Speech Expert Teaches Dog To Talk

She actually taught the dog to push buttons in order to "talk" and the concept is so simple, I'm totally trying it with my dogs.

Dogs are pretty smart. According to livescience.com, "average dogs can learn 165 words (similar to a 2-year-old child), including signals and gestures, and dogs in the top 20 percent in intelligence can learn 250 words." They can also distinguish between nouns and handle basic arithmetic. (Don't believe me? Show Rover 3 treats and put them in your pocket. Then, give him only 2 and watch his reaction.)

Anyway, repetition is typically the key to maximizing their abilities. (Just like with small children.) Christina Hunger, a speech pathologist, rigged up some buttons to playback recorded words and phrases and then patiently taught her dog, Stella, which button applied to which of the dogs' needs. Ever have your dog just sit and stare at you or sit and bark at you for no reason? Or, keep walking away from you and then looking back? They're trying to tell you something but, they can't.

Stella can though, check out the videos.