Oh, I absolutely talk to my dogs and always have. They study us so closely and know so much about our schedule, associate so much and observe, observe, observe, they actually understand in some way a lot of what I say. When I say "I've got to go to the store", Tibbe immediately gets hangdog without my ever moving a muscle and then soon thereafter starts begging to go with me - again even if I've never moved. He knows exactly what that phrase means. Same with "Are you hungry/Do you want dinner?", "Time for walkies", "Do you want to train?", "Want me to chase you?", "Danny's coming over", "Mommie's got to work now" and on and on.
He immediately reacts appropriately to each of those so I know he understands much of what I say in all of my various ways of saying it as I don't use the same phrases over and over. So I don't even think talking to my dog makes me a crazy dog person since they get most of what I'm saying.
__________________  Jeanie and Tibbe One must do the best one can. You may get some marks for a very imperfect answer: you will certainly get none for leaving the question alone. C. S. Lewis |