Forums » Smalltalk » AMA: I taught my dog to speak English

Pictured above is my Standard Poodle, Versailles (named for the palace) in front of her semi-current button board. There are some buttons missing on the left due to moving and not having enough batteries yet. She has roughly 50 buttons. A single word is recorded onto each button, and pressing the button causes it to say that word out loud. She uses each word fluently, typically in sentences of 2-5 words. She is due for getting many more new words, but due to the aforementioned moving, I've had her language expansion on an artifical pause. I just want to be clear that I have been the limiting factor on her, not her own capacity.

Versailles is just over 2.5 years old now. She started learning her first three word buttons when she was... about 14ish weeks old? This particular training process has been 100% treat/reward free. The reward is being understood, and boy is this a powerful incentive.

There have been some studies on this phenomenon in recent years, and it appears that it is valid and reproducable. Here's one: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/dogs-understand-words-soundboard-buttons-study-reveals

Ask me anything

Does she have a favorite word??

For awhile when she was little, her favorite button said "love you." She said it ALL THE TIME. Even in the middle of the night. She still says it but not as constantly. I think this is partially because she now has more words to express different kinds of positive feelings, such as "happy"

Then for about a week her favorite word was "yes." This is almost certainly because yes is also her marker word (the word we say to mark when she gets a trick right and is going to get a treat for her performance) so by the time she had the word as a button, she strongly associated yes not just with getting her way, but with positive affirmation, achievement, etc. The buttons are held on the board with velcro so we can peel them back up and change the batteries, or replace them if they break, and within ten minutes of my first adding the word yes to the board she had peeled it off and just spent the day walking around the house holding and triggering the "yes" button and doing little prancey dances. But it turns out it sort of loses its meaning if you just say it to yourself all the time without having actually achieved something, so she gave it back, I velcroed it back into place, and we just resumed normal use of Yes in conversations like it hadn't been her stim all week.

Nowadays, her most commonly word used is "car." I think that's more about the activity than the word. She loves to be driven to places, to see people, to get food, etc., and spends a lot of time suggesting locations the car could take her to. Also other people who could drive her if I say I am busy - she knows just which of our human friends has a license and vehicle. Sometimes when visitors come to the house she asks them if they will drive her somewhere. Usually she will give suggestions about where, but is open to hearing alternate pitches from them.

What was the most detailed sentence she's given? What was she responding to?

I think her max sentence length is about 5-6 words, and there are a whole lot of different examples of that so it's hard to pick one. So I'll just tell you about the first time I can remember her doing a five button sequence!

A human friend was over and was wrestling her. She slipped and accidentally caught the webbing of his thumb and forefinger on her teeth, and although it didn't draw blood it turned bright red and the poor guy yelped in pain. She stopped playing and seemed pretty shocked and confused. She said "Hmmm?" which is our verbal question mark, for turning a regular sentence into a question.

I told her "Friend feel ouch! Play ouch!" both verbally and with her buttons.

She paced and huffed and then pressed "Happy want feel ouch bye bye" then went over and kissed the hand she had accidentally hurt. We took it to be an explanation of intent or regret, she wanted the friend to feel happy from playing and for the ouch to go away.

I have no questions, I just wanted to say this is one of the coolest things I've read about in recent memory. Thank you for posting.

Thats awesome!!!

This is a real good example to show the complexity of animals brains.
I just would like to know, compared to human, what mental age has a dog in relation with communication?

To make it more understandable, I know that horses have a mental age of an average three years old child, when it comes to communication, they understand words, simple words and can ‘talk’ when you know their language. They express emotions and feelings and can recognize emotions in humans, just like a child that’s three years old.

This one is tough for a couple of reasons -- the first, I think it depends very much on the dog. I've met some dogs that were not too bright, and others (like this one, and her great aunt before her) that were canine geniuses. The second, I don't think it's a one to one age translation. I've read that the average mental age of a dog is 2-3, but I don't think dog brains mature identically to human brains, either. I think they are better at some concepts than a human three year old would be, and worse at others.

However, much like human three year olds, many dogs who are taught to use talk boards seem to think talking about poop is super funny. Do with this knowledge what you will.

I'm so glad!

I remember a time you mentioned her using her buttons to tell you about her plans for the next day. Is that still something she does? What sorts of plans does she come up with? How do her plans vary over time? And since I assume there are times y'all can't do at least some of her plans, how is that handled?

Yeah, this one is true! If you would rate a human with dog standards, you'd probably be a puppy - you would have really weak sense of smell for example, like a puppy who hasn't quite developed it well yet. All animals have their own intelligence, that is made for their individual lives and bodies 🐕🎔

Have you read any books that made you so great at communication with dogs? "Constructing Canine Consent" by Erin Jones is a book that you're gonna LOVE, its not just about dog training, but also about overcoming human exceptionalism! I thought I'm not going to learn too much from it since the author clearly has a similar approach, and I was wrong, in the best way

Does she still use the buttons for mischief or has she grown past that now?

It is not meant badly, it is only in interesting point of view I wanted to know. I don’t compare animals and humans or say that one is better or that one. Your little poodle, adorable by the way, is really a genius. On communication level she’s way way more advanced than our St, Bernard, he’d just sleep on the buttons.
No really, a dog that speaks a language is fantastic and all honors to you. Sometimes we only have to understand what our animals tell us 😉

Bravo

I used to read stacks and stacks of books about dogs, dog communication, consent based care, non-coercive training, etc.! I haven't in awhile though, and to be honest most of them blur together. I'll check out the one you recommended!

One that helped a lot with button-based communication specifically was "How Stella Learned To Talk," the story of the first dog that assistive talk boards were tried on successfully.

I didn't for a moment think it was meant badly!

In NO UNIVERSE is she done with mischief.

Yes, she looooves to use her buttons to plan out the coming day. And when she starts asking for things at night and I tell her it is too late, she will often start talking about "tomorrow."

I have noticed since the move, and the disruption of all her routines and no more access to her usual friends, she does this much less, but I think that's just because she doesn't know what's definitely possible anymore and would not be surprised if it comes back.

A pretty classic example of her planning out the day would be like...

"Walk now, train soon, later Gator" (Gator is the name of a dog she grew up with she loved to visit.). Or "Food, car walk soon," (this refers to a hike or driving to an off-leash area, rather than just a neighborhood walk right outside our door), "Sleep later"

Edit: Forgot to address what happens when she comes up with unrealistic plans!

This happens a LOT, because she thinks my working or having other commitments is stupid, and given her way would schedule things for us to do together every hour of the day. The simple explanation of what happens is just more communication. For example, if she asks to see Gator, and we can't because he's currently an ocean away, I will just respond "No Gator later." Sometimes she argues and responds "Yes Gator" or similar, often with huffing and stamping of feet. I generally try to offer her an alternative activity that she could do at that time instead. Sometimes that's accepted, sometimes she tells me she is mad and goes away to sulk. 🙄

Hnng your dog is so dang smart and cute and deserving of hugs and pets and snuggles.


I need examples of how she uses her buttons for mischief.

Please?