Monday, September 25, 2006
i ruv ru
Everyone is making fun of Barbara Walters for saying that her dog said "I love you," to her. Why? My dog, Snake, part chihuahua and dachsund, talks to me all the time. Not only does he manage to form words, but he uses them in context. I will only list the instances when I have witnesses to Snake's words, but the experiences are many.
At first it was just enthusiastic meows, and we would joke about the dog spending too much time with cats. Now Snake calls me Mom all the time. That's not such a big deal, "mom" isn't too far off from a dog's normal dog sounds. The funny part is that he only says mom when he's with me.
When my husband comes home from work, Snake always meets him at the door. One day Snake let loose with a big "HELLO!" in his dog voice. Steve and I just looked at each other and said, "Did you hear that too?" A few weeks ago when I was leaving to go have lunch with my friend Cathy, Snake jumped up and yelled "Bye, Mom!" When we got outside, Cathy asked, "Did Snake just say bye mom?" I'm so glad when other people hear it too.
A really handy use of Snake's talking is when he wants to go out. He runs to wherever Steve or I happen to be, back and forth to the back door, barking and yelling "OUT!" until someone opens the back door. The only time he says "out" is when he wants to go out, and sometimes we don't open the door until he says it.
We used to have a cat named Raven who liked to smack Snake in the back of the head when he went near the food bowl. Twice I have heard Snake say "No" to Raven when he was confronted in the kitchen. Another time, when I said "No" to Snake, he said "No" back to me, matching my inflection perfectly, mocking me like a little smart-alec.
The other night, in front of a group, I held up a piece of chicken for Snake and told him I would give it to him if he said Mom. After three tries, he finally got out a convincing "Mom!"
Recently when my daughter was getting ready to go to her dad's house, I gave her a big hug and told her I love her. Snake jumped between us and said "I love you!" I'm so glad I had witnesses for that one! We all heard it.
The most suprsing talking dog experience I had was when we were riding in the car. Snake had been hanging out the window, and after a while I rolled the window up. He started waving his front leg at me and said "row rowl," several times. I didn't understand what he meant until he jumped up on the glass and waved his arm and said "row rowl," again. He wanted me to "rowl" down the window! I did, and he was happy.
The funnest Snake vocalization is when he listens to Steve and I talk and occasionally interjects a "Woooo!" as if he is commenting on our conversation. It makes us feel good when we can impress our dog.
Snake's talent has landed him a few voice-over parts. He did replacement vocals for the dogs in Legally Blonde 2, Bringing Down the House, the Unreal 2 video game, and he will be heard in the upcoming movie Flushed Away. Yes, my dog works more than I do.
I don't know, I've seen dogs on America's Funniest Home Videos who said things like "I love you" and "My mama," and stuff. If you live with your dog, spend lots of time together, it doesn't seem so far-fetched for the dog to start imitating speech. The interesting part is when the dog uses words in context.
The other day my mom and I were talking about how much Snake talks. She said, "He kind of gives me the creeps, maybe you should shoot him." I'm pretty sure she was joking, but if you get to thinking about what we "know" to be true, a talking dog is creepy. I think more people are just afraid to talk about it because they don't want to be called crazy.
At first it was just enthusiastic meows, and we would joke about the dog spending too much time with cats. Now Snake calls me Mom all the time. That's not such a big deal, "mom" isn't too far off from a dog's normal dog sounds. The funny part is that he only says mom when he's with me.
When my husband comes home from work, Snake always meets him at the door. One day Snake let loose with a big "HELLO!" in his dog voice. Steve and I just looked at each other and said, "Did you hear that too?" A few weeks ago when I was leaving to go have lunch with my friend Cathy, Snake jumped up and yelled "Bye, Mom!" When we got outside, Cathy asked, "Did Snake just say bye mom?" I'm so glad when other people hear it too.
A really handy use of Snake's talking is when he wants to go out. He runs to wherever Steve or I happen to be, back and forth to the back door, barking and yelling "OUT!" until someone opens the back door. The only time he says "out" is when he wants to go out, and sometimes we don't open the door until he says it.
We used to have a cat named Raven who liked to smack Snake in the back of the head when he went near the food bowl. Twice I have heard Snake say "No" to Raven when he was confronted in the kitchen. Another time, when I said "No" to Snake, he said "No" back to me, matching my inflection perfectly, mocking me like a little smart-alec.
The other night, in front of a group, I held up a piece of chicken for Snake and told him I would give it to him if he said Mom. After three tries, he finally got out a convincing "Mom!"
Recently when my daughter was getting ready to go to her dad's house, I gave her a big hug and told her I love her. Snake jumped between us and said "I love you!" I'm so glad I had witnesses for that one! We all heard it.
The most suprsing talking dog experience I had was when we were riding in the car. Snake had been hanging out the window, and after a while I rolled the window up. He started waving his front leg at me and said "row rowl," several times. I didn't understand what he meant until he jumped up on the glass and waved his arm and said "row rowl," again. He wanted me to "rowl" down the window! I did, and he was happy.
The funnest Snake vocalization is when he listens to Steve and I talk and occasionally interjects a "Woooo!" as if he is commenting on our conversation. It makes us feel good when we can impress our dog.
Snake's talent has landed him a few voice-over parts. He did replacement vocals for the dogs in Legally Blonde 2, Bringing Down the House, the Unreal 2 video game, and he will be heard in the upcoming movie Flushed Away. Yes, my dog works more than I do.
I don't know, I've seen dogs on America's Funniest Home Videos who said things like "I love you" and "My mama," and stuff. If you live with your dog, spend lots of time together, it doesn't seem so far-fetched for the dog to start imitating speech. The interesting part is when the dog uses words in context.
The other day my mom and I were talking about how much Snake talks. She said, "He kind of gives me the creeps, maybe you should shoot him." I'm pretty sure she was joking, but if you get to thinking about what we "know" to be true, a talking dog is creepy. I think more people are just afraid to talk about it because they don't want to be called crazy.
