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Do Dogs Like Short Cues or Friendly Chatter?
Let’s talk about how we talk to our dogs.
- Some trainers stick to quick, clear cues like “SIT.” And a strict behaviorist approach says living with your dog using only short one word cues keeps them out of confusion.
- ▶ In this discussion◀ we were talking about the Mr. Rogers’ Hack, a softer, more rhythmic way of speaking that explains what’s happening rather than just telling the dog what to do. The idea is that dogs might process information better when we narrate instead of just cueing behaviors.
Science says both have value. Research on learning supports short, consistent cues, but studies on dog-directed speech (baby talk!) show that dogs pay more attention when we speak in a warm, engaging way. And then there are dogs like Bunny and Stella using buttons to “talk” with their humans…
Are we underestimating dogs’ desire for conversation? Or, are we muddying the waters with too much babble?
What’s been your experience?
Let’s talk. Drop your thoughts below!
Photo of 15 week old Sierra who just lost 2 baby teef.
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14 Replies
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Oh, Sierra!!! I love that you kept her name. She is so intelligent looking, thus a great model for this conversation. ????
I think I do some of both types. Although, I don’t SOUND like Mr. Rodgers, LOL!
I’m naturally talking out loud, because there is light in their inquisitive eyes…they are looking at me! It’s amazing how they can converse with us without being vocal, how much they understand.
When I only cue the behavior with a signal, no words, they do great, too.
When I only say the verbal cue, following up with a behavior, they look at me like, “OK, but don’t you wanna talk to me?” I hope they like the sound of my voice.
It’s interesting to find out what y’all think. ????
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Oh I love this! I am definitely a quiet trainer. I just give the cue once. More into using my body language. I think I get this from training Mack and also running a daycare room. Body language was key when you have so many dogs at once. That definitely transferred into training. I love that research was done on both ways.
This is such a beautiful picture!❤️
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I appreciate your input, @pawsup !
When in the midst of a training session, I tend to be very quiet too. Often, clients will remark on this and wonder why I’m not ‘telling’ the dog what to do. But when learning a new skill, our words are meaningless until carefully paired with a specific action/behavior.
On the other hand, if I’m working more casually with an animal, especially a shy or fearful one, I may use a soft patter of talking (along with non-threatening body language). I’m currently doing Zoom sessions with someone who lives across the country who needs assistance with rat training and husbandry. When I shared a video of me working with 2 shy foster rats, she was thrilled to hear me using ‘baby talk’ with them. Apparently, someone has made her feel self-conscious about baby talking her pets.
At any old time of day, an eavesdropper would hear me chatting with my dogs like a weird old dog lady!
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Wow, so cool that you Zoom with rat clients! That is a unique situation, but I think baby talk works well with some animals more than others, regardless of species.
I completely agree about the value in remaining quiet and relying more on gestures and body language when teaching new behaviors. Why prattle on anyway, when they are learning before the behavior is a familiar one.
It seems to me that teachers are the hardest to convince to be quieter. They are used to talking so much, so I totally get it. But, that said, when you coach them, they are AMAZING students! I have one currently who does all her homework and I am coaching on a quieter approach with her doodley-doo…it’s working!
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Your human student sounds like a keeper!
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When asking my canine friends to perform a skill like “UP’ (load into the car) or recalls, or “go to place” I prefer the gesture with my hands over words. The word does help me to capture their attention to watch the gesture. When my canine friends are aroused by a stranger, a loud noise, something stressful, I think they do appreciate my voice talking quietly to them, saying “It’s just the neighbor” or “Thank you, that’s enough now”. If we are someplace new and they are anxious, pats and a quiet voice sometimes seems to calm them. I believe they are tuned into the tone of voice, because when I do issue a sharp “NO!” they usually back down.
I save sharp tones for emergencies, like a stray cat running by.
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I appreciate your input, @dot . Our tone of voice matters a lot, no doubt.
I sometimes mention to my clients that it’s pretty rare when I raise my voice sharply to my dogs, and thus it tends to be very noticeable and carries weight. If, on the other hand, a person is yelling all the time, I think some dogs just begin to tune it out.-
Thank you for this topic. Years ago, working with trainers I was advised that talking to dogs just confuses the animals. But a soothing tone of voice seems to get a lot of wags and face licks.
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It seems like the focus in the comments has been on training cues. Being clear, and removing unhelpful information during a session is important for teaching specific behaviors is very important. However, MOST of a dog’s time is not in session. Dogs are masters of context, and yet we provide little opportunity to provide it in everyday activities.
When I started my studies in 2013, I was told dogs don’t understand word pairs, don’t understand word order “grammar” and that dogs don’t know what you are saying and just listening for keywords. Since then, speech pathogist Christina Hunger had the brilliant idea to apply pediatric non-verbal speech development techniques to her puppy Stella. (How Stella Learned to Talk, Hunger 2021) After noticing parallels in the behavior development of her puppy with the children she worked with as a speech pathologist, she gave her dog the equivalent of a speech pad (iPad with special software) by creating word buttons. Since then the field of language learning is animals has exploded. Christina has her own branded buttons, and the company fluentpet has launched a global research project in conjunction with offering their own set of buttons which is being updated as research is processed. Many experts have off-handedly dismissed the concept citing clever Hans, the counting horse, saying the animals are pressing buttons based on cues from their human. However, anyone who has watched a large enough data set of speech button videos can see that
A) animals consistently press speech buttons when humans are not present in the room B) animals are carefully selecting specific buttons relevant to a situation C) animals are using buttons to confirm their understanding of their situation/environment D) animals combine known words to name novel items they do not have a name for (lookup Batstian’s “fridge car”)
E) animals are using buttons to alert humans to things they would otherwise not know (look up Bunny’s video of “Stranger Ouch”)
F) animals who have advanced vocabularies are using buttons to string words together to create phrases and questions, and understand non-material concepts
Since the introduction of Christina Hinger’s buttons, and popularity of Bunny’s viral videos, language learning has expanded to include cats, horses, and even birds.
I am extremely passionate about giving animals a voice and the opportunity to advocate for themselves. In addition to having a much deeper, less one-sided relationship with dogs, there are two other huge benefits of speech modeling in dogs. Firstly, it allows animals to tell us what hurts, where so that we can more efficiently treat medical conditions. Secondly, as stated in the original post, explaining what will happen gives anxious dogs a relief.
In practice, I have introduced buttons to a few of my clients. Unfortunately most don’t find enough value to move past the “outside” button, HOWEVER, language modeling has proven EXTREMELY helpful to their relationships with their dogs.
As we know, a lot of anxiety in dogs is caused by unclear or unfulfilled expectations. For example a dog has separation anxiety because their parent was gone for 6 hours when the expectation is they will return within 4 hours.
In practice, modeling phrases like “I’m standing up now” and “I’m going to pick you up, are you ready?” gives greater perceived control over bodily autonomy. Counting gives temporal reference for how long until something happens. Modeling events and activities that will happen “now”, “later” and even “tomorrow” helps dogs create an itinerary in their minds. Not only do they have a better understanding of how daily events directly affect them,
but more importantly it allows them to PREPARE themselves for the emotional state that event requires of them. For example. If you model the itinerary;
“Now, we’re going for a walk, and then we’ll have breakfast, after breakfast *dog’s name* is going to take a nap while *caregiver’s label (mom, dad, auntie, persons name)* takes a shower, and then we’re going to take a ride”
The dog now knows that after breakfast, their human caregiver is going to be inaccessible and they will be able to prepare for a calm emotional state rather than get frustrated that “dad” will not “play, ball”.
I have also applied the counting strategy for temporal context on walks. For example, instead of dragging a dog away from a sniff spot if they want to spend more time than we have, I will count to 5, say “let’s go!” and start walking again. By giving temporal context, they can expect how long they have to sniff, and they learn to start walking again without coercion, either when I reach “5”, or they will deem the spot lower value and leave sooner, etc at “3”. For a dog who would otherwise refuse all cues and physical pressure to leave a sniff spot, and try to remain by force, with a clear set of expectations, they need no convincing o walk away.
There are so many benefits to language modeling, I think it is a mistake not to take advantage of an additional communication tool.
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@flipzpets Thank you for bringing this part of language into our discussion. I agree with everything you’ve said! I’ve found that there are lots of dogs and cats (and my parrot!) who can understand what I’m saying. Yes, most of their lives they are NOT training, they are living with us. They deserve to know what’s going on and what to expect next.
I love that you talked about giving animals a voice. Most of my life, I’ve thought that animals have much more complex thoughts than what humans give them credit for.
As a pet sitter and dog walker, as well as trainer, I am fascinated by what they are trying to show us and say. It’s encouraging to know that our lives with animals is becoming more conversational.
I’d rather talk to dogs any day, than people! Not joking.
Thanks for your passionate words!
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@flipzpets – Jen! This is exactly what I was thinking about when I created the post. There’s talking “at” dogs – I call it “micromanaging” them, telling them what to do and talking “to” them, as a family member, as a small child. I think when we keep our phrases simple and use them to explain the world to our dogs, it really helps. For example:
This past weekend, I’m moving stuff around and today Bliss noticed a new weird shape in a new place this morning. It startled her and she briefly “woofed” at it then came to me with a question on her face. I told her to “go look at it” which is our practiced cue for exploring new (sometimes spooky) things that are actually ok. She took me at my word, going over to it, and pulling herself up with one paw on the book case where it sat. Normally she would *NEVER* put a paw up on a “table” or “countertop” – and she gave it a good sniff. Then she hopped back down and looked at me. I said, “Shake it off!” (like we discussed in this post) and she did… and she hasn’t paid it any more attention since. Bonus. I didn’t even have to get up out of my chair. So, I totally agree with you that these short phrases bring real meaning to our dogs.
I also agree that a short, one word cue is essential in training a specific behavior, don’t miss that, but phrases when living with dogs… priceless.
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I very much agree, and I think it’s awesome you’ve been proactive with teaching for future situations, not just the situations that have already happened. This can really set a dog up to build confidence and handle newness much easier, with less intervention.
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Wonderful – yes, Jenn – it’s so fun to be validated for nattering at my dogs all these years. lol
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Well said.
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