a great communication partner to breed results.
In her book, the New York Times best-seller ‘How Stella Learned To Talk’, Christina draws on her trained speech-language techniques to map out how readers can teach their own dogs to talk and shares the incredibly heart-warming exchanges she’s had on the journey with Stella. When Christina brought her puppy home in early 2018, she started to notice all of the similarities between Stella’s communication skills and those of toddlers right before they began saying words.
Coupled with her passion for using technology and other adaptive equipment to help people communicate when speaking is difficult, Christina’s theory was put to the test when she developed a homemade device for Stella to try to say the words she was hearing and understanding. The buttons started first with simple commands and now, Stella has a bank of more than 45 words and counting that could be connected to express a combination of unique phrases and emotions. In this Q&A, Christina explains more about how to unlock your dog’s communication potential.
Can dogs be of the chatty, or the more silent type? And does that influence the learning curve?
Just like with humans, dogs have different personalities too. Some dogs are more communicative than others. Observing your dog’s other forms of communication such as body language and vocalizations can help you create goals that make sense for both you and your dog.
Do you think that any type of dog is able to learn to express itself? Or are some breeds better at it than others?
I think that there is a range of normal for dog language acquisition just like there’s a range of normal for human language skills. With more research, I’ll be intrigued to see if any patterns between breeds emerge.
How much time should you at least spent practicing with your dog?
Consistency is key to helping your dog learn words. The frequency of modelling words is more important than the amount of time spent at once. Aim to use your dog’s buttons five times each day naturally during their routine activities.
Does it often happen that Stella starts a conversation herself? And if so, what’s her favourite topic?
Stella initiates communication in the majority of our interactions. She loves to talk about going outside and commenting on deviations from her routines. For example, if it’s past her normal dinner time and we haven’t fed her yet, we’ll often hear something like “Eat no” or “Mad eat.”
How did you reward Stella during training? Cuddles, enthusiasm? Or snacks?
The only way I ever have “rewarded” Stella is by responding to the meaning of the word she used and showing enthusiasm. I never used treats because that would interfere with her learning each word’s meaning. Stella learns what each word means by our response when she uses it. For example, when she would say “All done,” I would stop whatever was happening in the environment. If she said “Water” I would fill her water bowl or bring her to her water bowl if it was already full.
When you travel with Stella, do you take the talking buttons with you?
We bring Stella’s buttons everywhere we can! We always bring them on holiday with us, and bring them over to friends’ houses if we’ll be there with Stella for a while. Stella is always more comfortable and settled when she has her buttons nearby.
What do you consider your biggest success (or biggest flop) while communicating with Stella?
My biggest success in communicating with Stella was setting up a solid foundation for her to progress further than I ever thought possible. It was not my intention or even on my radar when I first started out that Stella might someday combine words together and create phrases daily. But having words available for Stella, modelling them naturally, and following her lead rather than telling her what to say enabled her to share her own mind with us.
Stella’s ability to express herself through words has given us incredible insight into what dogs are capable of and how complex their thoughts really are.
I think my biggest “flop” in communicating with Stella using her buttons came after my work became very public and others started teaching their own pets. Suddenly with the world watching and following in my footsteps, it became difficult to tune out comments about what I should teach next, or what other dogs were learning to say.
Instead of listening to myself and observing Stella to figure out our next teaching goal, I started looking outward for those answers which did not lead to more success. I think it was an important reminder for me to trust my own judgement and to focus on what I know about Stella in order to guide my teaching.
Do you think your Hunger for Words buttons will help people to understand their dogs better?
The Hunger for Words range is helping owners understand their pets’ needs, how much their pets are thinking about, and how similar we all are. Words are helping us understand our dogs’ specific thoughts that could not be achieved solely from body language.
For example, Stella can tell us that she wants to go to the park, the beach, for a walk, to play outside in our garden, or that her favourite ball was left outside. Without words, we would see Stella standing near the door and whining, not knowing which of these many options she was thinking about or what her needs actually are.
What would you love to achieve though Hunger for Words?
I would love for dogs to be able to communicate their needs to their owners, along with observations and comments they have about what’s going on in their environment. I believe solid communication is the biggest foundation in any relationship.
When we have more understanding of our pets, we can care for them better and remember to treat them as the intelligent, complex thinkers that they are. I love seeing other people witness Stella’s communication in person for the first time. Seeing a dog use words independently and so articulately always sparks profound thoughts about how we treat animals and what they’re capable of.
Start your dog’s communication journey today. Shop our Hunger for Words range.
