How do you talk to your pets?

[House Cat]

How do you talk to your pets? Do you sing to them? I’m all baby talk and very quiet talk. My parents used to YELL at our dog and I always felt it to be unnecessary, but i also feel that if they get used to yelling, that is all they will answer to. I raised my puppies with very quiet talk, although, the chihuahua needs threats. I have to ask her if she would like to go to her crate if she won’t stop barking at the wind, literally. I never put her in, the threat is enough. I love my girls more than life itself and I know all of you to love your pets just the same. It would be nice to know I’m not crazy for singing at my babies. LOL!

 

[MamaBear]

Lots of baby talk!

 

[AprilBaby]

Grandpets, 4 of them. Lots of baby talk too!

 

[RMOO]

No baby talk here. My three cats are spoken to as if they were another adult human living in my home.

 

[yssie]

Other half’s voice goes up about five octaves.

I come up with random terms of endearment or irritation that usually don’t make any sense but I figure hey they’re not judging.

 

[Wink]

With love, followed by stern command if necessary.

I put on his shock collar when we walk, he is well trained and walks at heel with or without a leash and never ever tries to "take me for a walk."

I also put on his shock collar when he is hunting. I may have to use it two or three times a year, but it is less distressing than having me yell at him, and it does not annoy my hunting partners.

I also spend many minutes a day stroking him and talking with him in soothing tones. He knows he is loved and Resa loves him as much, if not more, than I do.

 

[MissGotRocks]

I talk to my dog as if she is human. Her eyes can be very responsive so I assume she understands it all - lol! When my husband leaves the house, she always looks to me for an explanation - gone to work, gone to the store, out in the garage. I always assure her he will be right back and that seems to satisfy her! She gets lots of love pets and talk too - she definitely knows that she is adored!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

like they are ...id like to say equals
but really more like gods
or at least rulers of a soverign nation

 

[jaysonsmom]

I talk to my dog as if she is human. Her eyes can be very responsive so I assume she understands it all - lol! When my husband leaves the house, she always looks to me for an explanation - gone to work, gone to the store, out in the garage. I always assure her he will be right back and that seems to satisfy her! She gets lots of love pets and talk too - she definitely knows that she is adored!

Very similar to how I talk to my Noah. He is so smart and responsive . He tilts his head to one side and tilts to the other side and seems to fully understand everything I tell him! I would say I speak to him like I would to my husband and kids, but maybe a little bit more lovingly!

 

[kenny]

Long post, sorry.

The default is baby talk, kissing sounds, pops and clicks from lips and tongue, but stern talk and even time outs when called for.
And unlike most other pets Bibi can talk back and have "conversations" consisting of words but usually devoid of sense - but not always.
He will say, "Stop It" or "Come here" when those words make perfect sense; it's a little creepy actually.

Unlike today's dogs, cats, all livestock, and crops, parrots have not been selectively bred by humans for millennia for qualities that are pleasing or beneficial to humans.
Parrots? Not so much. Not at all!

Even if hand raised by the the most competent human breeders for a future as a companion parrot with the best-informed humans, parrots are no more than a few generations removed from the wild.

I see all parrots as 95% wild animals - so I must be understanding and forgiving.
After all it's my fault that it's not out in nature with its flock, where some say it belongs.
We 'parronts' should bend over backwards to research and think deeply for explanations for what is actually normal healthy parrot behavior, which most folks would see as unacceptable for a pet in a home.

Screaming ... is not screaming; it is contact calling from an animal convinced it MUST be in contact with its flock to be safe.
It can be incredibly loud and piercing, and like a crying baby, it's impossible to tune out.
But it cannot be ignorable if it is to carry and be heard in a rain forrest's distant valley.

Parrots are highly social flock animals.
In nature, a parrot isolated from its flock is at heightened risk of becoming someone's lunch.
400 eyeballs looking out for approaching predators is much better than two.

Then there's pair bonding - your parrot is probably going to select one person in your home that it will see as it's partner, and it will want to be with it's partner all the time just like it is in nature.
So when your parrot is screaming because it's alone, you are at fault.
Stop isolating it; let it be with you.
If that doesn't fit into your lifestyle, please don't have a parrot because that is abuse.

Chewing furniture, floorboards, curtains, priceless antiques etc. is not destruction.
Keeping that beak in top conditions is a good thing.
Chewing keeps the beak muscles in shape for that time of the year when they must quickly use their powerful beaks to chew a nest hole in the trunk of a live tree, or chew up materials to assemble a nest ... and do it FAST!

Birds bite. They just do. It's no biggie as they bite each other too.
You can mitigate the harder biting somewhat by doing a better job of figuring out and meeting its needs, but accept that some biting is inevitable.
You can't punish a parrot; doing so will only damage the fragile bond of trust that your magical relationship is based on.

It can be seen as selfish, even evil of me to "own" a 95% wild animal (even though mine was was raised by humans with a breeding pair instead of stolen from the wild) - so the onus is on me to give it an environment and family that does its best to try to understand and accept its behavior.

 

[Calliecake]

Our furbaby is my little cuddle bug. I was watching my niece’s baby one afternoon and realized I say the exact same things in the same voice to the baby as I do her. Our furbaby heard me talking to the baby and came flying in the room thinking I was talking to her. My husband makes up little songs about her and sings them to her. It warms my heart that my husband loves her as much as I do.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Like a toddler so close to normal but sometimes she needs a firm explanation on boundaries.

This is an example of the exchanges I have with her. I typed this up for my friends so it's a cut paste.

***

Bitty was asking for dinner. Rice was still cooking so I ignored her. Then she went to the front door and back. Went into the kitchen and then back to my side.

I knelt down beside her and asked her what she wanted. She nuzzled and pushed my arms.

I said: I don't understand Bitty. What is it that you want darling? Do you need to wee?

Nuzzles my arms again

Me: Do you want my love?

Her expression changes to alarm and she immediately shakes her head violently.

She's got this horrified look on her face like: The hell woman what use do I have for your love??? Don't you start with me!!!

Then she walks to the fry pan with sauteed green beans

Me: oh you want dinner?

Bitty: stomp stomp, head indicates to pan of beans

She doesn't want my love

***

My husband has a hilarious relationship with her whereby he rewrites songs with mocking lyrics about her. I don't think she understands the lyrics but she understands that she's being made fun of. They once had a three day fight where she ignored him completely until he crawled on the floor next to her and told her he was sorry several times.

She's quite the diva!

 

[Karl_K]

You can't punish a parrot; doing so will only damage the fragile bond of trust that your magical relationship is based on.

I just had to share a story about my friends parrot buddy.
He was an African grey that was 20ish years old when he got him as I recall.
If he was doing something wrong you could say: "bad buddy" and he would stop and look at you with a "sad" look. Then because he stopped you said: Love you buddy and he would say "buddy love you" and all was well.
It was super cute.
Anyway the real funny part is if you ever heard him say "bad buddy" you knew to come running because something was going to be torn apart big time.
Well it was really funny except for the day he decided my pants leg was what he was going to tear up.
That day it was not so funny.

 

[Polished]

I talk to our retriever and then answer for him. This usually involves some sort of admonishing of me his owner. Terrific reciprocal relationship.

 

[missy]

It varies.

If they are being sweet I talk to them with baby talk. Who's a good boy. Who's a good girl. You are my best boy. You are the sweetest kitty ever. I love you so much sweet baby. Etc

If they are being naughty my voice becomes stern and I use their full name. Oliver Barney B****a behave yourself. Oliver Barney B****a stop chasing Tommy. And so on and so forth.

Notice only Oliver gets his full name used. The other cats generally behave themselves.
Though Gracie Frances can be an imp and in that case she gets her full name employed.



Oliver is the one on the top of the cat tree. Mischievous little rascal.

 

[MissGotRocks]

Long post, sorry.

The default is baby talk, kissing sounds, pops and clicks from lips and tongue, but stern talk and even time outs when called for.
And unlike most other pets Bibi can talk back and have "conversations" consisting of words but usually devoid of sense - but not always.
He will say, "Stop It" or "Come here" when those words make perfect sense; it's a little creepy actually.

Unlike today's dogs, cats, all livestock, and crops, parrots have not been selectively bred by humans for millennia for qualities that are pleasing or beneficial to humans.
Parrots? Not so much. Not at all!

Even if hand raised by the the most competent human breeders for a future as a companion parrot with the best-informed humans, parrots are no more than a few generations removed from the wild.

I see all parrots as 95% wild animals - so I must be understanding and forgiving.
After all it's my fault that it's not out in nature with its flock, where some say it belongs.
We 'parronts' should bend over backwards to research and think deeply for explanations for what is actually normal healthy parrot behavior, which most folks would see as unacceptable for a pet in a home.

Screaming ... is not screaming; it is contact calling from an animal convinced it MUST be in contact with its flock to be safe.
It can be incredibly loud and piercing, and like a crying baby, it's impossible to tune out.
But it cannot be ignorable if it is to carry and be heard in a rain forrest's distant valley.

Parrots are highly social flock animals.
In nature, a parrot isolated from its flock is at heightened risk of becoming someone's lunch.
400 eyeballs looking out for approaching predators is much better than two.

Then there's pair bonding - your parrot is probably going to select one person in your home that it will see as it's partner, and it will want to be with it's partner all the time just like it is in nature.
So when your parrot is screaming because it's alone, you are at fault.
Stop isolating it; let it be with you.
If that doesn't fit into your lifestyle, please don't have a parrot because that is abuse.

Chewing furniture, floorboards, curtains, priceless antiques etc. is not destruction.
Keeping that beak in top conditions is a good thing.
Chewing keeps the beak muscles in shape for that time of the year when they must quickly use their powerful beaks to chew a nest hole in the trunk of a live tree, or chew up materials to assemble a nest ... and do it FAST!

Birds bite. They just do. It's no biggie as they bite each other too.
You can mitigate the harder biting somewhat by doing a better job of figuring out and meeting its needs, but accept that some biting is inevitable.
You can't punish a parrot; doing so will only damage the fragile bond of trust that your magical relationship is based on.

It can be seen as selfish, even evil of me to "own" a 95% wild animal (even though mine was was raised by humans with a breeding pair instead of stolen from the wild) - so the onus is on me to give it an environment and family that does its best to try to understand and accept its behavior.

@kenny, it is good to read these facts about parrots. I think people often buy birds without realizing what they should expect from them - what is 'normal' for the bird. I have known of their chewing habits and how frustrating they are to their owners but did not know the eventual purpose of needing to do that. I think if people realized some of these things, they would make a much better decision about whether to own one or not. We had neighbors that had an African Gray that in the end, frustrated them more than delighted them. They eventually gave him away because of the mess he made with his food and paper. I thought he was probably bored because he had very little stimulation from them. I think it was a good thing that he landed in a new home.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I greet the cats every single time I see them like we haven’t seen each other in years lol! Usually in a rather high pitched string of greetings. Both cats probably hide to avoid the annoyance.

For some reason the dogs do not get the same greeting, they get spoken to in a normal tone of voice. They do tend to get nicknames though that don’t make any sense. For example our big 65lb dog is Merlin but I call him Merlie Birds sometimes, no rhyme or reason lol! One of our previous dogs was named Ozzy but his nickname was Ozzy Bucket.

 

[kenny]

@kenny, ... I thought he was probably bored because he had very little stimulation from them. I think it was a good thing that he landed in a new home.

Indeed!

 

[chrono]

Normal talk but I call him all sorts of nicknames, very rarely his actual name.

 

[RMOO]

I just hit "like" a ridiculous amount of times, because I enjoy reading all about everyone's pets. We only have cats presently, but love dogs too. And one of my DH's and my favorite past time when we need a pick me up, is to watch parrot/cockatiel videos on youtube.

 

[Lookinagain]

I talk to my dog as if he were my teenage child, because that's what he acts like. He only listens when he feels like it.

 

[Vera W]

My sister has three cats and two dogs but one of each claims me as theirs. We human talk to them and they are all pretty smart. The cats like to talk back too. Sister keeps them on a tight schedule with feeding and at dusk she calls the cats in from outside and closes the doggie door as she does not like them out at night. It is hysterical to see the three come marching in, tails all up and proud. Oh and the front half of our home is a huge cat room, too many toys and even some springy things hanging from the ceiling.

The dogs are very good listeners and we never have to keep them on a leash when we are out in the front yard, they don't leave the yard. Even on Halloween night when we sit out there and hand out candy. They just lay in the grass next to our bench like the whole world is their oyster.

 

[dk168]

Baby talk with the cat normally.

Less so with the dog as he is normally a bit naughty, so more like a sterner voice, short and sharp, unless he comes for a cuddle and behaves himself.

DK

 

[Austina]

Always baby talk. Dottie was never naughty, well, only once, she was always sweet and well behaved and because of her awful start in life, she was even more special to us than the others.

 

[Arcadian]

It depends. I don't tend to go into baby talk because I sound silly doing that...lol I do sing to them a lot (they like that) and I talk to them like they're grown. Though I mostly talk to them like they're about 7 years old in human biology.

And if I say "No Ma'am we're not having this", they know thats serious talk.

Ms. Gigi can get grumpy with me if I tell her no, so I give her a little time, then I plop down beside her and give her kisses. She can't stay mad after that.

But they're very smart. I if say lets go for a ride, they know its in my car. if I say tell daddy you want a ride, they know its his car.

Sadly though Gigi is learning to spell, and she can open the refrigerator on command.

Also that said, I do think that Lucky puts Gigi up to stuff....lol

 

[Tonks]

I was pondering this thread and told my husband about it. Before I could say anything else he looked at me (I may or may not have been in the act of speaking to one of our dogs) and said, “incessantly and like they are human.”

So. Apparently that’s how I do it.

I mean, they are little humans in fur suits.

 

[monarch64]

I always said "Daisy! Daisy Mae! You little shook to death sweetheart I'll put the swerve on you and then no one's gonna know what happened to you baby girl get over here and geeeeegooogeeeeeeegaahahhahahahah" something like that. My daughter's first word was "purple, and then "Daisy." We were always saying "Daisy" do this or do that. But that sweet dog watched over my daughter and constantly made sure she was okay. I had heard about pets doing that sort of thing. It took seeing it for me to believe it.

Now Muffin, my Australian cattle dog on the farm growing up was a completely different story. She just required a "heyyyyyyyyy Muffin" and that whistle sound that's like a pirouette (someone do it, please? my mother could do it perfectly) Anyway, she'd just come running after a full day of rounding calves and/or cattle and be just so sweet but she hated thunderstorms. she only wanted to be outdoors until it stormed and then she'd shake terribly and my parents would bring her inside, either into the garage or all the way inside. When she got older she'd hide underneath the very last shelf in my walk-in closet.

 

[monarch64]

My sister has three cats and two dogs but one of each claims me as theirs. We human talk to them and they are all pretty smart. The cats like to talk back too. Sister keeps them on a tight schedule with feeding and at dusk she calls the cats in from outside and closes the doggie door as she does not like them out at night. It is hysterical to see the three come marching in, tails all up and proud. Oh and the front half of our home is a huge cat room, too many toys and even some springy things hanging from the ceiling.

The dogs are very good listeners and we never have to keep them on a leash when we are out in the front yard, they don't leave the yard. Even on Halloween night when we sit out there and hand out candy. They just lay in the grass next to our bench like the whole world is their oyster.

This is my dream. You're living my actual Halloween dream with cats and dogs and kids and candy. Enjoy, @Vera W cause one day we will BOTH be living this dream (lol I hope you know I'm joking ! xoxo)

 

[Ibrakeforpossums]

It varies.

If they are being sweet I talk to them with baby talk. Who's a good boy. Who's a good girl. You are my best boy. You are the sweetest kitty ever. I love you so much sweet baby. Etc

If they are being naughty my voice becomes stern and I use their full name. Oliver Barney B****a behave yourself. Oliver Barney B****a stop chasing Tommy. And so on and so forth.

Notice only Oliver gets his full name used. The other cats generally behave themselves.
Though Gracie Frances can be an imp and in that case she gets her full name employed.



Oliver is the one on the top of the cat tree. Mischievous little rascal.

Missy, which cat is in the foreground, the one with the white face, chest and paws?

 

[missy]

Missy, which cat is in the foreground, the one with the white face, chest and paws?

That’s Bobby. Aka psycho kitty lol. He’s a sweet baby but out of nowhere he’ll scratch you. So we’re very careful around him. He’s been a part of our family since 2009 but before us he was carted from one foster home to another. No clue what happened to him before us to make him skittish but we give him loads of love and cuddles. We’re just more careful around him so we don’t get hurt.





He’s very vocal. In fact all our cats are very vocal.