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This is an archive article published on November 12, 2019
‘Amazing’: Woman teaches her dog to ‘speak’ and it’s blowing people’s minds
Using a specially-designed buzzer button pad, the intelligent pooch tells its owners when she wants to go outside and play among other things.
It all started as an experiment when Hunger and her fiance programmed one record-able answer buzzer to say “outside.” (Source: HungerforWords/ Instagram)
While most people would be happy and content to just teach their pets the obedience code, one woman is making headlines as she has trained her pooch to talk. her dog, Stella can communicate full sentences and the videos are blowing away people’s mind online.
Christina Hunger, a 26-year-old woman from California, who is a speech-language pathologist “believes everyone deserves a voice” and thus trained her one-year-old Catahoula/Blue Heeler mix to speak in proper sentences. Using a specially-designed buzzer button pad, the intelligent pooch tells its owners when she wants to go outside and play among other things.
It all started as an experiment when Hunger and her fiancee programmed one recordable answer buzzer. “We thought this button would be a good size for Stella to activate with her paw. Every time we said ‘outside’ to Stella, we modeled use of the button by pushing it with our foot,” the woman wrote in her blog ‘Hunger for Words’.
The therapist developed an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) system for her dog. “Every time we took Stella outside, we pushed ‘outside’ button before opening the door. After a few weeks of modeling, Stella showed us she was aware of what was happening. When I would ask ‘outside’, Stella wanted to go outside and she began looking down at the button, looking up at me, and barking,” Hunger explained.
Cut to present, Stella now knows nearly 30 words and can communicate using multiple words. Hunger keeps track of the dog’s progress on social media accounts and the posts have left many intrigued online. In her latest post, the woman said Stella uses both paws to push buttons, drawing parallel to humans learning to type using both hands.
And much like humans, the smart dog has learnt the basics about communication. “She frequently says ‘look’, waits for us to turn toward her then conveys her message or vocalises right before she uses her device,” Hunger said in her post.
Immensely proud of Stella’s cognitive skills, the Hunger said, “She’s learning and demonstrating rules of communication that I haven’t even tried to teach. It’s amazing to see the language and social skills that Stella acquires naturally.”
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