‘Speak! Good dog!’ — How an Ann Arbor lady taught her canine to speak

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – I obtained this textual content from my sister Cara a couple of weeks in the past:

“Call me crazy, but I think this would be a viral story: Parker Posey the talking dog,” the textual content learn. “The dog lives in Ann Arbor. Its owner has taught it to speak using all these speak-and-spell word buttons on mats on the floor.”

Since we each love animal reels on Instagram, after all, I couldn’t cross this up. And certain sufficient, I discovered the adorable Parker Posey and her owner Sascha Crasnow together with a string of humorous movies exhibiting Parker’s capacity to speak.

While scrolling by, I regarded down at my canine Tate subsequent to me. Hmm, I questioned what he would say if he might discuss?

And that’s why I knew this is able to be a narrative that pet house owners wouldn’t solely love however be completely fascinated with.

Parker Posey (Sascha beloved the title, no relation to the actress!) is a two-and-a-half-year-old rescue canine and has discovered a type of communication utilizing audio buttons from an organization referred to as Fluent Pet.

It’s a technique Sascha examine from the guide “How Stella Learned to Talk.” It’s by speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger.

Parker has been studying buttons for simply over 2 years and she or he is aware of 113 phrases.

Her favorites? “Poop” and “Potty,” each of which she generally makes use of humorously or simply to get consideration!

Is it actually speaking? It is, in a manner. But Sascha sees it extra as a communication device to have the ability to perceive Parker’s wants and desires. She says it helps her perceive Parker’s physique language even higher when they’re away from the buttons.

What’s actually cool, Sascha has a digital camera on her wall that captures all the button pad motion — so she will be able to see Parker talk even when she’s not round. And their interplay makes for hilarious social media posts!

I beloved spending time with the 2 of them, and Parker is the sweetest pup — right here’s a pic of me and photographer/editor/producer Ben Bell with Parker. Tell us what you consider the story!