The Word of Dog

There’s a sheepadoodle in Washington State that knows how to talk. I had no idea that such a thing existed. I mean, what the hell is a sheepadoodle?

OK, acceptable.

But as for the whole “talking” thing, I remain unimpressed. 

To be clear, the dog in question, “Bunny” (if that is her real name), is not some sort of real-world Scooby Doo. She communicates by pushing buttons—buttons that have words printed on them, allowing her to create rudimentary phrases at a slightly higher developmental level than that displayed by the former President of the United States.

To be sure, this is intriguing, and it’s somewhat entertaining when Bunny seems to be using her button collection to express displeasure at her owner’s lack of alacrity in taking her for walks. At the same time, having to set up a rather unwieldy Louisiana-shaped mat with about fifty buttons in order to allow a dog to  express such complex thoughts as “Feed me” seems like a bit more trouble than it’s worth.

Dogs (and for that matter cats, guinea pigs, parrots, and any number of other domesticated animals) have no need for fancy technological support to communicate with humans. They have us wrapped around their paws all on their own power.