When We Pretend Our Dogs (and Cats) Can Talk

I laughed so loud and so hard at this article by Maura Judkis and Elliot Smilowitz, published in The Washington Post on August 12, 2021 - 'The Voices We Make When We Pretend Our Dogs Can Talk'. The article even embedded audio of some of dogs' 'voices' as told by their owners. There're photos of the dogs too — Rocky Titus, Seamus, and Teddy. Hahaha. Too cute.  

I don't think all dog owners baby-talk their dogs. But there's a high chance that owners change the pitch of their voices when they speak to their dogs. So they would most certainly slip into a conversation with their dogs, knowingly or unknowingly. That's on the premise you do like your dogs and are more or less in tune with them. 

Cat owners too. Cat owners talk to their cats all the time. Cats' IG accounts are pretty hilarious too. We want to give our floofs a little personality, something that seem like them. This is beyond giving them a voice on Instagram and type out captions that seem like they're the ones talking.

It’s a common relationship dynamic, says Alexandra Horowitz, head of the Horowitz Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College, who sees people using “the dog’s voice in order to talk to somebody else over some contentious issue, like talking to the dog and saying, ’Oh, you know, I guess Daddy is not going to do the dishes tonight,’ ” she says. “Most people aren’t even aware that they’re doing it but are kind of unconsciously bringing the dog into the human conversation.”

All dogs and cats have a personality. They have their own quirks and they most certainly know how to train us to do their bidding. My schedule is largely dictated by the dog. Heh. But she doesn't get all the cheese that she wants. Nope. 

I try not to baby-talk Choya. It's super unbecoming. HAHAHAHAH. I ask her if she's hungry in a fairly normal voice, and if she wants food. I swear she understands English. She will display that skill if there's cheese involved. Otherwise, she pretends that she doesn't understand our commands. However, this dog doesn't like it if I harden my voice to nag at the man. So she's fairly instrumental in being peacemaker at home. We both have learnt not to raise our voices at each other, and try to see the funny or the positive. 

Choya is generally pretty quiet. She watches a lot more than try to contribute to any conversation or situation. She is fairly expressive though. When she wants something, she stares at me with those liquid eyes. She doesn't whine or bark to demand toys or cheese. She politely asks and make requests. I only give her a voice mostly when she's frightened. Like, "Momma, wake up. I need to poop NOW." or "Momma Momma Momma, the rain is coming! Oh NO!" and when the thunder rolls, "Momma, Momma, it's the end of the world. AhhHHHHhhhhHHHH!"

Those are some reasons we make our dogs say the things they say. But why do we make them sound the way they sound? For some people and their pets, that might be a high-pitched baby voice, or a slow and low drawl, or a sassy, indignant vocal fry.

New York dog behaviorist Michele Wan says dogs sometimes seem to understand that a higher-pitched “baby talk” voice is directed to them and will be more responsive to it, even if they don’t understand the words. People who might not speak for their dogs often speak to them in this tone, which some owners adopt “almost subconsciously,” a team of Austrian researchers noted in a 2019 study.

“Often, dogs are kind of attracted to that, they perk up,” Wan says. “They may approach you when you do that.”