[Tracy Rimmer]

I think I'm going nuts -- or I'm already there and am only just realizing it

Is it possible for a dog to "talk"? I mean, in English. Not sentences... I'm not that far gone... but words?

Lucy (6mo Aus Shep) has always been verbal. She makes growly noises when you talk to her and "hums" (for want of a better word) when she's happy. When she wants attention, she makes a specific set of sounds... not a growl, but not a whine, either. But I only just noticed that when she sees me first thing in the morning, or walks into a room and I'm there or vice versa, she greets me with the same sound every time... and this morning she was looking for me, and it sounded suspiciously like she was calling "Mum".

The boys do this all the time -- call out for me in the same way.

Am I going nuts? Do dogs learn to verbalize in a way that we could interpret as "words"?

 

[ladycat]

My dog tries to talk. She cracks us up. She hasn't managed to make intelligible words, but she sure tries hard!

She's a border collie.

 

[longshadowfarms]

Beats me! You can search Youtube for talking AND dogs and you'll come up with pages of hits. Do they know what they are saying? Don't know but if they are constantly rewarded for certain sounds they will probably repeat them. Here's the first one I ran across.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCYaw5tGYAs[/ame]

 

[pancho]

Mine has many different sounds she makes to mean different things. When a person begins to learn what the different sounds mean it is easy to understand them. We get along much better since we started to listen to each other.

 

[Lynne]

My cattle dog tries to talk back when it is bedtime; most would think that he is growling at me – he is not. Funny to hear the different inflections in his voice, the more you sit and talk to him the he “talks” back.
I always pictured that Jake’s pet – Oy - in the gunslinger series by Steven King as an Australian cattle dog.

 

[belladulcinea]

Bella is very verbal and has a barky sound for please and a totally different one for "let's go for a walk". What's bad is we know the difference. When people come to the house she gets on the couch to help contain her enthusiasm and will mutter and rururu to us. Amazing little things aren't they!

 

[james dilley]

My mother had A pekeninese that could Say ,I want my mamma. He would do that when she was in the hospital. and ,called. Another thing he did, When she was in the Hospital. If the phone rang HE knew if it was Mom calling. He also had one blue eye and one brown eye..

 

[Songbird]

I have a sheltie that tries her darndest to talk and she's pretty successful at it too. We always know what she wants by her many different barks and some even sound like words to us. My SIL said he's never heard a dog talk as much as she does.

 

[fellini123]

Our foundation *****, Ch. Elmo's dar Es Salaam talked all the time. If she was in a crate and she didnt think she should be she would say.."Arcy, OUT." And if you didnt let her out she got louder and louder.
She went to say with her breeder for a little while, he didnt beleive that she would talk. He put her in a crate to feed her one night. He lives alone in a nice house with a fence around the whole place. He heard, "Arcy Out." He thought someone was on the property. He looked all over trying to find out if someone had broken in!! LOL then he realized it was coming from the crate!!!
He never doubted me again when I said Darcy could talk. She never could say her "ds" very well.
I have had several that could say "Momma" or "Come here."

Alice in Virginia

 

[HeavenHelpMe]

My dog says HELLO whenever we come home, or when someone comes to visit. It's very easy to understand, and she sounds like Scooby-Doo when she does it. Every one understands her, and says hello back, reinforcing it.

It's the only human-like vocalization she tries, though.



My dad used to have a dog who did the same thing. He was very good at it.

 

[Ravenlost]

I had a cat that called me "Mama" and everyone was amazed because he said it so clearly.

 

[Ruby]

I have a mini-schnauzer. If he's in my lap and I have to get up, he will get down then when he get's back in my lap he gripes at me. It's in the form of a growl but the longer I talk to him the more he gripes. He also has different sounds when he barks. I can tell immediately if he want in or if he's playing with the cat or if there is someone/something outside.

 

[WanderingOak]

There are times when I swear that my cat speaks English: 'Me Out, Prowl Now!'. I know that's an old joke, but that is what she sounds like when she swats at the doorknob.

 

[Rogo]

Altho not mine, I've heard a dog distinctly say I love you.

 

[Cygnet]

I had an aussie/bc cross who would say "hello" pretty clearly and in appropriate context, but only some of the time.

I also TAUGHT the same dog to "wave byebye" -- wave one paw in the air -- when anyone waved at her.

Smart, smart type of dog. I love herding breeds.