The 'Talking' Dog of Tik Tok

The 'Talking' Dog of Tik Tok

Emma Madden

The idea that visually conveyed language contained the same potential for expression as speech was still relatively new when chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans began demonstrating their ability to learn and use A.S.L.-based gestures. In the 1990s, the idea that dog development could mirror a toddlers’ began to gain traction, but the research into canine communication remains very rudimentary.

"I think this has the potential to change our relationships with dogs forever,” Ms. Hunger said.

For Ms. Devine, the communication with Bunny comes back to a personal connection. She said she recently heard
Bunny pressing the “ouch” button on her board. A few minutes went by before Bunny pressed “stranger” and “paw,” then stretched her arm out toward her owner.


“I felt between her paws and found a thorn in there,” Ms. Devine said. “Anytime she chooses to communicate with me in a way that is not her natural communicative method, it feels really special. If she’s going out of her way because she trusts me and wants to engage, then I just know that she loves me.”