Thursday, January 22, 2015

Do Our Dogs Communicate With Us?

 
"Hello?  Hello?  It's me, Bentley."
 How many times a day do you have this conversation?  Your spouse/child: “Did you say something?”  You: “I was talking to the dog.”  I am not ashamed to say that this scenario is played out between Bentley, Pierre, my husband Skipper, and me several times a day.  We both talk to the dogs just like we talk to each other.  No squeaky voices, no baby words.  We simply speak to them as we would any other member of the family.  Does that make us weird?  I don’t think so, but then again, I’m the one carrying on conversations with a Basset Hound and a Westie.  The question is, “Do our dogs communicate with us?”  We offer the following proof.


Bentley: “Excuse me, Mom?  Are you seriously going to write a post about whether I communicate with you?  Let me ask you something, how do you know when I need to use the outdoor facilities?
Me: “You go to the back door and whack the blinds.  I’ve been meaning to ask you why you won’t ring the bells.  That’s what they are hanging there for, you know.”
Bentley: “Yeah, I know.  The bells are Pierre’s thing.  I find making the blinds
"I prefer the whack attack on my blinds."
sound like someone is busting through the door to be more effective for me.  It’s a personal choice and it is communicating.  How do you know when I am hungry?”
Me: “If I happen to be a few minutes late in serving your meal, you climb on me, making it impossible for me to work, and at times, difficult to breath.”
Bentley: “Does it relay the message to you that I am on the brink of starvation?  Once I allow you to breath, don’t you go fetch my dinner?  That’s communication!
Me: “You don’t leave me much of a choice.  It is hard to ignore you when you’re on top of me.”
Bentley: “Let’s say I want to go for my walk.  How do you know that is what I want?”
Me: “That’s easy!  You go stick your head in the leash box and then give me “the look.”  Dad said that you told him where your ball was the other day.”
Bentley: “Oh my gosh!  That was an epic example of communication skills!  He had gotten down on the floor to play a game of tug-o-war.  However, I had recently gotten a fresh sniff of my long-lost soccer ball, which had rolled under y’alls chest of drawers.  This was my chance to have Dad reach under there and grab it.  That’s a problem with short arms; I just don’t have the reach.”
Me: “He said that you crawled over and stuck your nose under the dresser.”
Bentley: “That’s right.  I knew he’d be curious when I didn’t immediately jump on the game of tug.  I stuck my nose under the opening and then gave him “the look.”  It was all very dramatic.  I may have whined and pawed like Lassie whenever Timmy fell into the well.  *He didn’t, but he loves to embellish.  Dad quickly came over to see what I was trying to show him.”
Me: “That’s when I walked in to see what y’all were doing.  I saw Dad pull that soccer ball out and your tail was swishing like a metronome.  That’s when your dad told me, “He just asked me to get his ball out from under the dresser!”  It’s not as if you don’t communicate with us all of the time, because you do.  When you tell us something out of the ordinary, it lets us know that you understand the art of communicating.  It’s very impressive.”
Bentley: “All animals communicate; it is up to humans to learn our languages.  If a chimpanzee had shown a human where their long lost ball was, it’d be front page on Monkey Monthly.  We all know they are practically people according to their DNA.  I think we just saved the scientific world a lot of money on research.  We are dogs and we communicate!”
Me: “You do know that a chimpanzee is not a monkey, don’t you?”
Bentley: “Seriously, are you going to call me out on the animal kingdom?  I know chimps are apes, but Ape Monthly is not as funny.  Now, if you’d please move your laptop, I need to cut off your air supply until you feed me.”
Me: “We rest our case.  You should be talking to your dog.  They really get it!”

How do your dogs or cats communicate their desires to you?  Let us know in your comments.





We are happy to communicate with you that this is our Thoughtless Thursday post!  We co-host this fun blog hop along with Ruckus the Eskie and Love is being owned by a Husky.  Enjoy them and these other thoughtless bloggers. 
 Remember…don’t think ~ just link!





30 comments :

  1. I bark. A lot. It works pretty well.

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  2. BOL! Love Whitley's answer!! I am guilty of talking to my dogs more than I talk to my husband! I am always carrying on a conversation with either Chloe or LadyBug...they follow me around the house...no matter what room I'm in...you can always find me with one of them...or both! They DO communicate with me...sometimes it is just a STARE...but they definitely get their point across!!

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  3. They certainly do communicate! Yes, I talk to my animals. The cats are dramatic, knocking things over, staring in my face attempting telepathy, meowing, Max just gives that look you were referring to. Rascal and Rocco

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  4. I definitely think they do communicate with us! :D I know I probably talk to them too much! LOL

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  5. Oh the peeps talk to me all the time. I luffs it when they talk to me on my walkies and then realise someone else is listening....then they go all red in the face HeHe
    Loves and licky kisses
    Princess Leah xxx

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  6. For sure they communicate. I ask I get. Have a tremendous Thursday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  7. Yep all the time here..'How you doin mate? you good...awesome..want a play..ok i'll get your toys.." then hubby..'Did you say something?" me 'No talking to the boys"...I rest my case :) loves Bev ...pee ess I talk to the roos too..go figure :) xxx

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  8. Mom is like you...she babbles at us about stuff all the time and we listen politely. She knows from our behaviors what we want from her too. Since starting our nose sports last year, we have gotten even better at reading and communicating with each other.

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  9. I have to admit that my momma talks more with me than with my dad.... probably that's the reason that I have to clean my ears efurry day (you know long ears and endless talks are not really a good mix lol). I mostly communicate with her with barking directly in her ears or I use my paws to tell her what I want... think that's called "paw-laver" :o)
    Easy Rider

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  10. hahaha!!!! My hubby says that to me ALL the time! "What did you say?" Um I was talking to the dogs I reply! hahahahaha!
    I think people think i'm nuts because I talk to them while i'm on walks too!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

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  11. HA! You know I talk to my furries all the time... only they aren't as smart and literate as Bentley! Miss ya - it is a blah, cold winter around here....

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  12. Jan says she wishes I would stop "yelling" at her when I talk. I don't yell, I'm just very emphatic.

    Marcus

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  13. I had to giggle, we communicate almost just like you do MK....:-)
    Great post!!

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  14. Our DAD talks to US Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than he talks to MOM.... Mom talks to us CONSTANTLY... drives us CRAZY with all her chatter... we just mostly IGNORE her... BUTT she ALWAYS lissens to US.
    Isn't that how it SHOULD be????

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  15. Yes we also talk to our dogs and sometimes help them "voice" their side of the conversation. Greta's favorite way of telling me to get off the computer and pay attention to her was to pull on the couch cushion. It has velcro underneath and it sounded like she was ripping it. she knew I would come running. She was very good at communicating!
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel

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  16. This momma has full on conversations when we are out in public
    Lily & Edward

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  17. Ava barks more than anything while Veruca conveys her messages through body language and head tilts. I agree that if you are receptive, you can learn their cues. Great post.

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  18. My dogs have a vocabulary of hundreds of words, but it is because I talk to them all the time in complete sentences.

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  19. LOL...this happens all the time! I always ask Rooney how his day was, and I tell him to have a good Rooney day when I leave for work :)

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  20. My dogs totally communicate with us! If I'm a moment late in serving her Majesties their dinner, you should hear the ruckus! They can tell time, down to the nano-second you know. And when daddy's car pulls into the driveway they run back & forth from the front door to my office excited as all get-out - you'd think the President was arriving at our home!
    Love & Biscuits,
    Cathy, Isis & Phoebe
    www.dogsluvusandweluvthem.blogspot.com.

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  21. Ha ha, oh yes, "I was talking to the dogs" is said often around here! This is so true, dogs communicate so well, though sometimes it takes me some time to figure out just what they're trying to tell me! It works both ways too...just today I was telling Luke, "we're going to go downstairs and do some training" and I swear he knew just what I was saying....he went running downstairs all excited!
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  22. Me and mom communicate all the time. We have our secret ways BOL!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  23. We are happy you got this conversation going, Bentley. We are always talking with our mom, and she, with us. She even reads the blog to us to get feedback. Hell, we write the blog half the time!

    -Livvie, Twinkle & Kessie
    from MatildasJourney.com

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  24. There is no question that when a dog wants you to know something,,,they will find a way to get their idea across to you.
    But,,,,,they can be terrible listeners !

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  25. hahaha that is me, John keeps saying "what did you say"? nothing talking to the dog!

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  26. I must admit apart from my husband the only ones I talk to during the week is the boys :)

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  27. Oh yes. We talk to our dogs all the time. At least once a day one of us will say, "What"? The other one will say, "I was talking to the dog".

    The dogs do communicate their needs to us as well. :-)

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  28. I talk to the dogs all the time and sometimes I think they actually understand...lol.

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  29. Bonz speaks VERY clearly with his Hoomins. His favorite way is by making sure to use his "booper" (nose) to knock the phone from my han 🐶

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  30. Bonz speaks VERY clearly with his Hoomins. His favorite way is by making sure to use his "booper" (nose) to knock the phone from my han 🐶

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