So to summarise my experience of reading How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger: if itβs not clear, I hated this book. Itβs trash. It belongs on the dog edition of If Books Could Kill. There is nothing of substance in it, nothing of value. My major issues with dog buttons remain the same and are now in fact more pronounced. Those issues are:
Dog buttons replace existing communication dogs use with human-centric communication, which only devalues humans learning real dog behaviour
All dog use of buttons is assumed deliberate and meaningful
All dog use of buttons is explained away with creative storytelling
Supporters of dog buttons rely heavily on harmful anthropomorphism
The novelty of dog buttons is considered more important than existing research of dog behaviour and practice of dog training
People like Hunger are either lying to themselves or lying to everybody else and it doesnβt really matter which because functionally the result is the same
I went on the Hunger for Words Instagram page to see what they are up to today. I recognise that Stella seems to use her buttons in a way that suggests familiarity with them, but that doesnβt equate to language use. She also still displays calming signals like yawning, stretching, flat ears, pacing and looking away while using her buttons.
The videos are all short and without much context within the footage. The captions are complete storytelling. There is no way to know that what is happening in the video is valuable because itβs surrounded by unverifiable storytelling and commentary from Hunger.
The Instagram also features videos from other laypeople who think their dogs can talk. One recent video shows a golden retriever repeatedly pressing a button that says "car". The owner attributes this behaviour to the dog "throwing a tantrum about the car". In another featured video, a Pekingese mix presses "chew" then "come" and then puts his lifted paw down on "get it" which is also taken as deliberate communication.
One of Hungerβs tips in the book is to wait for your dog to respond after you have talked to them. Think about how this looks from the dogβs perspective. You have stopped talking, you are making eye contact, you are waiting expectantly. What do dogs normally do when confronted with this kind of body language? They throw out appeasement signals and they offer behaviours that might lead to reinforcement. This is what is recommended as language breakthrough, and that any button pressing that may result from it is deliberate linguistic communication and not instead meaningful communication about the dogβs emotional state and response to your own body language.
My emotional state after finishing this book? Exasperated and sad. The most important thing you can take away from this story is that your dog is always communicating with you, and you donβt need a plastic button to learn what they are saying.
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