At this stage, you will push the button every time you and your dog are about to do whatever is associated with the button. Once you have a button ready, it’s time to start using it.I recorded “potty” onto one of the buttons and put it in a central place in my home we would need to pass to get to the backyard. Struggling to come up with what words already have meaning for your dog? Hunger includes this PDF vocabulary worksheet on her website that you can use to brainstorm. For my own dog, I picked “potty” as the first word which at my house means going out into our backyard. Essentially you want to select words to start with that your dog already has an association with and that are things your dog enjoys. Examples might be playing, walks, going into the yard etc. The easiest way will be to pair buttons with things that are high value in your dog’s life. Once you have your buttons, you’ll want to start teaching your dog to use them.Dogs who are rushed in the training process are also less likely to independently use the buttons to actively communicate. Rushing the process would likely get your dog pushing buttons but not necessarily really understanding the meaning behind the button they push. The thought of teaching your dog to “talk” via communication buttons might sound daunting but at least on an initial basic level, it’s something that many dogs should be able to master. Learning Resources Recordable Answers Buzzers Some owners also choose to buy foam floor tiles and velcro to attach the buzzers to, in order to keep their dog from slipping. Each button can be recorded with 30 seconds (much more time than you need for just one word). I found this four-pack of buttons on Amazon that I bought for training my own dogs. Recordable dog training buttons are available to purchase through many retailers - Stella even has her own set! There are high-end buttons purchasable through medical and therapeutic supply companies, but you can also buy cheaper options. It’s also something that, with a little bit of practice, every dog can use to communicate at least basic things like wanting a walk or to play. Using recordable dog training buttons is a fun way to increase the communication that you already have with your dog. Now, you can actually learn how to teach your dog to talk with buttons. You don’t have to be a speech pathologist or dog trainer in order to begin building a new level of understanding about what your dog wants. ![]() If you’ve always wondered what your dog has to say, now is your chance to find out. This new training opens the possibility of dogs communicating more clearly with us and us gaining a greater understanding of how our dogs see the world. In a recent video, Stella used her soundboard ( a collection of pre-programmed buttons) to tell her owner by pushing multiple buttons in quick succession that there was something going on outside their home and that she wanted to go and see it. In short video clips, Stella utilizes her extensive vocabulary of words programmed into recordable buttons to express not only things she wants to do such as going to the beach, but also more abstract concepts like feelings and emotions as well as pairing together words. Christina Hunger has a viral Instagram where she is documenting her dog’s learning called “Hunger4Words” and a website with additional resources. ![]() ![]() Have you ever wished you could teach your dog to talk? We know our dogs understand a tremendous amount of language, but what if they could speak directly to us? Can you teach your dog to talk? In short, the answer is yes.Ĭhristina Hunger MA, CCC-SLP, a San Diego based speech-language pathologist, has discovered a way to train her dog to actually speak to her using adaptive speech technologies - speech buttons pre-programmed with words that her dog Stella can select between to communicate wants, needs, and thoughts.
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