Do animals talk to us?

Of course they do, and nobody who has ever spent more than a few hours in the company of a pet, will usually disagree. Yet, not all of us can speak their language. Or understand.

So how do they communicate, and how much do they understand from our spoken language?

A lot more than we think, it seems. 

Let’s take the dog, for example. 

Some dogs have shown that they can understand the actual meaning of a large number of spoken words by correctly identifying and retrieving the requested object, and even identifying objects by elimination, when asked for a new item out of a range of known toys. 

But far more striking than this is the deep felt understanding that every dog shows towards their owners. This is usually less based on verbal understanding, but more likely a deep sense for our body language and emotions, that our four-legged friends appear to respond to. Our pets will show us their connection and concerns in whatever way they have found to communicate with us. 

And us? Do we understand them in return? 

Sadly, not half as well as they understand us, and not nearly as well as we should. 

Just take a look at the thousands of ‘cute’ dog pictures on the internet, all with a child hugging, jumping, riding or otherwise intruding into a dog’s personal space, and the outcry of despair in the dog’s faces and body language, begging for help. Do you see it?