Teaching my dog to talk
On 4/19/2020 I got Pharaby a pack of word buttons.
The first day I gave her the following buttons:
"Bye Bye Phone", "Lets do tricks", "Pharaby Play" & "Go Outside".
She took to these immediately!
On 6/26/2020 She got another pack of buttons & we added:
"I love you", "Mama", "Go for a walk" & "look at me"
Again, she started using them the day she got them.
On 3/7/2021 I decided to try a few different things. First off, we got new buttons that day, BUT I also broke down some of her buttons so she would have to form her own sentences. I made the "go outside" only say "outside" & I made the "go for a walk" button only say "walk", I added a go button.
On this day I also added a "Pharaby" button & changed the "Pharaby play" button to only say "Play". That one pissed her off, so I changed it back within 12 hours.
I tried added a "stranger" button & quickly decided that wasn't a great idea since we don't use that word a lot.
On 3/9/2021 we got batteries for the other 2 buttons so I decided to set those by the big window she watches squirrels & birds from. I took the "stranger" button from the regular button area & placed it by the window & changed it to "see". So now we have "See", "Squirrely" & "Birdy" buttons alone by the window. As of now (3/11/2021) she has only used the "see" button & I feel like she is using this to request to "see" animals when there are none out there. She still barks when she actually sees squirrels & birds. I was hoping the buttons would cut down on that.
Another change is coming soon! I ordered her a button board & 30+ new buttons. When we receive those I plan to record all of her original word buttons on the new ones & just break them down to single words. As of right now I am planning to leave the old buttons & slowly move her over to the new board. I might change my mind on that though. The new button board will have to go in a different location on the other side of the room. I'm doing some research on this now so hopefully I won't upset her.
If you are interested in following our "teach my dog to talk" progress" you can follow us on Instagram.com/Pharaby_Fable for short videos. I also plan to make longer updates on our YouTube, Youtube.com/JenFarrer We currently post weekly videos about all things dogs!