How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World's First Talking Dog

by Christina Hunger

TAKEAWAYS FOR TEACHING YOUR DOG Be prepared to support your dog if/when you need to change her device setup. Even if your dog has been independently using words for a while, she will need help from you to reach that stage again with words in new locations. Model words like crazy! Model words as often as you did in the beginning, when you were introducing each one. The more your dog sees each word in use, the better chance she’ll have to learn its new placement. Make communication as easy as possible. If you choose to keep all buttons on a single board, allow room for your dog to reach each word, walk around the board, or walk in between the rows. Give your dog a chance to learn. It can be tempting to revert to an old setup or to give up if you haven’t seen progress within a couple of days. Adjusting and relearning can take time. Give it at least a week or two before reassessing. Pay attention to your dog’s communication patterns. When your dog starts using words in similar ways to how she did before changing her setup, you’ll know she has reached the same level and is ready to progress even further.