Agree with you entirely regarding the use of soundboards. I wonder if we can ever be sure that the dog is asking for something, or hearing a cue word on touching a button and then expecting what has been just cued. Either way, whether or not they are useful, is is nice that people are attempting to interact with their dogs more, even if we can already do so on a more natural level, intuitively.
Thank Freya, good to know! I think you're right on the second point too - it's to be applauded that people are interested in the idea of animal communication. And, there's no doubt, that's its great mental exercise for the dog, ha ha!
While I have no doubt that some/most dogs can be taught to mand using buttons, I do wonder how many dogs are able to comprehend the large numbers of buttons asking for half the universe.
For a long time, people have taught dogs to ring a bell to go out to the back garden, for example, and this is not much different. But when it comes to asking for specific toys from a selection of 20 or so, I wonder if it is simply a game or some attention they are asking for.
Again, some dogs might be capable - thinking of Chaser the collie's vocabulary skills - but I know many are not.
My Twyla, she would be far more likely to run off with the buttons and chew those than have the capacity to be still and calm long enough to learn what 30 or 40 buttons mean. She doesn't have that kind of patience.
If not all dogs are able to utilise the buttons effectively, and not all humans are not able to tell if their dogs are genuinely asking for a need to be met, or simply pressing buttons, then we will not really know how effective they are for a long time without extensive tests.
In the meantime, studying dog body language, and learning those little cues our dogs already know how to give us when they need or want something is far more effective for most dog/human partnerships, in my humble opinion :-)
I love this Jules! And I love 'nothing burger', that's going to be a new cuss at Bradbury Towers. We discussed getting those button things for Tos, as she's so clever, but it turns out we can all communicate with each other just fine without one. She has worked out how to ask us to fetch the duvet, turn the light on, give her a cuddle, as well as the usual food/wee/play requests, and we have learned what her different barks mean. The other day, a neighbour's dog was barking constantly in his garden and Tos ran out and basically told him to stop. He did! I love reading her cues and knowing/guessing what she's saying. I think you're right - the buttons would make us less open to reading the dog, which would make our relationship with her less fulfilling. XX
![[Nature's Footnote]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!C6DB!,w_80,h_80,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F41ee839f-f351-42db-89ad-75e937e76525_1280x1280.png)
![[Nature's Footnote]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!C6DB!,w_36,h_36,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F41ee839f-f351-42db-89ad-75e937e76525_1280x1280.png)
Agree with you entirely regarding the use of soundboards. I wonder if we can ever be sure that the dog is asking for something, or hearing a cue word on touching a button and then expecting what has been just cued. Either way, whether or not they are useful, is is nice that people are attempting to interact with their dogs more, even if we can already do so on a more natural level, intuitively.
Thank Freya, good to know! I think you're right on the second point too - it's to be applauded that people are interested in the idea of animal communication. And, there's no doubt, that's its great mental exercise for the dog, ha ha!
While I have no doubt that some/most dogs can be taught to mand using buttons, I do wonder how many dogs are able to comprehend the large numbers of buttons asking for half the universe.
For a long time, people have taught dogs to ring a bell to go out to the back garden, for example, and this is not much different. But when it comes to asking for specific toys from a selection of 20 or so, I wonder if it is simply a game or some attention they are asking for.
Again, some dogs might be capable - thinking of Chaser the collie's vocabulary skills - but I know many are not.
My Twyla, she would be far more likely to run off with the buttons and chew those than have the capacity to be still and calm long enough to learn what 30 or 40 buttons mean. She doesn't have that kind of patience.
If not all dogs are able to utilise the buttons effectively, and not all humans are not able to tell if their dogs are genuinely asking for a need to be met, or simply pressing buttons, then we will not really know how effective they are for a long time without extensive tests.
In the meantime, studying dog body language, and learning those little cues our dogs already know how to give us when they need or want something is far more effective for most dog/human partnerships, in my humble opinion :-)
I love this Jules! And I love 'nothing burger', that's going to be a new cuss at Bradbury Towers. We discussed getting those button things for Tos, as she's so clever, but it turns out we can all communicate with each other just fine without one. She has worked out how to ask us to fetch the duvet, turn the light on, give her a cuddle, as well as the usual food/wee/play requests, and we have learned what her different barks mean. The other day, a neighbour's dog was barking constantly in his garden and Tos ran out and basically told him to stop. He did! I love reading her cues and knowing/guessing what she's saying. I think you're right - the buttons would make us less open to reading the dog, which would make our relationship with her less fulfilling. XX