Breaking news! #SingaporeGangsterCat pressed a talking button and this is the first time I've been sure he did it on purpose!
He's been ignoring them lately, so I gave him a new set of words a week ago. And today he very clearly pressed the "sayang" button when he wanted more play!
If you know Malay or Singlish, you know that he pressed the wrong button. "Sayang" does not mean "play", it means "love" or "caress".
People of #DogsOfMastodon and #CatsOfMastodon - advice sought please. I’ve developed a small obsession with those videos of dogs and cats using magical buttons that mean they can communicate in English to their humans. What hashtags can I follow for this type of content please? 🐕 🐈 🗨️ 🔘
For those also interested thus far we have: #PetButtons #FluentPet #HungerForWords and #WhatAboutBunny - will update with any more suggestions/discoveries - thanks all!
Last night, after consistent modelling and asking Gravy to paw the "tug" button before playing tug with him, Gravy went up to the button mat and pressed one on his own. He instigated tug with Theodore (one of our corgis) immediately after. This was so cute and so great! He absolutely pressed the "all done" button which is on the total other end of the board, but I'll take it hahaha
It's wild to me still that Gravy managed to connect the dots so well so quickly. I knew he would likely learn faster than a puppy because he's already an adult, intelligent, and knows many cues. I had no idea it would be such a fast turnaround before he used a button on his own though!
Morning and afternoon, we spent more time modelling "tug" and "all done," as well as modelling "walk" for the first time.
At night, I was on my computer when I heard it, my own voice coming from a button on the mat a few feet behind me, cheerfully saying "tug!" I whipped around, and saw Gravy standing at the buttons. He was holding a tug toy. I repeated "tug" back to him, praised him, and played tug with him. I'm so proud!
On 6/20/23, I started training Gravy to use the talking pet button mat offered by companies like #HungerForWords (HfW) and #FluentPet (FP). While my preference would be to have the FP boards, there is no way I can afford them.
Gravy's first words are centering around play, as that is what he tends to bark as a way to get my attention for. He wants to play, but half the time I can't tell what he wants to play with, and we both leave a bit frustrated.
Yingtai
Siobhán Greaney (Shivers)
Moss