Can We Talk?

I’ve read lots of articles and blogs about how humans can learn to understand dogs.  Our language is pretty simple and complex at the same time.  We can obviously talk.   My sister Dixie likes to tell long involved stories, which are mostly about me and of course are untrue.   She barks up a storm, going on and on, throwing in a growl or whine for emphasis.   I will tell a story now and then but prefer to use more subtle forms of communicating.

If I back into you, it means I would like you to scratch my back.  If I sit in front of the cookie jar or my bowl it means I would like you to get me a cookie or feed me.  I save my voice for more important things like alerting the family that the mailperson or the delivery person is coming or a squirrel is on our yard.

If humans just watch us dogs closely, they will notice that we use our ears and tails a lot when we communicate.  If they just listen with their eyes and they’d hear exactly what we are saying.

But I didn’t want to talk about how dogs communicate with humans.   Like I said there are lots of articles you can read about that.  I also didn’t want to talk about humans communicating with dogs during training.  Training requires special words and body language.  You can find lots of article about that too.

What I wanted to talk about was simply taking to us.  I love when Mom talks to me.  I’m her business partner so she talks to me a lot about stuff that’s going on with the business.  She asks my opinion about new gift basket designs she wants to add to the line.  Even those that aren’t for the Pet Division, which is my department but for ones she does holidays or is custom designing for a client.  When we ride in the car she tells me where we are going and what we are going to do.  When she is going in the car by herself, she tells me where she is going and when she is coming back.

When she started working from home, she talked to me lots more than when we were in the shop and people came and went all day long.  She doesn’t talk baby talk to me or talk in a sing-songy voice either.   She talks to me like an adult, which I am.  I’m a good listener and very good at keeping secrets.   She says I’m a good sounding board for ideas and the best therapist, whatever that is.  

I love to hear the sound of her voice, except when Dixie does something wrong, like tips over the trash and she talks really loud.  I like it much better when she talks in her regular voice.  I can sit quietly and listen to her for hours.  I really like when she tells me I’m her best girl or that she loves me a lot. When she talks to me I know that she cares about me and that I am safe and loved and am an important part of her life.  Those things are very important to me.  Even more important than even cookies.

I’d love to know what kind of stuff your human talks to you about.  Unless it’s a secret because I bet you’re a good secret keeper too.  We dogs know that it is better to way our tails, not our tongues.

Your friend,

Zeva

P.S.  Blatant self-promotion.  If you are listening to your dog, he or she is probably telling you that they would LOVE one of our Puppy Power Gift Baskets.  :)