Talking away at your dog - is it counterproductive?

[AtlasPine]

Do you think chatting away to your dog is confusing or counterproductive? I do this all the time but have started wondering if it makes it harder for the dog to separate out the words he knows from what must feel like gobbledegook he may think he’s supposed to understand. He head tilts at me a lot.

And perhaps I should only speak when it’s a clear message - time for a walk now, you can jump up on here etc. which he does understand.

My dogs are the only one's who will listen to me.

I used to chat to mine all the time. It was a real comfort as DH often works away but it never feels lonely even though they don’t answer back! I do remember once getting myself a snack and saying ‘shall we watch how to get away with murder ddog’ and thinking I needed to be careful or someone would think I was going crazy!

But I often used to chat about telly, all the jobs I had to do etc. And she seemed happy to be chatted to/involved! She did understand the difference when I was telling her to do something because I think I adopted a slightly different voice? So if I was saying ‘then I’ll need to ring the school, I’m flat out’ I would say it in my normal voice but if I wanted her to sit down I would say ‘sit!’ By itself with no other words.

Although she was a dog who I think liked people chatting - I remember if we all laughed at a joke/something on telly she used to get really excited and wag her body about. I think she just enjoyed being involved with everything! I know some dogs maybe wouldn’t like it as much. If your particular dog doesn’t seem distressed I don’t see how it would be a problem!

They like it. After all, we can't wag our tails or prick our ears up - how else can they tell everything is fine with us? More to the point, you can tell a dog your deepest fears and sorrows and they'll listen, unlike the Cat who will give you a response along the lines of 'I'm beautiful, you know. And oh, yes, hungry. So very very hungry'.

I have continually talkative cats and dogs. Taught them all sign language as well, but they try to communicate with us our way - the least I could do was have a go at joining their world.

Mine is definitely not bright enough to pick up on the nuances in my inane chatter

Dogs love being talked to,its part of the connection with you.there is a difference though between just chatting to your dog and giving a command.A spaniel needs his brain stimulated and for this you need to give him clear one word command(aleays the same words).any other time, you can just chatter along,he will enjoy hearing your voice.

I chat away to our dog but I suspect much of it is white noise unless a specific word like walk or food is mentioned. She doesn’t seem to mind and wanders off if I’m boring her.

There's no point at all me talking to mine, she's deaf from birth! I still do it though

I talk to mine and answer back for him

@certainshepherdpups

I have always talked to my dogs a lot. I don’t think they find it confusing or distressing, though sometimes they seem to be trying to work out exactly what I’m on about.

I also sing to them. With my last dog I often sang my own version of a hymn called “A Mighty Fortress is our God” with revised lyrics beginning “A mighty puppy is our dog.” I sing a song based on his name to my current puppy. The dogs have never objected to my (not exactly brilliant) singing voice.

This is lovely and made me smile.

Love hearing about your dog chats and especially the adapted hymn. That is one loved pup!

Having slept on it and read your responses I think I’ll try and avoid direct questions with eye contact unless they are immediate and involve interaction eg where’s your toy? Would you like dinner now? Are you a GOOD BOY!

I’ll make the narrative chit chat more general so I could be talking to anyone. And change tones for commands which I do anyway, with hand signals.

I’d be sad to feel I couldn’t chat to him anymore. I swear it helps my mental health- just don’t want to take away from his.

This is interesting.

I don't have a dog but chatter away to the cat constantly. I am always telling him how special and handsome he is. Asking him if he is comfortable or warm enough.......

DH, on the other hand, speaks to him much less but they have a complete and utter bromance going on. The cat clearly prefers DH!

@YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp

I chat away to our dog but I suspect much of it is white noise unless a specific word like walk or food is mentioned. She doesn’t seem to mind and wanders off if I’m boring her.

I had a teen dc like that.

I talk to my dog and cats constantly. I'm also a dog walker and talk to all the dogs I work with

I really don't think it confuses them, I think it helps form a bond with them as they tend to love hearing the sound of our voices and find it comforting.

I also think it helps teach them words I've never actively set out to teach. My dog knows, for example, that "grandma's here!" means that my mums outside. If we're on a walk and I say "let's go to granddads house" - he knows exactly where to go.

@Whydoesthecatalwaysdothat

This is interesting.

I don't have a dog but chatter away to the cat constantly. I am always telling him how special and handsome he is. Asking him if he is comfortable or warm enough.......

DH, on the other hand, speaks to him much less but they have a complete and utter bromance going on. The cat clearly prefers DH!

This is us with the dog - dh talks to him much less and pets him for a much shorter time but he does feel very comfortable snoozing against dh whereas I think I pet and chat too much for him sometimes. He’s with me when he wants that but moves to dh when he’s had enough.

Mine definitely likes being talked to, she’s a nervous rescue and if she’s upset on a walk and I talk or sing (!) to her I can see her tail coming out from under her body.

I agree with avoiding words that you might actually want them to understand.

@fairylightsandwaxmelts

I talk to my dog and cats constantly. I'm also a dog walker and talk to all the dogs I work with

I really don't think it confuses them, I think it helps form a bond with them as they tend to love hearing the sound of our voices and find it comforting.

I also think it helps teach them words I've never actively set out to teach. My dog knows, for example, that "grandma's here!" means that my mums outside. If we're on a walk and I say "let's go to granddads house" - he knows exactly where to go.

They definitely learn to link repeated words and phrases with their meaning, particularly in context. I read about a collie who had an understanding Vocab of over 1000 words - massively impressive!

@SheWoreYellow

Mine definitely likes being talked to, she’s a nervous rescue and if she’s upset on a walk and I talk or sing (!) to her I can see her tail coming out from under her body.

I agree with avoiding words that you might actually want them to understand.

I think any words burbled in a soothing tone are appreciated by a scared or nervous dog who is attached to you. I’m sure the tone is the important bit.

I chat to my lab all the time. He mostly zones out and ignores me unless I happen to mention a word he likes (mostly food related). Once though, I was singing "what's this" from nightmare before Christmas with DD and he came running downstairs and barked in my face to find out what "this" was!

@BiteyShark

I talk to mine and answer back for him

@asnippersdream

I chat to my lab all the time. He mostly zones out and ignores me unless I happen to mention a word he likes (mostly food related). Once though, I was singing "what's this" from nightmare before Christmas with DD and he came running downstairs and barked in my face to find out what "this" was!

Fabulous fella!

@Vampirethriller

There's no point at all me talking to mine, she's deaf from birth! I still do it though

It’s very calming for us. After something stressful, a chat with the dog (at the dog) brings me right back to a better place - I don’t think the dog not hearing would change that. Also he might pick up the vibrations of speech and enjoy that. It’s all positive attention.

@NeverDropYourMooncup

They like it. After all, we can't wag our tails or prick our ears up - how else can they tell everything is fine with us? More to the point, you can tell a dog your deepest fears and sorrows and they'll listen, unlike the Cat who will give you a response along the lines of 'I'm beautiful, you know. And oh, yes, hungry. So very very hungry'.

I have continually talkative cats and dogs. Taught them all sign language as well, but they try to communicate with us our way - the least I could do was have a go at joining their world.

Do you ever try to emulate their communication? I have one friend who prrups (chirps) to her cat and they have long exchanges in ‘cat’.

@AtlasPine they are remarkably clever, though mine definitely chooses when he wants to listen and when he doesn't

Also the slow blinking