How I Taught My Senior Dog to “Talk”: 5 Steps to Getting Started with Canine AAC

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Turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks! 

Ever since my Tik Tok videos of my “talking” dog went viral, I’ve received a lot of questions about how I taught him to use buttons to communicate his wants and needs with me, especially since Starsky was already a senior dog when I taught him.  I taught each of my dogs differently and have learned a lot since starting, so without further ado, here is how Starsky learned to use an AAC device to communicate: 

1.     Talked to him all the time

Ever since I adopted my sweet hound dog almost seven years ago, I’ve talked to him constantly.  When I first brought Starsky home, my roommate was a nurse and so I spent a lot of time home alone with just the dog for company.  I was lonely and bored, so Starsky was the perfect companion to talk to, and somewhat of a conversationalist himself!  (Hound owners know exactly what I mean). 

Because I talked to Starsky so frequently, he got used to hearing my voice, often with true communicative intent.  He started picking up on the meanings of words I regularly used with him:  walk, outside, potty, bone, and bedtime to name a few.  While human language itself might be foreign to dogs, communication certainly is not.  Dogs find many ways to communicate their needs to us, from scratching at the door, to knocking their food bowls around.  And they are absolutely capable of learning the meanings of human words; ask any dog owner which words their dog understands – I bet the list will be longer than you expect! 

2.     Started with an “outside” button

You want to have a clear, comprehensible idea for your dog’s first button.  It also should be something your dog is motivated for – but not too motivated.  (That’s why linguistic and canine behavior experts usually recommend not starting with “treat” if your dog is food motivated!) 

“Outside” fits the bill for most dogs.  In the house or out of the house is a clear concept and one that most dogs already understand and express.  Starsky has always scratched at the door or barked when he wants to go outside, so he has already been communicating this concept to me for years.  All I needed to do was show him that pressing a button was a new way to communicate the same message.

3.     Modeled how to use the button

Christina Hunger, the speech language pathologist whose dog Stella was the first to popularize AAC for dogs, suggests teaching your dog to “talk” through modeling because this is a natural way to learn communication.  Essentially, continue to talk to your dog and use the buttons along with your speech.  

I do not show or train Starsky to press the buttons, but rather, I press them and then something happens.  Over time, Starsky has learned that he too can press the button to make the thing happen. (I should probably note that Starsky has always learned quickly through modeling, even interspecies modeling.)

To translate into dog training semantics, this is essentially the purest form of operant conditioning:  when one thing happens in the environment, another thing happens.  At first, the result may be just a “reward” for pressing the button; but over time, especially as other buttons and concepts are introduced, it becomes more about communicating need/want (and for more advanced dogs, observation and question) rather than just getting a positive response.  This is a fine line, especially for a dog who is not particularly advanced in AAC, like Starsky.  But it absolutely has communicative intent, which is the essence of language.

4.     Encouraged use of the button

Once Starsky learned that he could use the “outside” button to express the desire to go outside, I made things a little more difficult for him.  I began ignoring him when he communicated going outside by scratching or barking, and only taking him outside when he pressed the button.  He quickly learned that while he had other options for communicating the desire to go outside, the button was the most effective and efficient.  As I added more buttons, I reacted similarly, either ignoring the hitting of the water bowl, or telling him “use your words” until he pressed the “water” button.

And because this is the internet and there are plenty who enjoy judging, I should probably add that Starsky has always had his needs met – if he truly seemed unable to put the metaphorical puzzle pieces together to press the button, I took him out.  I’m not one for neglecting my dog!  But there’s no harm in making them work a bit and encouraging them to think through a puzzle.  If anything, it helps keep my old senior pup sharp. 

5.     Added other buttons 

“Attention” was the second word Starsky used consistently – I believe because being pet is something he enjoys and an easy concept for a dog to understand.  Since then, I’ve let him direct the words he will use, per Christina Hunger’s advice.  For example, Starsky developed an annoying habit of barking at the bathroom door when he wanted his water dish refilled. (I don’t keep his water bowl in the bathroom - hounds are weird.)  I made that communication easier for him, and less annoying for me, by adding a “water” button.

As I add more buttons, Starsky has learned that each one leads to a different outcome and he can press different buttons according to his needs and desires.  When he wants to go outside for a walk, sniffs, or potty, he presses “outside”.  When he wants to be snuggled, he presses “attention”.  A frequent question on Tik Tok is how he can tell the buttons apart.  It’s one with an easy answer:  button position.  They are locked into a board so that they do not move.  He knows which is which based on where it is on the board. 

Since switching to the Fluent Pet buttons and adding a puppy to the family, Starsky’s progress with has been inconsistent (as language often is during periods of transition for toddlers or even adults learning a new language).  However, in the past, he has used “bedtime” and “water” consistently and in contextually appropriate ways.  On a few occasions, he actually coupled “attention” and “bedtime” and then stared at me, quickly running into the bedroom for bedtime snuggles once I moved toward him.  Sweet boy!

A last, somewhat tangential, anecdote:  I added an “all done” button to try and introduce a more abstract concept.  While I don’t think he fully understood the meaning, at least in the same way I do, he did use it in an interesting way.  He would often press it while I was working on my laptop, in the midafternoon when he was most bored.  He almost always coupled “all done” with “attention”.  Perhaps he was telling me to be all done with my laptop and come pet him, but I think that is reading too much human language into it.  What I do think is that it became an emphasis word for him to underscore his point and express his frustration.  And now that I think about it, maybe he was ready for a “mad” button!  (Unfortunately, in introducing Ginsburg to the buttons I decided it was best for both dogs to remove the “all done” button and this cute use of the word is no longer.)

Have you taught your dog to talk? How is it going? I would love to hear all about your progress!

P.S. Did you know that dogs exhibit many similarities to human children shortly before they begin speaking?