Animal Advocacy
Your Dog is Listening
Here’s How You Can Help Them
The last time my younger dog jumped up against the sliding glass door I reminded him that he knows better, and that he can just exit to the back yard via the kitchen screen door (which he can push open). I then reminded myself to use his words.
“Outside, open, door!”
He looked at me and then broke eye contact. I held my tongue and waited so he could process my words. Sure enough, after a moment he turned and walked into the kitchen, pushed the screen door open, and went outside.
I’ve always thought that dogs who spend more time indoors with their humans pick up more words. So I chat incessantly at my dogs hoping some of my language will sink in as they follow me around the house. Sometimes it does: they pluck individual words from my continuous stream of speech and act on those words. Sometimes it does not, and they just head-tilt stare at me.
It wasn’t until I discovered the Instagram account of Christina Hunger that I realized I didn’t have to be so random in my dog language pedagogy. I actually have some training and experience of my own from which I can teach.
Hunger is a speech language pathologist, and as an education assistant (EA), I’ve worked under the guidance of…
