Do you talk to your animals?

Foxhound38

The missus has a dog - big stupid Labrador but a lovely aul animal all the same it has to be said!

Anyway, she does talk the ears off the thing, and treats it a bit like one would a child. Not in a wierdo way or anything, but in the way you often see householders do.

I've always been perplexed by this, even though I find myself doing it too on occassion with my two staffies. I mean, given that the dog can't understand wtf you're talking about, one would wonder what's the point?

So AH, do you chat away to your dogs and cats in your spare time?

bodice ripper

Good pet owners talk to their pets. Great pet owners answer back for their pets...

Mr.McLovin

Her maiden name wasn't Dolittle by any chance?

saltyjack silverblade

I only talk to them when the fridge is mad at me.

emmabrighton

bodice ripper wrote: »

Good pet owners talk to their pets. Great pet owners answer back for their pets...

Glad to see I am not the only one who does this.

petes

I talk to my cock!

3rdDegree

Used to talk to a dog that would stare back at you intently as you spoke. No doubt thinking "do these creatures EVER stop making noises?"

WesternZulu

Yeah!

Picked it up from my mother I think.
I would ask a dog, sheep, anything, how's it going.
Like ''how's the lambeen's?''
And constantly asking our dogs what's wrong with them...they never answer back though but I know they understand every word I say!

funk-you

I just do the usual dog owner speak;

Sit
Down
Rollover
Get your ball
Lets go for a walk
Go to bed
Stop blowing yourself in front of my Mrs.

Nothing unusual about it at all.

-Funk

I am pie

I chat away to my dog, generally the most sensible conversation of the day.

Ruu

All the time, very calming.

liliq

Yep, talk to my two dogs quite a bit.
People talk to plants, at least animals are a bit more... Animated.

Sleepy

Don't be daft. All my fish are underwater, they'd never be able to hear me.

Dixie Chick

Yes. When I had a cats I always spoke to them. Just a general Tweety Bird conversation asking how is the Puddy Tat etc which used to go down a treat!!

Sunnyisland

:rolleyes: sometimes go on a rant with my dog about what's going on in the world/Ireland,he seems to agree with me as I usually get a little bark :)

Teyla Emmagan

Chat away to the cat, he loves it. He will miaow back if I ask him a question. Honestly, he's a genius.

ruthloss

Yes I do., and the poor dog thinks his name is 'Shutup'!

Oink

I used to talk to my cat too: "Who's my little psychopath? You're just sitting there wishing you were big enough to take me, aren't you? Go on out then. Go kill something beautiful, you little ruffian."

Sir Humphrey Appleby

Yup, I talk to my puddtats all the time.:)

Dixie Chick

Whats the point of having pets if you don't talk to them!!

ScumLord

Foxhound38 wrote: »

I've always been perplexed by this, even though I find myself doing it too on occassion with my two staffies. I mean, given that the dog can't understand wtf you're talking about, one would wonder what's the point?

A dog would understand a fair bit of what you say but would be getting most of his clues from your emotional state which gets expressed as you talk.

If dogs didn't understand humans we've been witnessing one of the greatest coincidences in history when a human says sit and a dog does it.

Mr. Manager

petes wrote: »

I talk to my cock!

Was that supposed to be funny?

IvySlayer

Worse, I baby talk to my dog

FanadMan

I talk to everything - dogs, cows, spiders, birds etc. But only the dogs seem to understand me.

Kimbot

My sister has a dog and he definately understands everything you say to him. Sometimes he farts (silent ones) and if you smell it just look at the dog and say "Shame on you", its the funniest reaction I have ever seen, his head drops and he slowly walks away all ashamed of himself. My niece was in hospital for a few weeks and she wanted to talk to the dog so put him on the phone, he barked back to everything she asked him.

Links234

Yup, I talk all the time to my dog, she's such a bright little thing.

DoozerT6

Oh yes, I even have special voices for each of them. In fact my mother told me years ago that I'd be taken away and put in the looney bin if anybody ever heard me

Nothing like talking in a soothing voice to your dog, and have him give you that melting, trusting look while wagging his tail at you...

Shenshen

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Chat away to the cat, he loves it. He will miaow back if I ask him a question. Honestly, he's a genius.

Got one of those, too.
She will actually try and join conversations, she'll sit next to the table and miaow and look at people, waiting for them to reply before miaowing again.

miss no stars

ScumLord wrote: »

A dog would understand a fair bit of what you say but would be getting most of his clues from your emotional state which gets expressed as you talk.

If dogs didn't understand humans we've been witnessing one of the greatest coincidences in history when a human says sit and a dog does it.

We had a dog and made him sit before getting his dinner put in his bowl. Then the cat arrived on scene and I figured sure why not try her out with a bit of sitting. Dog told to sit, he sat, got fed. Cat told to sit, she looks blankly back, no food produced, meows, unhappy, little bit of pressure put on her back legs. She semi sits and gets her dinner. Repeated a couple of times until it went like this:

"Bailey, sit" *points finger*
Dog sits.
Food goes into his bowl.

"Minnie, sit" (no pointing finger)
Cat sits.
Her bowl full of food put out for her.

The dog is gone now but the cat still sits on command.

Foxhound38

I guess it's just one of those natural things people do. As I said, I do it myself fairly frequently, but it's never really something I thought abbout till now

Teyla Emmagan

Shenshen wrote: »

Got one of those, too.
She will actually try and join conversations, she'll sit next to the table and miaow and look at people, waiting for them to reply before miaowing again.

They're brilliant. They're much more into communication than people think. My fella comes in from a run and tells me all his news for about 2 minutes before settling down. And the old cat used to run down the street to me yelling his head off when he saw me coming home at the end of the day.

Lawrence1895

Of course I do, I'm getting more and more fluent in cat language

Chucken

Shenshen wrote: »

Got one of those, too.
She will actually try and join conversations, she'll sit next to the table and miaow and look at people, waiting for them to reply before miaowing again.

Does she ask for her dinner?
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=84442170&postcount=4591

emmabrighton

I agree about cats being very chatty. I have one cat that announces her arrival every time she comes through the cat flap. And the miaow sounds are all different depending on what they are trying to convey.

"Give me whiskas" - is a popular one with all my cats
"I caught something, I don't know what it is, but its definitely something" - kitten announced this when she brought home a live frog,
"Come and bask in my reflected glory" - tuxedo tom returning with rat/stoat/phesant - the rat was still VERY MUCH ALIVE - *shudder*
"Fcuk off Mao, you're too fat you wont fit in the biscuit tin with me" or "Fcuk off Doof, youre a smelly dog" - fluffy cat
or the ever popular
"Wake up, its 4am and we are having a cat party in the sitting room"

Lawrence1895

emmabrighton wrote: »

I agree about cats being very chatty. I have one cat that announces her arrival every time she comes through the cat flap. And the miaow sounds are all different depending on what they are trying to convey.

"Give me whiskas" - is a popular one with all my cats
"I caught something, I don't know what it is, but its definitely something" - kitten announced this when she brought home a live frog,
"Come and bask in my reflected glory" - tuxedo tom returning with rat/stoat/phesant - the rat was still VERY MUCH ALIVE - *shudder*
"Fcuk off Mao, you're too fat you wont fit in the biscuit tin with me" or "Fcuk off Doof, youre a smelly dog" - fluffy cat
or the ever popular
"Wake up, its 4am and we are having a cat party in the sitting room"

http://www.youswear.com/index.asp?language=Cat#.UqHnv_RdWSo

lucky333

Dogs understand what we say, there not stupid , there very clever animals. Every dog owner should talk to there dogs or they shouldn't have them.

I chat to mine all the time. He has never spoke back yet, but he does smile at me.

When I smile at him, he wags his tail at me.

hes my buddy and Im his. Some times no words are needed.

Ilyana 2.0

We always chat to our dog, he's dopey as hell but I think he listens. My Mum sometimes speaks to him through the window when he's in garden, as if he can hear her through double glazing.

He's useless with commands though, and he doesn't get excited like some dogs do over words like 'walk' and 'food'. Big eejit.

Im teaching the neighbour's cat a lot of swear words.

Fcuking Little bollox.

ScumLord

Ilyana 2.0 wrote: »

We always chat to our dog, he's dopey as hell but I think he listens. My Mum sometimes speaks to him through the window when he's in garden, as if he can hear her through double glazing.

He probably can, our dog could hear someone walking past the house and we had double glazed windows and a front garden in the way.

ghogie91

We have 3 dogs in the house.

I have a Yorkie called Peanut. She is a human on 4 legs, understands when I talk to her and when im playing xbox she celebrates when the crowd roars when a goal is scored by jumping around, I say 'protect me' she runs to the window and barks if anything is outside, if not she comes back with a lick of reassurance and just phenomenal things like that

The mother has a morkie called Millie (yorkie maltese mix) which is 1 and a half but is in baby mode, shes like a toddler, she has a human sleeping pattern, her own chair at the table, her own sleeping arangement in the mothers room, hates the alarm clock in the mornings she has to be lifted out of bed to wake up and loves a lie in on weekends, she also pisses in the shower hahahaha

Peanut had 2 boys recently, the little sister wanted her own dog so I gave her one, she called him Chubbs. This pup has an undying love for food, he is catching on quickly, he is showing habits of the other 2 dogs that took them up to 2 years to figure out, I have no doubt he will be more intelligent than the other 2

kaimera

The dog at home is treated like a kid and part of the family; always talked to and answers back! My mam in particular does it!

The cat herself has here in dub...don't tell her (cos I'm not a cat person) but I'm always talking to the cat and she cries back in reply. Not quite conversational just yet...i'm not crazy like

Ilyana 2.0

ScumLord wrote: »

He probably can, our dog could hear someone walking past the house and we had double glazed windows and a front garden in the way.

He probably realises that she's speaking to him, but she just looks daft doing it :pac:

Agricola

Its weird how clever they can be. My dog always gets restless in the sitting room at around the same time every night, basically telling me its bed time and he wants to go to his nest. Or during the day, if anyone says they are going anywhere (just in conversation - no movement or coats gotten off racks) he starts hopping around excitedly. I think he has a basic grasp of english!

Malari

We always talk to the cat! He's very smart, if you get him on the right topic.

Me: "What's the name of that Chinese communist ruler, restaurant chain named after him?"
Cat: "Mao"
Me: "Oh yeah, that's right"

Me: "Go on, do your impression of an F1 car again!"
Cat: "Meooooww"
Me: "You're so talented. And handsome"

Holsten

Of course!

Always chatting to them.

What would be the point of having pets if you don't chat to them?

emmabrighton

Malari wrote: »

We always talk to the cat! He's very smart, if you get him on the right topic.

Me: "What's the name of that Chinese communist ruler, restaurant chain named after him?"
Cat: "Mao"
Me: "Oh yeah, that's right"

Me: "Go on, do your impression of an F1 car again!"
Cat: "Meooooww"
Me: "You're so talented. And handsome"

hehe thats why my cat is called Mao, he started off life with the cutsey kitten name "mittens" - hardly a fitting name for such a formidable hunter... Mao suits better.

murria

Was just singing "you are the sunshine of my life" to my dog when this thread came up.

We used to have the cat trained to do the meows in that stupid Richie Kavanagh song.

MurdyWurdy

I have full on conversations with my cat. He's a strangely quiet cat, he rarely miaows but you can tell in his eyes he's listening to you and he talks back by blinking (cat smiling) or giving you headbutts (cat kisses). Our previous cat
Would properly miaow back to you.

I would have thought nearly all pet owners talk to their pets!

patmac

We have 2 dogs that we leave in the garage (heated with Lyric FM on and has access to a run) when we are at work. We always say 'I'll be back' when we are leaving. Initially if you say this to them at the beginning and come back immediately several times they get used to it and are not as stressed when we leave them for longer periods.