Do you talk to your pet(s)?

keista

New Member
I only talk to my kitty to tell her to get out of the way or down from the counter. DD1, on the other hand has full conversations with her.
 

FlowerGarden

Active Member
I talk to our cat all the time. If our neighbor's dog is outside when I go out, she barks until I say hi to her. I talk to all the animals in our yard, too. There used to be a chipmunk in our yard that would play hide and seek when I was gardening. It would make a noise, I'd spot it and say "I see you" and then it would run and call me from another spot. It would talk until I spotted it again and said " I see you". The whole summer we played hide and seek!
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
I talk to Buddy mostly, because dogs are bestest, but I talk to the cats as well. I also talk to the bunnies when I go out back.
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
You need to tell the PANTHER to come see his AUNTIE STAR.......and tell FIESTA cat to stop being a snot.
 

Mattsmom277

Active Member
All the time with Kobe and Pepper (kitties). They actually only stop chattering at me each morning if I take the time to talk to them, wish them good morning, pat them both (Kobe must be first) and chatter to them while I make my first coffee. On bleary eyes mornings where I don't converse, they make a ruckus and won't stop until I correct myself and have our morning talks. They also give me proper heck when I return from leaving them home alone, even for an hour. Again, they don't stop until I talk to them.

Oddly, neither cat talks to me to get food or water or treats. They seem to just want me to talk with them. And Kobe must be spoken to first, but he always then backs off for Miss Pepper to get her conversation in. She is funny, she stands back initally for him as well.

If I'm sick or grumpy and don't have our morning chat, I have had vases broken. mugs and other dishes. They stare me down until I notice, wielding their paw, then swipe a breakable to the floor hahahaha
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
husband says anyone who doesn't converse with their pets is the abnormal one, and needs treatment. He was incredulous that people don't talk to their pets.
 

somerset

Member
I talk to my cats all the time, especially when we sit and watch tv. We all sit in the big recliner together. My difficult child thinks its embarrassing that I do it. I also joke with them, but they have no sense of humor and don't laugh. They just stare at me. Willow will respond to her name and will stop what she's doing when I say no. Devon isn't as smart, but he is such a good boy, and so beautifully plush, that it makes up for it. He's like a warm, living plush toy. I read Willow this post before I sent it.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Mine will grumble under their breath when I tell them something they don't like! And they all have very complicated interpersonal relationships with each other ... another reason I have to do the "crate and rotate" routine where they're not all out of their crates at the same time. Freebie is the oldest and the biggest and the undisputed alpha- they all automatically defer to her and she gets along with everybody. Freebie and Trace are buddies and play together a lot. Ragan tried to bully Trace one time and he bit her so now they just ignore each other. Trace gets very annoyed with Katy and will get on to her, especially if he's sleeping and she wakes him up. And Katy gets annoyed at Trace if he gets annoyed at her! Katy and Ragan are like fire and ice together and can never be out at the same time - no way. They hate each other. And Ragan is my bratty one who will tease and taunt her siblings, especially Katy. If Katy is in her crate and Ragan is out, Ragan will get a toy and dance around in front of Katy's crate waving the toy around until Katy cries! And then I come in to the room to see what is going on and Ragan is giving me that big wide-eyed innocent stare like, "What?" It's really not much different than herding a bunch of bratty kids! How could anyone ever think that they're just stupid emotionless little lumps?
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Donna have you seen the target commercial with the boston that is supposed to be drinking out of his bowl but instead he is splashing the wNater out with his paws? Its hilarious. It is an advertisement for how paper towels are cheaper at Target.

How do people not talk to animals? Hand signals? Pulling on the leash and just putting food down and expecting the animal to exist? My little dog is very attached to Tony and will lay up on him from the time he gets home till he goes to bed just like a toddler. He is so jealous of the grandchildren. Nina is more my dog if she comes in the house but outside she will go play with Tony now but that took a long time for her to warm up to him. See, we think she is autistic. We have had to teach her with treats and all sorts of things but one thing she knows well is when we say "pen" She will run to her pen and is happy as a lark in that pen.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Janet, I've seen that commercial before and that little dog digging in the water bowl is ADORABLE! I think that's the same dog that was in a series of commercials that aired a while back ... they were credit card commercials maybe? They showed him out wandering down the highway by himself like he was lost, then he is picked up by a series of drivers who give him rides along the way like he was hitch hiking. Then in the last one, he finally makes it home. I think he's probably a Boston mix. Bostons are the clowns of the dog world. My first one, Ms. Rudy, used to stick her face in the water bowl and blow bubbles with her nose, just because it amused her!

The thing about dogs is that their humans are their whole world and they are so eager to please. When I first got my little Trace, he acted like he had never been crated before and he probably hadn't been. The rest of them get in their crates when I tell them to but I had to put Trace in every time because he had no idea what "crate" meant. Then one day "the light went on" and he realized what I wanted him to do. I told him to get in his crate and he ran in and sat down in the crate, looking up at me with a huge grin on his face! He was soooo proud of himself and so eager to show me that he understood what I wanted! Lots and lots and LOTS of praise is the key to it. And talking to them is how you estabish that connection. Just sit with them and quietly talk to them and watch how intently they listen and how focused on you they are!
 

Jody

Active Member
Broady and I do talk to each other. He is my very best friend and we both know it. He will roo roo roo at me and I will roo roo roo right back at him. Your husband would definately think i was nuts!!!! He's the best boy in the world and I tell him so everyday!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

susiestar

Roll With It
My entire family has ALWAYS talked to our cats. Heck, my dad has had SEVERAL who could tell time and we would tell them what time to come in and within 3 min of the time they would be at the door. Five min early? Never there. Five min after? Climbing the screens because we were making them wait too long.

ALL of our cats do what they are asked. Well, Capn Morgan does for ME and for Jess but husband and thank you tend to ask if he minds doing blah blah blah and of course he doesn't want to so he mostly doesn't. husband does the same koi with the kids when I am not around. Do you wnat to clean the kitchen? Who asks a kid that??? Of COURSE THEY DON"T!! DUH!! But he still does, and he still can't figure out why they ignore him (kids and cat).

Why would talking to your furbabies be odd? in my opinion it is your husband who has something loose up there. Animals are the most awesome listeners. My dad had a friend when I was little who had a boa constrictor who was the most loving baby and conversationalist. Just a total sweetie.

My great Gma loved living on a farm. At one point she had cows, pigs, chickens, horses, a mule, and a few other assorted critters that usually are not pets and sort of were to her. She fed the one at a time. They came when she called their names, alerted her to strangers, were super protective and just amazing from the stories I have heard. LOTS of people told her they were not smart enough to know their names, but Great Gma knew different.

My Grandma had cats. Usually 3-4. When I was little she had a mean one who adored her. No one else but he tolerated me because I told him if he bit me again I was going to take a bite out of him. This cat bit EVERYONE but Gma. Not me, not ever after that. I didn't have to bite him to teach him - a verbal warning was enough.

My folks had a cat who had been abused, run away from that home and lived iwth possums for about a year (he made noises like possums, NOT like cats when we first had him), and then decided that my dad was okay. My cat was dying and she brought him home to care for us after her passing. THis cat was NOT in good health and getting close to him was NOT really possible for quite a while. But when he needed medical care we would tell him that we were trying to help and what we were doing and he did not fight or bite even when it had to really hurt. He understood. When Mom would get really upset with Dad over something the cat would start working on Dad, leading him to whatever needed fixing or cleaning and being a general PITA to my dad until he took care of it.

Why would you talking to your furbabies bother your husband? Is he jealous because the furbabies give smarter answers than he does? Or does he think he can't get a word in edgewise?
 

susiestar

Roll With It
by the way, when I started dating my mother told me the secrets to getting men, kids and pets to behave are all the same secret. Simple one word commands (sit, heel, garbage, floor, dishes), consistency, lots of praise, reward the good things and don't EVER tell them to stop if you are not going to get up and make stop happen. Also don't ask questions unless "no" or "I don't want to" is an answer you can live with.

She is a wise woman.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Suz, you've sure got that right! As I said before, Katy and Ragan simply do NOT like each other! Long story. But if Katy is out and it's about time for her to go in her crate and Ragan to come out, Ragan will sometimes come to the door of her crate and make little noises to remind me that it's her turn. Sometimes Katy will just go in her crate when Ragan does this but other times she will go up to Ragan's crate and bark furiously at her through the bars. And when she did this I was usually guilty of saying something like,

"Katystopdon'tbarkatyoursisteryouknowit'sherturntogetoutleaveheraloneandbequiet!"

... and Katy usually just ignored me like I wasn't even there and kept right on barking! The next time she did it, I just loudly said, "NO!" ... and Katy immediately stopped barking and meekly went in to her crate, laid down, and waited for me to close her door! It really does work!
 
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