Can This Self Aware Dog Talk With Buttons?!
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- Опубліковано 3 тра 2024
- #dogbuttons #bunnythedog #kpassionate
Animals communicate with us constantly. But do we really need expensive buttons on our floors to tell us they want to play? I'm here to tell you to take a closer look at these videos of Bunny the Dog talking when you see them and think critically about the information presented.
00:00 - Bunny the Dog Talking
00:35 - Bunny the Dog Reaction
02:30 - Confirmation Bias
03:57 - Can Dogs Understand Humans
04:41 - Do Pet Buttons Work?
06:15 - Teaching Your Dog to Go Outside
07:30 - Can Dogs Understand English
08:41 - Is Bunny the Dog Really Talking?
10:30 - How Do Dogs Communicate?
11:24 - KPassionate
Many have suggested that I need to watch more videos. So I did. Specifically, I watched the "ouch stranger paw" video → • Do Pet Buttons Work? T...
And the video where Bunny looks in a mirror → • The Truth About the Se...
Study after study has shown that visual, tactile, and olfactory communication is far more important to a dog than verbal communication.
[1] pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27338...
[2] www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
There have also been studies using EEGs and MRIs to measure brain activity in dogs when they hear human words. These studies found that dogs do not have the ability to distinguish different words AND that almost 50% of what they respond to when they hear a human speak is their emotion and tone of voice.
[1] royalsocietypublishing.org/do...
[2] www.livescience.com/dogs-word...
[3] www.sciencedaily.com/releases...
[4]www.rspca.org.uk/-/blog_how_d...
[5] phys.org/news/2020-12-dogs-wo...
Dogs do not recognize themselves in mirrors, but that doesn't mean how they react isn't important.
[1] blogs.scientificamerican.com/...
Learn more about animal training with these videos!
[1] Debunking Alpha Dog Training
→ • Biologists Debunk Alph...
[2] How and Why Zoos and Aquariums Train Their Animals
→ • Marine Biologist Answe...
[3] Secrets of the Navy's Classified Dolphin Program
→ • Secrets of the Classif...
I am far from the only scientist to urge caution when watching these videos Bunny the Dog talking or of animals using Fluent Pet buttons in general. A fluent pet review in a leading magazine on neuroscience, psychology, and deep learning said:
“Some well-known research biases that are normally carefully avoided in formal scientific studies are not controlled for in these videos. In particular, the ‘meaning’ of ‘sentences’ produced by the dogs is often reconstructed by the owners themselves… and what is interpreted often seems to be… whatever the owner wants it to be.” -- Neuroscience News neurosciencenews.com/animal-c...
For example. Bunny steps on the word HELP. Bunny's owner reconstructs the sentence “More now happy help” to mean she wants help being more happy than she was previously. How do we know Bunny wasn't asking how SHE could help her owner be more happy? What empirical evidence do we have that this is what Bunny was trying to communicate? It is my observation that What About Bunny has been trained to step on buttons in order to elicit a response from her human and she is doing so at random.
Instead of spending your money on these expensive talking dog buttons by Fluent Pet, I encourage you to learn more about dog behavior and operant conditioning! I promise that will lead to a happier and healthier relationship with your dog.
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Many have suggested I need to watch more videos of Bunny. So I did. Did they change my mind?
Bunny's existential crisis → ua-cam.com/video/jObcXvhZu_Q/v-deo.html
Ouch, Stranger, Paw → ua-cam.com/video/KMPGDoXqNPM/v-deo.html
Cited Sources:
[1] royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.200851
[2] www.livescience.com/dogs-word-processing.html
[3] www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140220132152.htm
[4]www.rspca.org.uk/-/blog_how_dogs_know_what_were_feeling
[5] blogs.scientificamerican.com/dog-spies/what-do-dogs-see-in-mirrors/
yay, I was going to ask for this reaction!
I thought dogs were capable of understanding a few words. I saw a video of Neil de Grasse Tyson where a dog memorized the names of 600 toys, and could infer the name of new toys.
@@zerphase they can definitely recognize individual word assocations. But what they can’t do is string together words to make sentences as part of language.
When bunny pushed: more happy now... help... it's more similar to how coco the gorilla learned sign language in broken English. I would take the meaning of the buttons being pressed as the dog wanting something that makes them "more happy" such as a walk outside, playing with toys or a good belly scratch but it really depends on the owner's language and how they term stuff like that. If they normally ask the dog about being happy, or more happy before doing something enjoyable I would think then that it has nothing to do with an emotional state and was actually about the desire for something the dog likes.
If that was the case, would that change your opinion on it?
It’s amusing how upon every discovery about animals and language, the “not language” goalposts always get moved.
There was one video where bunny expressed she had a pain in her paw. She wasn't limping or licking at the paw but she clearly said there was an ouch in her paw. Her mom checked and Indeed there was a thorn stuck in between her toes. Bunny was able to express that well.
She's just making the video for attention
Obviously needs it bad
Hello Caroline, would anyone need buttons to understand when our furry friend comes to us when he/ she is not OK?
Please bear in mind these are edited videos.
What was interesting is that Bonny said there was in stranger her paw. Which is a strange way to look at it.
@@colenewaltersmusicandother9330 it makes more sense. An intruder. Something that shouldn’t be there but it is. That’s a far deeper concept than just “paw hurt”. Bunny is extremely intelligent.
I remember that
The owner is even skeptic of her technique. She didn’t claim that it is scientific.
There is one time she pressed the Pain button and they discovered that the dog is really in pain when they brought her to the vet.
Yeah, confirmation bias.......
One time out of how many? Even a broken clock is right twice a day. You cant pull one instance out of probably hundreds to use as “look it’s working”
Confirmation bias. Look it up.
Well that PROVES EVERYTHING!!!!!! 🤪
@@mikebarnacle1469 it would be if the owner hadn't directly said she was skeptical 🤦
My dogs use the buttons but they are not all together on a board. Potty is near the back door, walk near the front door, in the kitchen is 'cookie' and 'eat' and near the bottom of the steps to go upstairs is 'go to bed', etc (handicapped dog cant do steps on his own). They definitely learned which buttons in which locations result in specific actions from me. They may not know full sentences, but If say 'cookie'. they immediately run to the kitchen and sit by the counter where the treats are kept so they definitely know words. With body actions, you cant know what your dog wants and needs unless your always staring at them. The buttons have been a great tool for my dogs to get my attention on a specific needs/wants. I would recommend these for any dog owner.
You’re the most reasonable person with buttons I’ve seen. Obviously dogs understand single words or sounds, that’s the basis for how they interact so well with humans. Actual communication is way too far of a leap to make for a dog.
That's perfect for dogs. I put bells on strings by the door so they could paw the bells for potty. Like reverse door bells. 😂 But it worked.
@@tishie42 Yes! The bells act just like a button that makes a specific sound ( "Out!"). Your dog has used operant-conditioning on you: "If I jingle these bells, my person has learned to come open the door for me!" 😆
Some people can even recognize a certain bark or whine from their dog that means the same thing. If the dog utters that particular sound, they know he wants to, uh, use the facilities, lol.
@@AbsentWithoutLeaving my dog will sit by the door, then scratch it, and then adds a bark.
This is how I would use them. The buttons are for training us also.
Dog Trainer here. Thank you for making this video. When i first saw these videos I laughed it off. It never occurred to me that a mass amount of people would believe this. I am now seeing real life consequences for this line of thinking with my clients that reach out to me for help.
For an example, I had a clinet who was using these and she was trying to rehome her dog because she whole heartedly believed that her dog told her through buttons that it was not going to stop jumping on people or attacking the other dog in the house. It is no longer silly or laughable, it is harmful to the society of dogs.
I completely agree! I thought it was harmless at first but wow. Things are getting out of control
Ty for this.
I knew from the begining what a scam this is. Just bc humans are greedy.
Im so sorry for how harmful thisbis for sonmany innocent beings
I was thinking the same thing. My son is non verbal, and autistic. We are teaching him to use a sound board to speak, but he is struggling with it. My son is human, and he is 7 and is struggling, so I don't see a dog being able to do this. Maybe some sort of primate, that would be a very interesting experiment. Idk if dogs have the ability to comprehend language as a concept in the first place.
@@KristyAshcraft
Would sign language help your child?
Ok let’s not allow one crazy lady to ruin it for everyone else.
Hold up. My dog recognizes human language and knows what some words mean. Go outside is different than go for a walk. And different from food. And up. So if I connected this action to a button she can press I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. It makes sense. Doesn’t matter who or what is saying the word. Yes there’s also body language but this is her learning my human communication, and understanding it because she knows this sound means this action. And that’s the basis of any language including body language.
My dogs respond to specific words also.
You just ignored the whole video huh?
Are you picking a fight?
You are right, and she validated the button "outside" saying that some people are using a bell to have the same effect. She is also thinking the same as you saying that there are cheaper options, like just talking to your dog. I think that what she is criticizing is the use of so many button, and the thought that dogs can make sentences and understand less concrete concept like "what" or "stranger"... like outside, walk... I'm sure with the habit you gave so many examples of what it was for your dog, but "what"... "friends"... how are they supposed to learn that...?
Anyway, just a thought the bottom line is still that dogs are amazing x)
I agree I am about to start training my dog with the talking buttons, this is because I have recently noticed that he’s been trying to find ways to communicate his needs beyond the basics of OUTSIDE FOOD TOILET PLAY and the commands. Which by the way I taught him from the day he joined our family at 3 months and he mastered very quickly. I used hand signs at the time as it worked very well. He loves learning and I believe as he has learnt to distinguish between every single toy he has, without much training but by listening to me describing the toys (even down to the difference between blue boing boing and red boing boing -boing boing = ball) and after seeing Bunny the talking dog and Billi the talking cat, it would be a positive thingz! I’m not going to use super complex ‘human’ sentences but I strongly believe the person in this video hasn’t experienced building a close relationship and spending lots of time with a pet and probably not all pets learn in the same way. Just like not all owners are interested in doing this talking method, for me it takes nothing away from the wonderful ways my dog uses body language it’s simply an extra layer to make me understand him.
Bunny may not have the depth of understanding that it appears she has but she definitely knows what some of those buttons mean and can use them correctly. It's the same way they can learn a verbal command and also know the physical movement to communicate it.
It literally looks like random smashing of buttons. And they cherry pick things that somewhat have coherent sense and claim the dog is self aware for fame. It's pathetic and so are people who buy this without question.
@@dejanhaskovic5204 i JUST said she may very well have not have that level of compensation. You not believing that this dog doesn't understand any of the buttons or strings of words she makes is pathetic and shows you clearly don't appreciate and understand the intelligence of dogs. I promise you when she's saying things like "Bunny walk outside" or "food hungry" she knows exactly what that means. If it's something they understand verbally then it would be easy to teach them to push the button.
@@romeor1229 No she doesn't. These are too advanced concepts for a dog to understand. The dog randomly smashes buttons and at some point it will obviously make something that makes sense unintentionally. It's pretty obvious at this point.
It's like tarot readings. You get a bunch of random cards and you try to make up a story that fits your narative using confirmation bias which is what the owners seem to be doing here.
And it doesn't even make sense since they changed the layout of the soundboard and the dog just magically knows what everything means. This would take year of practice to teach him all over again. It would imply dogs know how to read which is just ridiculous. This dog is either a hoax or the owners are very delusional.
@@dejanhaskovic5204 I promise you she knows exactly what walked means and food and go outside. These concepts are very easy to teach to a dog along with their name. It's very simple to teach a dog to hit a button and then when they hear "outside" they're going to associate that button with going outside. They know what that word means regardless of whether or not human or a button says it. I'm not claiming that she understands deep concepts or has the comprehension of a human but it's ridiculous to say that she doesn't understand a single button. Again, I promise you she knows exactly which button to hit when it comes to words she knows verbally. She knows what outside is and what it means when someone very clearly says outside. They certainly understand that if they want to go outside they go to the door so there's no reason you couldn't teach them to hit a button. When they're hungry or thirsty they go over to their bowl and paw at it, and typically understand either food or feed or dinner time or something of that nature. I promise you they are perfectly capable of associating those words they know verbally with hitting a button. No she probably doesn't understand the more human concepts but dogs are perfectly capable of understanding some degree of our language. They are more than smart enough to associate a certain button with a certain word that they already know. My dog knows exactly what walk or go outside or feed the dog means. He knows that when I say the word cat I'm talking about the cats he will go right over to them and look at me as soon as I say the word. He'll even go to a certain cat if I say that cat's name. He understands his name is Angel and has no problem responding to it and has great recall. He understands that when I say car he gets to go for a ride. He understands when I say treat that he's going to get a snack. He understands multiple commands like sit, lay down, wait, stay, and many others. Dogs are perfectly capable of understanding some degree of our language and being able to associate it with a certain button. You clearly have not been around enough dogs to understand that.
@@romeor1229 Sure, learning to press a button for food, treat or going outside is plausible, but stringing words to make sentences and talking about dreams and other abstract stuff is a hoax. I promise you dog has no idea and has no way of learning what even simple abstract words mean like 'what' or 'who', or associating things like a thorn in the paw with the word 'stranger'.
Dogs can learn words by means of cause and effect, but anything beyond that is laughable and anyone who believes it is extremely gullible.
I’ve been watching What About Bunny for a long time, and she comes up with her own ideas. Dad poop! When Dad is using the bathroom. She asks questions. Complains about her brother Otter. Asks where Mom/Dad is when they are away. Makes note of when strangers are walking by or there is a sound. Talks about her dreams. She asked WHO that was in the mirror. As for the use of the word “learner” it’s because not all users of these buttons are dogs. People give them to their cats, horses, etc. YOU NEED TO WATCH MORE OF BUNNY’S VIDEOS. What you said, “you never see the dog walking around the board to press certain buttons”--YES SHE DOES!!!!! You obviously haven’t seen some of the amazingly complicated things she has done.
Sorry. The evidence is clear. UA-cam videos are not evidence. And the Bunny thing is delusional nonsense quite frankly.
@@KPassionate but the evidence you’re going based off of happens to be UA-cam videos, right?
@@typicalboss9640 no. The studies are linked in the description as with all of my videos. Happy reading
Yes, they showed the one time that the dog put two words together that were slightly relevant. They didn’t show you the thousands of other times when the words were not related at all and were nonsense.
This just highlights to me how easily humans can be fooled into believing pretty much any irrational nonsense.
I have been trying some buttons with my dog for about 5 months. I had already taught my dog to paw on objects to have a certain action happen following the command ‘what do you want?’ . Such as pawing on the door to open it, pawing the food bowl for her kibble etc. One thing is that my dog always tries to find the most efficient method to communicate a certain thing like ‘come’ button didn’t work for me as she just found it easier to rest her head on my leg to grab attention. But she does use the Hungry button when she does feel hunger such as when we missed her routine feeding. She always presses ‘playtime’ when my Father in Law comes in as she loves to play with him. So far I have taught her the other buttons such as Outside and treats. So my dog also knows to track following the command ‘where is ’ so when I ask her where is Mommy, when my wife is at work, she always either paws at the entrance door or presses on the outside button.
That doesn't mean the dog understands the concepts of the words. she knows the hungry button brings food much like pawing her bowl did in the past, she knows playtime gets attention from your father in law, much like pawing at his leg would do or barking and bouncing around. The dog also knows to look for something and if its outside it will hit the outside button not because it understands the word outside but because it gets you to let it outside. My dog as a kid would ring bells to be let outside, making the bell a button the plays a word to you doesn't mean the dog understands the word.
Exactly the way a child learns!!!!
@@johnschwalb You do know you just exactly described how language and children learning language works, right?
@@johnschwalb dogs do understand what words mean. They know their own name, and the names of people they live with. Even relatively untrained dogs recognize words like eat, outside, walk, ball, sit. We are simply programming buttons that say those commands, so the dogs can communicate what they want. Now, do I think these pets are having full blown, philosophical conversations through the buttons? Probably not. But it's REALLY not that far fetched to imagine that dogs who can associate words with things / commands, and use that in the inverse for communication. Example, pushing "eat" when they're hungry.
Studies using EEGs and MRIs to measure brain activity in dogs found that dogs do not have the ability to distinguish different words. Bad, sad, dad, mad, and glad all likely mean the same thing to a dog. It's how we say "bad" that matters to a dog as these studies showed that almost 50% of what they respond to when they hear a human speak is emotion and tone of voice.
[1] royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.200851
[2] www.livescience.com/dogs-word-processing.html
Additionally, many of these talking pet videos are clearly faked. As you can plainly see at the 3 minute mark of the below video.
[3] ua-cam.com/video/jObcXvhZu_Q/v-deo.html
The words ARE important. I owned a guard dog. Most of his voice commands were in English. But the security words were in German. I could have screamed “Attack” until I was blue in the face and he would have stood there looking confused. I had to Sa it in German for him to know what I meant and react.
The vast majority of people do not have a dog as extremely well trained as yours.
Assume much ??
Yes, well, German is a great language for that kind of thing…😆
@@KPassionate But it shows that it's possible and not as far fetched as you make it seem it is.
Exactly
I trained mine the same
They would sit quietly until given command
Could even say
Watch him. Dog wouldn't let the person move , till I gave proper command
So much more they did
So, they understood many words by their time to go.
Now new one has his own thoughts all bad
Like take important things and toss them in the toilet
My dog definitely understands different words. If I say “car”, she runs to the car, I say “walk” she runs and grabs her leash and brings it to me, I say “treat” or if I say “bed” she goes to her bed and lays down. I do t see how the button thing is much different. Doesn’t seem unrealistic at all.
Maybe the stuff that’s a little complex and descriptive isn’t correct (especially cause you can’t really prove they know what they’re saying)
But I definitely could see my dog using buttons to ask for specific things. She already does that just in a different way
and it gives the dogs control too. she's talking about the dog "not forming sentences" well obviously because dogs don't have as much brain processing power as people, but the dog can still understand "cat" "play" and all these other things. seems like this scientist was using her own "denial bias" if you ask me, lmao
@@ziahplayspiano she doesn't want some company who sells the buttons profit from it, that's why.
And I can understand her denial. For someone to be studying her field for a long time, she's too close-minded to try other ideas or approach.
Points taken but I just don't understand why she seemed to be mocking and sounded really disrespectful to the owner of the dog that she's watching.
She's a close-minded technician. She doesn't have the mind and open-minded brain of a researcher.
There's actually two separate parts of the human brain for 1) understanding language, and 2) producing language. They're called the Wernicke's area and Broca's area. If one were to damage the Wernicke's area, they'd be able to make sentences themselves, but would have a hard time understanding what others are saying to them, and the opposite is true for the Broca's area. The idea here is that understanding and producing language are two different things, cognitively speaking.
I'm not a biologist at all, but considering that dogs have evolved such a close relation to humans I wouldn't be surprised if they have a part of the brain capable of understanding human speech to a degree (not full on sentences, but making the association of some words with concepts as you describe), but it's unlikely that they would have the cognitive capacity to produce language as is alleged in these button talking videos. That took us a looooooong time to evolve
Then what exactly are the buttons for?
Her criticism fails to recognize that she’s not conducting an experiment. She’s observing her own dog’s behavior. She’s making inferences, just having thoughts, about what she thinks about her animal. Like…she never claimed to be a scientist conducting credible experimentation.
Someone’s allowed to just think and come up with ideas, curiosity. It’s what drives science.
I think the buttons are good for playing, potty, etc. I think keeping the buttons simple would be more effective.
Agreed
Yeah, and associating different buttons with actions or simple commands (like treat, outside, pet, etc) would be best. I don’t know why pronouns came into play, it’s really not needed.
Although my dog just walks to the door to go outside and that works just fine. If I’m not paying attention, they scratch the door. Don’t really need a button for simple needs if you are aware of your dog and it’s needs, and trained it properly
@@heatherb9853 very true
7:37 I think something you guys are misunderstanding is the buttons that say person are supposed to be programmed with "mom" or the person's name, the same thing with learner name, you supposed to program it with the dog's name. As someone else already commented, it's not much different than teaching verbal commands. I've heard of some support animals being able to learn and understand hundreds of commands
Bunny is being evaluated by linguists. She has tapped buttons that possibly show complex thinking. "Dog. Animal. Mom Human. Dad poops." (He had just come out of the bathroom.)
To me, a non-scientist, Bunny seems to be thinking and understanding some concepts.
Linguists? Could she also be evaluated by behaviorists?
@@stone7327 of course
The mass majority of animals use sound and body language to communicate. This is the future and skeptice will be just that
@@socal2909 Yeah. I was watching some birds, and one bird went to the grass and started pecking at it. Then it chirped and more birds came down. I walked closer and the bird gave out another chirp, maybe two in quick succession and they all flew away to the tree they were in previously. I've read scientists have recorded bird chirps and played them and got different results with different chirps they recorded. So they must have some sort of signal, if not full language.
The important part of your comment there is "to me, a non-scientist...". You admit that you have no idea what you're talking about as some kind of proof that you know what you're talking about.
Stella is the original. Her owner created the talking dog buttons. She is a speech pathologist and you might be interested in checking her out.
Sounds like a real scientist as opposed to the bimbo in the video.
Notably. . Speech pathologist. Not a biologist. No professional training or education with nonhuman animals
@@ems4884 You can be knowledgeable about topics without having a formal education in them. It's unreasonable to say that a person doesn't have an understanding of a topic just because they didn't pursue a degree. Especially when it comes to topics as universal as animals.
@@ems4884enough with this nonsense. “Education” is information. You can get most information anywhere, and if it’s paywalled, that’s a societal issue not an education one.
@@ems4884language is language it’s not only a human thing. Math isn’t a human thing. There are human languages yes but language itself is t a human only phenomenon
Some dogs are smarter than others, I don’t know if Bunny can understand language but I’m sure she’s able to pick out specific buttons. Perhaps not to form complete sentences but enough to show she’s capable of learning sounds. Miso is a good example of a dog who will look around for which button to press; she’s a very well trained Shih Tzu that consistently responds to prompts with the correct buttons.
I’m not sure if anyone is making the argument that dogs can speak in long form sentences, so if that’s the crux of the argument then it’s not really having much of an effect.
The buttons work, and dogs are capable of utilising them if trained correctly. I don’t think it’s fair to make claims that they don’t look around for the buttons when it’s really not hard to find instances in which they do. It does seem like you’re cherry picking for your own confirmation bias.
My confirmation bias is based on scientific evidence. And because of those differences in bias, we see two completely different things when we watch these videos.
@@KPassionate you can base your confirmation bias in anything you like, it’s still confirmation bias.
There’s scientific evidence to suggest that dogs process language similarly to humans by using both the left and right side of the brain for meaning and intonation respectively. That was discovered within the last few years, so there’s room for more discoveries. After all, all science is is theory, and theories evolve.
@KPassionate thats.....not how confirmation bias works 🤦
You haven't adequately looked for things that disprove your beliefs. Until you do, you can't claim it's "based on scientific evidence"
@@KPassionateI think you’re getting tripped up on the fact that some people really think dogs can actually learn the word “hungry” or “outside” like a person would, and link the words to their own personal emotions.
But most sane people understand that the dogs do it because it receives certain things when they push specific buttons. Even if the button didn’t say anything - they would still push it if it gave them a reward every time.
This is a form of communication though, as you said yourself: 70-93% of human communication is non-verbal. Even though dogs don’t actually tie emotions to the sounds, they understand your reaction to them pushing a button. They are learning to communicate something they want with the action of pushing a button.
As another commenter said, words do matter. It is possible to train your dog to be able to distinguish the difference between certain words, but the majority of people don’t have a dog that is trained that excessively. So it’s a bit unrealistic to assume your dog is doing anything other than distinguishing different tones when you speak.
I don’t think this product is necessarily a scam like you claim - although they pander to those who want to believe their dog can effectively express an emotion. Regardless, I think it’s useful for people who want their dog to be able to communicate basic needs by pushing specific buttons.
@@KPassionateYou are getting ratioed in every comment thread. 😂 You are unpopular and you channel is propped up by the algorithm.
I had an incident with my miniature poodle which completely changed the way I viewed dogs and their ability to understand language. Prior to this incident I thought their ability to understand was very limited. My dog was napping on the couch when on a whim I just decided to let him know that the neighbor's dog was outside in their backyard. I had no expectation that he would understand what I was saying. I didn't really expect a response. However, he immediately jumped up in extreme excitement as he gave a small yelp and ran to the back door with his tail wagging waiting impatiently to be let out. I, of course, let him out very bewildered and curious as to what would happen next. He sprinted directly for the fence to greet the neighbor's dog and then they happily ran up and down the fence line together. I knew that they were friends and this was their favorite game, hence, my decision to spontaneously tell him she was outside. I had only said the neighbor's dog's name around my dog maybe less than 5 times and never specifically directed at my dog nor did I try to train him to understand her name. I didn't think this was possible. Not only had he picked up on her name but he understood what I told him about her whereabouts. I tallked much more to my dog after that realizing that he understood way more than I gave him credit. I think I could have used these buttons with him had I known about them before he passed.
What about when the dog presses, “ouchie” , then she asks where. The dog presses, “left paw”. She goes to check the left paw and the dog had a hitchhiker stuck in between her toes. I agree that body language is a primary communication mechanism, but seems as though even our ancestors developed a verbal way to communicate.. I mean yeah I’m still skeptic but Intrigued
I saw a dog pressing "pain" and "ear" and it turned out there was an infection in the ear when they went to their vet
I think it's easy with basic things like hunger and pain. I was thinking about that same video and it was very impressive, but it could take decades for things to go further and the dog actually learns to formulate sentences. Maybe more than decades because, for example (and this is just me), I don't think they have an actual need to communicate. We did, and we do.
And how many times were those buttons pressed when there was nothing wrong?
@@justanotherchannel13 it's easy with pain? Really? That seems like one of the hardest buttons to me. How do you teach an animal what the "pain" button means? Do you inflict pain and then hit the button? Do you sit around waiting until you think the animal is experiencing pain and then hit the button? If you have a happy, healthy animal in a safe environment, that might take a lot of waiting.
Feelings like "hunger" and "pain" are subjective; it takes humans years to develop understanding of these concepts before we can communicate them to others, and we evolved specialized brain regions to facilitate communication with other humans. It seems to me that the easiest buttons would be the one directly connected to objective reality, like a "walk" button, where the animal presses the button, and you take them on a walk, or a "treat" button, where the animal gets a treat for pressing the button, or an "affection" button, where the animal gets pet for pressing the button. Those kinds of buttons actually work.
@@talonward2494 Uhmm... I'm not gonna argue that, because I was talking about answering a practical need. Without a practical need we, as humans, wouldn't even have a language either. If it was a bad example, ok. My bad?
To be fair, this analysis wasn’t the scientific method either. You can’t prove the dogs intent with that pressing the buttons. Dogs can have really complicated jobs, I think it should be studied more because there is definitely something there…maybe not the ability to understand words that represent vague concepts, at least right away, but I think they could definitely understand verbs, nouns & feelings.
Well my approach is scientific, but the way science works is the need to prove something does work rather than that it doesn’t. There are many issues here, to name a few; the only company doing "research" is the company who sells the buttons which is an obvious conflict of interest. 2) the video makers will only put forward their successes and not their failures. It is very easy to write your own narrative in your own UA-cam videos. It’s an interesting idea but unfortunately is just not backed in science. I found an interesting article here neurosciencenews.com/animal-communication-18280/amp/
I'm not so sure about verbs and nouns, maybe from time to time they get what you might mean. But when it comes to feelings, emotions and simple words, my whole life among dogs is enough of a proof to me that they are able to understand these. Dogs can understand the emotions in your voice and behavior, as well as they can memorise meaning of the words. You can find a Border Collie online that is able to differentiate her toys by the name, she was supposed to know about 50 or 70 toy names I think, and once asked she brought exactly the toy you asked her for, what's more she was able to dig in the pile of toys to find exactly the the one you asked for.
Dogs have jobs? Service dogs maybe…
It really isn't scientific or analysis though. It's just her scrolling through videos erratically and giving her opinion on what's happening.
@@LS-ys8nr most dog breeds were bred for work of some variety. guard dog, herding dog, baby-sitter dog, fishing dog, etc etc.
Scientists also used to think that newborns could not feel pain and thus performed surgeries without anesthesia. Science will catch up.
There were never any scientific experiments that supported that wild theory. Hopefully those that don’t understand what science is will catch up.
Can’t even do your make up right but you’re commenting about how a marine biologist doesn’t understand science. Disney adults are wild
@@codex2107 yeah her comment is bs.. but no need to get Personal though
Okay but there needs to be evidence first hon.
you are gross--->@@KPassionate
"Don't see dogs walking around picking their words"....you need to watch more videos! 😂
The videos are each more ridiculous than the last. Painful. But thanks for commenting!
@@KPassionate why do you write like trump tweeting
@@elliot_rat you have discovered my true identity! 😂. Except Trump for sure believes in talking dog buttons.
@@KPassionatebiden doesnt know what dogs are
If you watch ALL the videos, it's hard to say that Bunny is just pressing them randomly or to make her owner happy. And in any case, Bunny's owner and several hundred other pet owners are helping to compile the info on EVERY BUTTON press--video taping + writing down all the things the dogs say, when, why, circumstances (did it seem accidental or purposeful? was it near dinner time? was the dog also whining, etc.). All that info will be compiled to create a report on if and how the button method works.
This is my question. Did this person do their evaluation based on only this ONE video? That hardly seems scientific to me. It's like walking outside when it's sunny, and assuming that means it never rains.
@@NikkiSoardesMail exactly, she thinks just because she went to school and spent time with seals, she knows more than everyone.
This whole experiment has to be repetitively done by someone in a certain setting. If you use some random stranger on the internet looking for views, you cannot sell those results as authentic especially since social media tends to be full narcissistic people. There are experiments with apes that learned i think a few hundred words, but no scientist yet has done anything close with dogs. And i say that as a person which is very sceptical about some science's
Imagine the hundreds, even thousands of hours of button presses that don't make it into videos because it's just random. If I slapped myself in the face all the time and you witnessed that, you would just think it's something I do for no reason. However, if you only saw me do it when a fly was on my face, you would think I was trying to swat the fly.
No. Because dogs are simple in their communication this new ager is trying to get paid....
Bunny and her family were part of a university study. This doctor in this video works with many animals, but not land animals, mammals, dogs, esp poodles. Her expertise may not transfer. Poodles are one of the most intelligent dogs. She should watch more of the videos of this particular animal and esp watch as Bunny progressed over time.
Bunny is not able to speak with buttons , it's random and vids are mostly fake cuz they are selling product that way
I don’t think this is a valid argument whatsoever. Look at dolphins. They are even more intelligent. I’m sure she has enough education under her belt to speak to this.
You sound just how you look. Smh
yes we should trust you over this lady
Idiots will make any leap to discredit what they can see with their own eyes regardless of the facts in front of them. I am willing to bet anything that you vote Democrat.
I do, on the other hand, see cats walking around and seeming to try to decide which button to press before almost pressing one and then changing their minds and pressing another. Interestingly enough.
We moved to the UK. Tried talking to our senior dog in English… because it is more inclusive to the locals . Turns out she (Maltese) does not understand commands with the same context and intonation in English. Words does matter!
To play devil’s advocate, these same people would argue that the sounds are what matter more than the words/language of words
And yet you can’t use them 😂
@@DuskLegend I don't understand the issue. Sound is what matters. Words have their phonetic signature (in any spoken language). That's how we learn most words: by hearing them in context. We don't start to read before 5 or 6 years old.
@@miks564 there is no issue, that’s why I said devil’s advocate
Because commands are specific words, dogs pick up your MOOD by the voice tone, not the command, otherwise it would just sit every time you speak in the tone in which you trained it to
I share your healthy skepticism regarding this but I am also ready to be proven wrong if research proves otherwise. Right now UCSD is conducting a large scientific study on animal cognition using communication buttons, to see if they are actually capable of understanding these words and using them to communicate. This is just the beginning though and much more research will need to be done.
We (Roscoe and I) are a part of that research! :)
i watched her billi video and she hasn't looked for any research or reached out to the pet owners - she's basing all her opinions (sorry, "observations") on one or two videos, and the research just isn't there yet (shockingly, i googled that to make sure i had my facts correct)
she's also explaining that the animals can't possibly be learning basic concepts of language - while using the dogs being taught the basics of language learning to disprove that very thing
she also uses the sentence structure to "disprove" this, while ignoring or not realizing that subject-verb-object is absolutely valid sentence structure - asl uses it
basically, while she's right to be skeptical, she's decided that there's no way she's wrong and is talking out of her butt
@@larissafae2135 she also states that dogs don't have a concept of 'friend' or 'stranger' which is absurd because dogs absolutely know who/what smells familiar and associated with good memories, and smells that are unfamiliar. Dogs just learn to match our vocal sounds/button sounds woth their experiences.
@@GrandisSilva absolutely. is it language? in the technical sense, no - but it IS communication, which lay people will shorthand to "language" because that's what most of us understand
animals have learned how to communicate with us over millenia, and this is another way to do it. cats only regularly vocalize with humans, because they know we don't understand pheromones. dogs have evolved to wiggle their eyebrows to get their way. it doesn't have to be an actual language for communication to happen
i've been so salty about this for so long, you don't even know 😂😂😂
@@larissafae2135 can you explain to me how it's not language? It seems to me that the animals are learning to associate meanings/actions to particular sounds. Isn't that how children pick up language, or how adults learn a foreign one? And then they can press the corresponding buttons to communicate their wants.
Bunny does in fact occasionally wait and think about how to form some sentences, the rest just comes naturally and she's able to click what ideas makes sense to her.
She can’t form sentences. Sorry
Yeah not to mention the fact that this dog has been doing this since she was 6 months old. Time for dogs moves and feels a lot different than it does for us (in feeling, less in reality) so, that's like saying a human has been training for ballet since they were 6 years old and then this KPassionate lady saying that they didn't stop to think about it so, they aren't actually dancing ballet.
Yeah I confirm this. Soon the dog will sign a contract with a well recognized publisher for its first novel. Gtfoh!
@@KPassionate care to explain your counter argument in a way that makes sense for this specific comment?
@@samalass466 what is there to counter? a person beleives the dog occasionally waits to talk, but the rest comes natural to her? that isnt an argument, it isnt even a syllogism.
I think there is potential here with simple concepts like “outside” and “food” being pretty easy to show, but complex topics like “stranger” I doubt we’d see anything for.
I do hope more research is done for this kind of stuff to see how far we can take this kind of thing
I am also looking forward to the research!
They've been studying this stuff for decades. I think that after a certain point, no fully grown animal will come close to being self aware. I don't think their brain can adapt to that possibility once fully grown.
However there may be some potential with apes/monkeys to get really close, but unless one is born with some mutation that makes it much more intelligent I don't believe it will come about naturally for hundreds of thousands of years.
Have no fear, with the advancement of gene editing I'm sure some scientists somewhere are already working in editing the genes for intelligence in certain animals. I'd say in less than 100 years we will create a dog that is both self aware and can communicate with us with some computer assistance. We shouldn't do it, but we will.
@@adamgerald849what if we accidentally make animals self aware by trying to prompt them to learn at increasingly complex levels?
Dogs already know whats stranger without a button, for example when a person or an animal passes by house close, some dogs bark at strangers
I feel the same way about the word "now". How do you explain to a dog the concept of time. Now being the present , things in the past and future things to come seem a bit advanced to be able to sit down and explain to a dog with treats. 😂
Thank you! You said a lot of things that make good sense. I agree with you that our dogs talk to us all the time. It us up to us to learn their language. The more we talk to our digs, include them in our daily lives, ours dogs are going to recognize our body language and learn that when we make certain sounds (whistle, talk, clear our throats, etc) - those sounds correlate with something specific. I talk to my dogs (and cats) all the time. They have mastered a huge understanding (i.e. correlating my sounds to specific things and actions) of me vocalizations and actions. I could ask my former dog to get me my slippers. It was fun to see that she correlated the sound of slippers to something I wear on my feet. Sometimes she would bring me my socks, most times it was my slippers. She learned that what correlated with socks vs slippers. She also correlated those sounds usually meant bring me 2 because after 1 was brought I would bring me the other, I need two. I often spoke in complete sentences, but I realize that she was picking really on nouns and verbs because of the ease of correlating with things and action. I could easily bring up examples of any of my dogs "understanding" me.
Have you seen Billi the cat? It’s far from hard science, but I think it’s interesting. Some of the concepts seem advanced for her to understand, but she chooses her buttons more slowly and carefully and she tends to request basic things like food, play, toys, asking for attention, etc.
Yes Billi is the Queen :)
@CypyCup This whole thing mirrors a settled debate in science. This exact thing was tested with chimps and apes, and it was conclusively proven that even with years of training and conditioning they were still unable to form sentences. Even with the most successful examples would only really be able to understand single words without ever having the ability to link them together. Animals lack the processing capabilities that allow humans the ability to speak in complex ideas, and no amount of operant conditioning can change that reality.
The story of what happened to those chimps and apes after these experiments never panned out is also depressing.
@@Pidgeon182 it's because of a gene called foxP2 that doesn't exist in most animals. It allows humans to hear two different sounds next to each other and discern a unique meaning. I.e. "knee" and "Ed" combined are "need" (obviously the E and D sounds being combined in Ed are also beholden to this). Birds also have an admittedly lower concentration of this gene and that is why their songs contain multiple sounds in quick succession.
@@Pidgeon182 Apes and monkeys do not have foxP2
Ive seen some billi vids where they make no sense
Oh my goodness, dismissing others for not being scientific enough and then doing even worse non-scientific things yourself during your "debunking"?!
1. As a biologist, you MUST be aware that completely normal dogs, not exceptional dogs, understand about 20-30 spoken words? Body language, yes definitely. Tone, yes absolutely. But they also understand words delivered completely without gesture or tone accompanying them. Exceptional dogs do about 120 words. My past dog could fetch any requested item and deliver it to any requested person or place, totaling about 30-40 words. She was not an exceptional dog though. You must know such dogs are commonplace yet you pretend this is not a thing? How disingenuous of you.
2. You're a biologist. Cool. The lady whose method you're debunking is a speech pathologist. Well done pulling rank there.
3. So dogs clearly have listening comprehension. And forming your own sentences is a more difficult skill. But surely it is not outlandish to assume if a normal dog can comprehend 30-40 words, that probably it can productively use 5-10 when speaking, if only it had the voicebox to make such sounds?
4. They say "learner" because it's an instructional video about a method that applies equally well to other animals, and people are currently attempting to use it on other species (with varying degrees of success). Using the term "learner" in this context is not a millennial thing, it is an accurate use of words.
5. Zero boards contain the word "person". The buttons in the video say "person 1" and "person 2". The video merely means "put specific person name here". Like "Jake" or "Judy". Typically a dog has no trouble separating the names for 2 specific humans, its own name, and 1 specific other pet, and the word "stranger". So there typically are about 5 buttons for specific persons.
6. Teachers do not introduce buttons for new words until the learner has started using the last button/word in the correct context. It is everybodys experience that you get abysmal results if you introduce too many buttons at once, because apparently then they all just mean "give me attention now", as far as the learner can tell. The difference between these two situations is typically rather obvious.
7. Yes the owner of Bunny the dog often applies overly "confirmation biasy" interpretations of sentences and ignores words she judges does not make sense. This is true and it is a mistake by her, and the owner of Stella the dog does it much better, by not ignoring anything and always acting verbatim on what was said with the buttons.
However you cherry-picked two examples that fit your critical narrative and dismissed all the other evidence. Like.... an even worse mistake than confirmation bias, is it not? Thus you're throwing out the baby with the bathwater by dismissing the whole thing based on finding a few cases of overly generous interpretations.
8. You say they don't stop and think before typing? You accidentally saw edited videos where the dog did it quickly. The NORMAL video contains extended pauses between prompt, human response, new prompt, next human response, and so on, during which the dog is OBVIOUSLY thinking about how to continue the exchange. There is CLEARLY thinking involved. Just look at more examples.
yes yes yes! thank you
Go off sis
Animals even learn pictures
And can learn many words
This Scientist sucks eggs
My dogs and cats learned so much language
No buttons needed
Probably buttons would have worked
ObiWantzCanolis is learning to identify every toy and action so far
This woman is just ridiculous
i looked at the examples. You're wrong
I can appreciate KPassionate's knowledge and experience in non-human animal behavior and her grasp of the scientific method. With the internet, too many people convince themselves that they can become an "expert" just by "doing their research" which is nothing more than listening to videos by people who have no idea about the subject they are babbling about. I search for a properly educated/trained non-human animal behaviorist for dog behavior and a professional dog groomer to do the grooming but not the other way around. The internet is full of properly educated/trained professionals in veterinary and human health fields to have to settle for wannabes.
Is it possible that it just needs more research? I feel like these button dogs are a newer frontier, and there are a lot of full length videos where she does seem to be communicating. Maybe this is just something scientists need to look into instead of writing off because they have never seen it before. A lot of the sequences Bunny comes up with are quite complex but they make sense. For example, she expressed she had a thorn in her foot by saying there was a “stranger” in her foot, conceptualizing the idea that something was there that wasn’t supposed to be. I’m fascinated that you aren’t more intrigued by the idea and want to research it, and are writing it off completely based on nothing.
There has been lots of research on the topic. And it is proven time and time again. That is why I have "written it off". The science is clear. Feel free to read the links in the description and pinned comment.
The same way she's accusing the believers of confirmation bias, she's cherrypicking the segments that make the least sense. Both are probably going on and it needs a scientific study with a control, which in this case would be a dog taught that random things happen (sometimes treat, sometimes open door, sometimes nothing) when it hits a random button and the results would be generated randomly. Then see if observers can tell the dog that is definitely mashing random buttons from the one trained to use them meaningfully. If the observers pick the meaningful dog enough that it couldn't be by chance (let's say P-value .05) then there's something there.
@@KPassionate you have written it off. Fine. But not all scientists have. Scientific "proof" is a myth. Old proof sometimes gets debunked by new, different or better research.
@@Aliandrin She has a few arguments, some of them good, some of them bad. She just switches between them however she likes. When pet owners improve their relation with their pet by buying buttons, then she calls the companies that make them scammers. When it is clear that the push of a button does coincide with a need of the pet, she arguments, "you just trained her to push the button to get something". And when she does admit that the button presses relate to current needs, she just moves the goal post to "well but these still aren't coherent sentences and that is required for communication". And when a pet forms somewhat meaningful sentences, well, then that was just "random button mashing" or "too much interpretation by the owner". There is no single coherent thought process in what she actually wanted to disprove in this video. Mostly just rolling her eyes instead of arguments, either way.
Stella is part of a study involving several pets. This woman watched a video while we watched.
I’m gonna hold out for the scientist specifically studying this with several examples and controls and not someone watching a video in real time even if she’s a scientist.
I'm convinced no one is studying the pets. I think the owners are being studied.
@@whelanmmw
shld be. there's plenty other pet owners that can use a check-up
from the neck up. 😼
Amen to that. Excellent point. Besides what is the harm and this could be very useful for handicapped owners amongst many other things I'm sure there are that is just the first that came to mind.
@@whelanmmwalso a good point!!!!
How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger explains the buttons from the perspective of a speech language pathologist. There is a lot more going on than this video suggests. E.g., “eat” when they just ate could be asking for more or observing they just ate and liked it or observing someone else is eating, etc. Whether the dog understands or not, acting like they do reiterates context for the word, which increases the dog’s ability to use that word/button correctly.
That said, it’s a great point that if animals naturally communicate with body language, it’s a little inconsiderate of us to insist they learn a behavior to use our language rather than us change to understand them.
@@AngelProjekt I'm wondering if anyone is really saying that we should be ignoring body language and requiring buttons instead. I personally interpreted it as, there are limitations to any language, body language, or spoken/button language, and maybe one can fill in the deficits of another.
I'm a biologist and I've watched many of these videos of this dog and of a cat named Billie, and I think these two animals do have a great deal of comprehension, I e., Billie identified a coyote as a stranger dog.
Well, your opinion as a biologist will be responded to with ad hominem sarcasm to the backdrop of circus music. That’s what science really is.
@@TheAaronRodgersTaogo back to enlightenment seems it’s working mr tao
I missed when exactly "there might be confirmation bias" became equal logically to, "this thing definitely doesn't happen and is officially disproven and debunked."
The dog said it was mad because all the buttons were moved from the plywood, while showing all the body language of a happy dog looking for attention.
@@johnschwalb Pet owners who use buttons to communicate don't have the full range of emotion wheel on the buttons. There are far more words that are synonymous to mad that doesn't necessarily elicit what we would consider the body language of just mad. Frustration, which is a more complex emotion than mad, wouldn't necessarily elicit mad body language; however the base emotion of frustration is mad.
I'm not saying that Bunny's owner is in the clear. I've seen videos where I felt the video/buttons were manipulated. THAT is problematic. That said I've seen other videos where either cats or dogs were using buttons to express themselves, and the owners not only listened to the buttons but we're also looking at body language to better understand what their pet was saying in context. Jenn and Pharaby are a good example of this. It takes Jenn a while to sort out what Pharaby is saying sometimes because, again, there are only so many buttons.
Imagine having, let's say, 60 words in another language. Basic words for needs, a few important things and people names, emotions, a few verbs (in present tense), and the word for later. That is your entire vocabulary in a foreign language that you realize will help you be better understood by the people around you. Add the extra complication that those people do not supply you with new words so that you can better express yourself. Your ability to clearly express yourself to them with words will be stunted. That's what these pets face.
I have no issue that Bunny's owner referred to a pet being a learner because even while her pet is a dog, there are other types of pets using these buttons and she recognized that fact.
Does it really matter if it's tone of voice as opposed to words that they understand? Btw, my Chihuahua knows certain words no matter what tone that I use when saying them.
I just ordered 4 dog talking buttons to train my doing with. I don't expect to have a full on conversation with my dog, but there are times when she just sits there staring at me , and then I finally realize that it was time for something. With the buttons, she can remind me, and alert me to what she wants.
I am very excited to work with my dog with the buttons! 😁
*EDIT: I only paid $20.00 for the 4 buttons that I ordered.
You are welcome to buy as many buttons as you like! But it is a waste of money and benefits these scammers.
It’s not a scam if the goal is communicate with your pet and the buttons assist with that, even if it is just plain skinner association. You keep saying you’ll believe there is something to these videos if actual research confirms it but then make comments like this that really scream of bias. If you can’t share an actually objective or even neutral perspective then maybe wait for the research to actually come out to make comments if you actually care about sharing accurate information. We simply don’t know enough at this point to make any conclusions about why these animals are interacting with these buttons.
@@kuraarachan the goal is to make money for the company by convincing people that the product works when they are fully aware that dogs cannot do what is advertised. That is a scam
@@kuraarachan Then go ahead and buy those buttons :) Lets see how you do
@@KPassionateyou replied to a few other comments that said the same thing as this one with "I agree." Did something happen since that makes you think the buttons that play sounds are useless scams?
My dog has 3 buttons (one button died) and used them correctly. She has “bone” “outside” and “ride”. She uses outside and bone the most unprompted. If I ask her if she wants to go for a ride then she will get very excited (which was her response before we got the buttons) and I’ll tell her “use your button” to let me know if she wants to go for a ride. She will then go to her ride button and hit it. A lot of the time she doesn’t hit the button hard enough to make it say the word and when I tell her to “hit it harder” she will go back and hit it harder so it goes off. I’ll ask her questions and she Will answer with the button. For example, “where are we going?” And she will hit the “outside” button. I’ll hold up a bone and ask her “what’s this?” And she will hit the “bone” button. She communicates a lot verbally and non verbally and is very easy to train, which is why I thought she would catch on fast to the buttons. I wasn’t wrong. I had to teach her the command “touch” so I could teach her to touch the button and I had to teach her to push the button. All that took about 30-45 minutes. When we want her to go play or just go somewhere else (like not on the couch with us at that moment because she’s being too rambunctious) we will tell her to “go play.” She will then go play with her toys if we are inside or if we are outside she will run off to go chase birds or find something to do. She is a rat terrier so she is an intelligent breed, but she is smart even for a rat terrier. She has so many things she does to communicate with us and she understands way more than we realize she does. All the time we catch ourselves going “oh wow, she understand that!” She makes what she wants very clear without the buttons. The buttons just gave her a different way to tell me what she wants.
It's not unusual for an animal to associate an action with a result, such as pressing a specific button associated with going outside, or a toy or a treat. The real issue she seems to have with these videos is the stringing together of buttons to make more complex thoughts. The concern isn't even that it's impossible for an animal to do, but that this is being done in a non scientific way that allows for confirmation bias and other problems to affect the results and the interpretation of the results.
@@mandiboston8014 The 'concern' goes from 'can animals really talk to us?' to 'can animals have complex thoughts and make sentences?' to 'this wasn't done in a scientific way.'
Make it into smaller paragraphs. Didnt read
@@ModernLEGOreviews
Don't be lazy. Jesus Christ. Have we really come to the point in time where people are unwilling to read a paragraph and a half? Pathetic.
@@mandiboston8014 you could say the same about anything. I ask a restaurant for food because im hungry and want food lol how is it any different we associated words with actions
I'm autistic, I'm not good at reading body language. Does that mean I'm missimg 73-90% of communication? I have lots of friends who care about me, a fulfilling relationship with my girlfriend and good relationships with most family. I really listen to what people say. You have to be really direct en precise with your communication with me, but other than that I'm great at communicating. As long as people say what they really mean and feel.
You are correct, body language is not the same as verbal behavior (real language). Humans are actually very bad at reading body language which is why all the "body language experts" have been debunked.
You are being purposely stubborn at this point..,
I am too, but there obviously WAY more it it that that. How can you even begin to make this leap in logic????
Like seriously, if you know anything about your own condition you wouldnt of said this at all. I feel like you just want to toss it out there as leverage in a conversation.
Cus thats misinformation you are spreading bud!
@@werewoIf way to nitpick to a very unnecessary degree.
Also, way to speak like someone that just herd about something that relates to the post. Rather Karen seeming of you.
You’re not a dog.
Yes, it definitely means that. But that doesn’t mean you absolutely can’t communicate with others is just harder for ppl to understand you and vis-à-vis, and that ppl have try and develop a different type of communication standard for you and ppl like yourself
The part where you went😮I felt that. This dog isn't speaking English, this lady is just a pageant mom, but with a dog. 😂😂😂😂
I was going down the rabbit hole of dog talking buttons and was beginning to believe. Thank you for saving me money and time. Keep up the good work.👍
You are welcome!
I actually think you should watch some of the full videos. Especially the more recent ones. It might give you a better idea of how she uses them. I really don't think you're giving her enough credit.
Because she does actually look down at the buttons think about it and plan a careful answer. And I've seen her improve significantly over the past year or so.
You've been watching this dog "progress" for over a year? Do you have other exciting activities, like watching your fingernails grow, or paint dry?
@@nicholdipoalo3429 As an artist, I do genuinely spend quite a bit of time watching paint dry. 🤷🏼♀️ And as a queer woman I can tell you my nails grow way too fast. Something like a centimeter a week probably. 😏
If you want I can send you all the facts and data sheets on the rate of the paint drying based on medium and thickness and the precise growth rate of my nails... Since it seems so important to you. Not many people take such an interest in my incredibly exciting hobbies. 🥲
@@nicholdipoalo3429 You act like the only thing she ever does with her day is watch Bunny's videos lmao. It's pretty normal to watch videos of a channel you follow. I've been watching Markiplier for years. Doesn't mean that's all I do with my time. What even is this logic? Lmao.
@@nicholdipoalo3429 TROLOOLOLOLOLOL
@@ashleeknowlton5805 Hilarious answer to a snarky comment. I like how you think! 💕🐝💕
Bunny does indeed know stranger. U need to watch more of her videos.
Her : You can observe through body language.
Me: Observes she's salty AF
Hahaha I literally have a shirt that says "salty soul”. Yes I hate pseudoscience. Drives me bonkers.
@@KPassionatecheck out @worldofantiquity
She is!
I thought it was just me who thought that
@@KPassionate yet this video is pseudo itself. You just watched some videos on your phone and half-assedly doled out a bunch of uninformed opinions and call it "science".
Thank God someone is saying this. I argue this with people constantly. I find that many of these people keep insisting these animals have "personhood" as if they are the same as humans, which they are NOT. They get very mad if you even imply that animals are not the same as humans. It's impossible to even have a rational conversation with many of these people. Others just shut out any dissent as "being hateful" and hating animals 🤦♀️.
We only see select videos with these animals. We don't see every time they press buttons randomly. If it's so provable, why not have a 24 hour livestream available so we can assess EVERY button press, not just specific videos the owner selects to show what they want us to think?
I don't understand the difference between a dog pressing a button to get something in particular they want and understanding the word association with the object/person/action. It seems the same as a toddler level of communication. I don't believe that they are capable of super complex language but I don't necessarily disagree with the idea of teaching a dog to use buttons so they can communicate ideas that would otherwise be more complicated to get across to us.
I don’t think they can recognize more than the act of pressing a button. It doesn’t matter what the button says. They know it means attention. Perhaps if there is a button in different locations. But I think one button is the same as several to them. If that makes sense
@@KPassionate dont know if i get you right, but that would mean that all buttons have the same meaning. But billie the cat for example uses them very deliberate. Best example is "noise" when hearing noise in the apartment she would go to noise and sometimes "all done" afterwards. Her noise sensitivity seems to be quite high, her body language shows signs of anger (tail flipping, ears drawn back), immediate response to noise sound. the "all done" button also hints at deeper conceptional understanding, since she uses it in different ways like "quite what you are doing" or "it stopped" (like "ouch all done")
@@alisaforster28691 that’s not what I see on the cat videos. Also the people making the videos cherry pick clips that support their own narrative. Unfortunately there is no evidence that supports it.
@@KPassionate or you are cherrypicking bad examples because of normalcy bias
@@alisaforster28691 I just watched random videos 🤷♀️. Couldn’t actually find a good example that showed what they wanted 😂
I invested in training classes with a NADOI-certified instructor, which was some of the best money I've ever spent. (Incidentally, "Don't Shoot the Dog" and the books on dog training by the Monks of New Skete were highly recommended by our instructor.) I have toyed with the notion of perhaps getting a button ("outside"), but that is because my dog is incredibly subtle about signaling that she has to go. I do believe without a doubt that my dog understands the basic commands - come, sit, down, stand, stay, wait, with me (aka offlead "heel"), off, hupp, leave it, crash, etc... She also responds to whistled commands.
Do I think some buttons could prove useful? Yes, in a similar fashion to teaching babies sign language.
My Australian Shepherd is smarter than some people's babies, so why should she not be able to understand and signal simple words that she already recognizes? (Squirrel!)
I do believe some dogs are quite intelligent. Our oldest daughter (who took the NADOI classes beginning at age 8) trained a Search and Rescue dog as a teen. That dog had a way of communicating quite well without buttons.
For example, she would bring her plastic food crock to you and drop it at your feet when she wanted to eat. If ignored, she would pick up the dish again, and either try to shove it in your hand, or if seated, shove it in your lap, and then lay her head on your leg and stare pointedly at you. If further ignored, she would then start to apply very firm pressure downward to let us know "hey, hungry NOW". Not a button in sight, and she communicated things perfectly fine.
This dog was also trained hundreds of logged hours, to a fairly high standard of training. Not sure if that would make a difference or not.
Exactly! My King Charles Spaniel is more clever / intuitive than some of my friends 😂
@@samharms6269 probably because dogs are far superior to most humans at reading human body language. Most humans are quite poor at that, and let's admit there are some humans who are pretty deficient at decoding SPOKEN language, much less written communication.
I tested it with my dog’s saying different words in a monotone way. They understand “go get the ball” “do you want a treat” “who wants to go for a walk”. They understood me and responded either with excitement or going to get the ball.
10:53 actually, that is not just for happiness, but any excitement or emotional arousal. It can even be a sign they are angry.
It just means "strong feelings"
Hi, just an observation, but could your own confirmation bias be affecting your thoughts about the video. You may want to rewatch your reaction. I would pay attention to how you interpret the owners response to Bunny’s first string of “words.” She doesn’t say that Bunny is communicating that she is happier than previously. The owner is interpreting the string of words as Bunny expressing a need (possibly in reaction to the word help). Also, as you stated body language is important to human communication. You have a decidedly ick face somewhere in the reaction. Not that your possible bias is wrong or right but it is probably there. 😋
Biases definitely influence everyone. But mine is developed from scientific research and a knowledge of how evolution and animal brains work.
@@KPassionate Bull. You didn't conduct any actual research regarding this subject. You watched some videos and drew conclusions that fit your preconceived narrative.
"I have a glass face that portrays how much I hate all of this."
This attitude showed through many times throughout the video and really suggests you haven't given this subject a fair shot at objective analysis. You're guilty of the same thing you're accusing these people of.
"I don't understand why we can't let dogs just be dogs. Dogs are amazing, and we don't need to teach them to be humans."
Because consciousness is fascinating. It's a great opportunity to learn more about what a conscious experience is. And bridging the gap between humans and other animals really helps to tear down that anthropocentric ego we tend to carry around about ourselves.
"But before you say that I'm the one with confirmation bias. Full disclosure, is that my pre-existing notion was that the dog would be much better at this, and we would actually be talking about the Clever Hans effect."
The second sentence literally exposes your confirmation bias. You were prepared and expecting to prove this notion wrong before watching these videos.
I'm not suggesting the claims of these dog owners are true. But I'm certainly not rampantly dismissing them without scientific rigor either. This should be investigated, because it could stand to teach us a lot more about animals and ourselves.
@@MatthewStauffer I am not sure why people think I need to be the one who has done the research in order for it to be valid. The research has been done. Of course I didn’t conduct it. Just as I did not conduct experiments on gravity but still recognize it as valid. There have been many dog cognition studies that show an amazing ability to recognize words after years of training. Even upwards of 1000 words! But never consistently stringing together several words to make sentences. Sorry the content isn’t your thing. Thanks for watching.
@@MatthewStauffer regardless of presentation, she made solid points about how the dogs are using the buttons more as a means of attention rather than in an actual effort to communicate complex sentences. The cat example and the button arrangement example are clear signs of confirmation bias because the falsifying evidence for the hypothesis “dogs can learn to communicate with language” is instead interpreted to back up the hypothesis. The poster of this channel is simply pointing this out.
The videos used as examples, I have seen better button videos that actually express a dialogue back and forth, even arguing. I definitely see the point that they have an obvious confirmation bias in these samples. But, not every video and every dog owner has ridiculous expectations. This is a small sample size.
Comparatively, the research Google's algorithms serves me, indicates dogs can form complex communication concepts, that they are capable of stringing ideas together. And others, as this video points out, contradict that. Part of the problem is language itself, "Dogs can (or can't) form complex thoughts or string words together." What is complexity? Complexity doesn't have a universal bar.
I would argue the truth is somewhere in the middle of what they can communicate and what they cannot,
my hypothesis being that "Dogs can string one trained concept to a binary yes or no. And, of their trained concepts, they understand similar familiar concepts, such as 'play' or 'walk' being somewhat similar." And this may be at a toddler's level.
So I can see buttons, "yes, play, walk" inferring from yes, a positive, "I want to," "play" (a category) "walk." That's not so much of a stretch, and the dog could just say "walk" without any other buttons. The "play" would be an emotion concept, communicating the dog is excited and the "yes," being kind of like how a toddler expresses things with the hope and authority that they are already imagining what they want coming true, even if you say no. It's manipulative to the human, knowing extra steps likely comes with more reward and thus an incentive. And it makes sense biologically, because as humans for so long have lived with these domesticated animals, they have developed instincts to get what they want from us; living with us has been their environment. I think micro-evolution has a play here, and has accelerated that process, as we breed them as far as physical characteristics but probably as far as instinctual characteristics too.
That may not be as apparent with cats, but dogs are sociable, probably why they are so desirable, as we are social animals too. I know that this is a lot of speculation, but if you cut out the fat of everything I'm saying here, remember what my hypothesis is. The bar for what I define as "complex" is a lot lower than most people with buttons and as far as experiments go, not easy to observe or back-up, likewise to being proven true or false against existing research. It's more of a thought experiment. But if you approach the thought experiment, understanding that the way dog trainers train is through incentive, taking advantage of a dog's instinct and rewarding trained behavior, I think it is helpful in finding creative ways to train your dog and have a good relationship with them.
The button thing doesn't carry over a lot of modern training; I think people use it as a replacement for formal training, and that is a problem. It could be used as an addition, but it would need to be simplified.
My profession is programming and design (which is a different science), but with that perspective it occurs to me that teaching your dog binary, the concept of yes or no to use in addition to trained concepts would be the most effective approach if you want your dog to communicate with some level of complexity. So if I were doing buttons, I might do something simple,
"Yes, No" in a separate group. If we combine a trained word to these binary concepts, we already have a problem. "Food" as an example, "yes food," "no food." These could mean the same thing. So consider yes, "I want" and no, "I don't want." Just as when you train a dog, you are saying the same with less words. If you confuse this when you are interpreting the dog's meaning, you have removed consistency from the equation due to confirmation bias. Removing confirmation bias is easier with consistency, easier by treating binary like binary.
So, "no food" could mean, "I don't want food," not necessarily "I'm out of food." It would be a stretch to infer otherwise.
Now to test this, try "yes treat," and "no treat." If the dog responds with "no treat," the experiment is broken and you should stop the experiment so seriously for the time being and evaluate the variables.
Now when I say 'experiment,' I don't want to offend the scientific method. The purpose is to learn, not to prove a hypothesis. I think a lot of people think that experiments solely exist to prove something indefinitely. No, not at all.
I think the buttons would be okay though if they were simpler in design, narrowed the variables to be just binary plus one concept of a few choices, and if the dog owner is realistic with expectations and the dog owner is trained well (with the existing standards of dog training), doesn't use buttons as a replacement for modern and standardized dog training and doesn't overwhelm their dog mentally, I can see the experiment being a good thing. It doesn't really matter if your dog can communicate with complexity. Your dog is complex, and your dog is smart. All of them are. They communicate with complexity already, and if you can't see that already, please go to dog training. It's more proven. The buttons are more like a game and an experiment rather than a tool to teach your dog. They are for teaching a dog that is already well-behaved.
I think if there is any confirmation bias in the video, it's from the angle of someone that has a job in training animals and looking out for their well-being, sees how if you are using buttons to replace training, it could confuse your dog, and that could be a bad experiment for the health of your pet. This is true though; it's a good confirmation bias, knows the limits of when you should experiment. Someone in charge of animals without a want to protect their well-being would be a bad scientist, if it was part of their job function to be ethical. Without going too much deeper into what I mean on how confirmation bias can be a good thing, I'm just going to describe a scientist without any confirmation bias whatsoever pertaining to the quality of their work, as a mad scientist.
Hopefully I've expressed enough, that you know I don't think in binary on this topic, as if there is a yes or no answer. And hopefully maybe at this point, I don't even have to say that when she made this video, she was not arguing that dogs aren't smart. So whoever got wildly out-of-pocket and judged her as a scientist, please "sit."
I was blown away when Bunny said the dirty bed sheets smelled of “sleep”. Just incredible.
😂
Stahhhppp 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣☠️☠️
So was I, and there was no encouragement from her owner, who was out of town at the time. Those clips of Bunny with her owner's parents are great. Everything is recorded on camera, so that while the "grandparents" often don't even hear Bunny, the viewer understands perfectly what she's saying.
This is an old video, bunny’s buttons that have been showed on her page recently have been very logical. We don’t know how many pointless mistakes she makes that isn’t shown, but what is shown is a very smart animal
Thank you! I saw a lot of these videos and not a single comment questioning the logic
While I agree there are some pretty big leaps in terms of interpretation, I am convinced my dog has a much better way to communicate her needs and thoughts...yes, thoughts! My dog is learning to use them. They are called the learner because people are attempting this with different species so it isn't limited to dog or cat. Here is my best example of my dogs multiple butting press communication. My husband went off on a Saturday and didn't let her know he was going. I was sitting in the living room with her. She suddenly got up and trotted to the backyard. Then she came running to the front window to look outside. By now she was amped. She grabbed her bed and thrashed it for a few seconds. Then she went to her soundboard and pressed BACKYARD, OUTSIDE, DADDY, DADDY, DADDY, LOVE YOU, DADDY. Since I had seen the entire process I know that she looked for him in the backyard and out the window to the front yard and didn't find him. I cant come up with a random or different way to interpret this other than she missed him and wondered where he went. When I told her DADDY, RIDE, CAR she came over and settled in her bed with a huff. She knows what's going on.
Wow! Thank you for sharing that. She obviously is aware and thinking about what's going on. I think it's so exciting that we're exploring this form of communication. Animals are capable of so much more than we give them credit for.
This is exactly the confirmation bias she spoke about. You have to evaluate ALL of the responses together, rather than cherry picking data. The anthropomorphism is strong here while the scientific method is all but ignored.
Good morning, may I ask ? Is your dog better in communication really or is it that those buttons make it easier for you to think you have a better grasp of what segments of human language the buttons convey? ( Real question, no cynicism here).
I had a friend recently who said she wouldn't play outside with her dog on one day, and the dog threw a temper tantrum and said that [NAME] (my friend's brother) likes to play outside.
They're just like angry, grumpy, silly, energetic toddlers some times. I love it so much.
@@bEnderOfWorlds Bias works both ways. You obviously have a bias toward anthropocentrism. The "science" here is so out of date it's laughable. This woman doesn't want to admit intelligence in animals bcz she trains CAPTIVE MARINE MAMMALS at a place similar to SeaWorld, known for abuse. People involved in that industry don't want animals to be seen as intelligent. Wake up Bro!
It's still interesting how Bunny chooses to press certain button for certain things rather then others. And , just a quick note.. you are animal behaviorist, you should know that waging your tail does not always = happiness. It could indicate stress, or such.. could be relatable to emotions, such as... being annoyed. I find you to be a little passive agressive. Like you are so convinced this is '' ridiculous'' when in fact, it has been proven by a handful of scientist to be otherwise. Nothing is always all black or white. You lack a little of a grey zone. :(
‘Handful’ is a really bad sign. There is a handful of scientists that don’t believe in climate change
Who are the other handful of scientists tho?
Right and she is okay with the idea Bunny knows what outside means but doesn’t think she knows anything else. I don’t think bunny is putting together complete sentences and I agree that a majority of the time she’s probably just seeking attention, but it’s obvious she knows what at least some of the words mean.
And as dog trainer I can confidently say a smaller version of this button board could absolutely be a practical way for a dog to communicate their desires.
@@marinaljuboja3272 would be difficult for sure, because you’d 9/10 times need the dog to feel said pain to learn how to associate anything with it, but most certainly possible especially with dogs who have a chronic health issue
I think a better dog to do a video on is cache the golden retriever, in most videos he actually seems to know what he is saying. For example, In a couple videos he very specifically stated in the buttons that he felt sick, and around 20-30 minutes later he threw up.
There are plenty of very compelling Bunny clips not featured here. I think you were being selective. Have you ever trained with poodles or shepherds? They are remarkable learners and their thinking and processing skills are far beyond what's generally expected from dogs. We greatly underestimate animals but dogs especially keep evolving with us.
As I say in the video, dogs are incredibly smart animals. Intelligence and language are not linked. Humans have language because we are immensely social as a species. Dogs never evolved that skill so they cannot learn what is physically impossible. Just as humans will never be able to learn to smell as well as they can.
@@KPassionate Lots of animals are "immensely social" (including dogs) and use methods of communication other than spoken language.
@@KPassionatethat’s just stupid there are some apes that have learned sign language when language isn’t usually associated with apes it can be the same for dogs and buttons
Alexis, Bunny's owner, has repeatedly stated that she tries to maintain a healthy scepticism, and stay aware of confirmation bias when analysing Bunny's button presses. She has also stated that this training has led to her doing a great deal of research into dog behaviour, and she still aims to interpret Bunny's body language. She benefits from working from home and has worked hard to develop a good bond with her dog.
Also, Bunny *does* often look searchingly at the buttons. This video doesn't have great clips, Alexis has been anle to film much better examples, plus a group of scientists are actually studying her. She knows the names of her dog friends because the humans use them! Dogs absolutely have a concept for 'friend' (a known being) and stranger (unknown scent).
But her behaviour is the exact opposite. If you believe ANYTHING in those bunny videos, I got bad news for you. You are stupid.
I had a beagle who had what I feel was a pretty complex understanding of language. I could ask, "Hey Uri, whatcha want?" and he would take me to whatever it was, a closed doggy door he wanted opened, the kitchen sink when he needed more water, going to the stove when he wanted some of what I just cooked, pointing me to where his treats were kept, or to an unopened window he wanted to look out, etc. No buttons necessary.
That said, I am teaching my mom's cocker spaniel to use buttons. He doesn't have free range of the entire house, so I believe he barks to communicate everything and get people outside his zone to give him attention. Last holiday, my family was saying he wasn't a smart dog because of his constant barking, which I was offended by. No one ever taught him to communicate in any other way, so I thought buttons could be an alternative to barking, and I could show them what a talented dog he really is if trained properly. So far, I've taught him to ask for treats over a few visits, as that seemed the simplest concept, and he doesn't bark at all when given the button. I want to teach him to use a button for attention/affection/play and when there is activity outside to press a button for strangers instead of barking since these are his major reasons, in my eyes, that he barks. In addition, I think I'd like to teach him to be calm down/stop barking on command because he needs to learn not to bark when asked to. I've also given my Mom instructions to be consistent with my training since she will be the one with him ninety-nine percent of the time. She's amazed he's picked up using even one button since she didn't think he had the attention span to do so. As a beagle owner, I feel any dog can be trained as long as someone devotes the proper time, energy, and consistency in doing it.
so awesome ❤
Yes my dog would do the same and take me to what she wanted and then move her eyes and head between me and whatever it was. The way I see it, the more time you spend communicating with your dog the more you will both understand each other, the buttons can help or even maybe expand your understanding of each other but I have never needed it, I have had great communication with all of my dogs, some of them even learned to spell certain words after we started spelling them out to avoid hyperactivity.
The HUGE issue is that there is no reversibility. For example, if you showed the dog a cat and it touches the cat button, that would show more solidly that a dog knows the word- the association between object and word. What doesn’t work is having the dog just freely hit buttons and the owner explaining what they just said.
Exactly! I am so astounded by how many people don’t see this.
THANK YOU!!! These ridiculous "trends" on social media are absurd. I've been communicating with animals my whole life, and I don't think I used words ever. They communicate fine without words. Jackson Galaxy did one of these with cats as well, and it's the same situation. I mean... "happy help stranger cat" means what???
Jackson Galaxy is great! His cat video was amazing
Some studies point to dogs being able to understand and memorize more than 100 words. ...so, words can help a lot with one way communication. Buttons are an interesting experience, but dogs don't have them available all time anywhere, so other forms of communication are highly useful.
8:31 “does this dog look mad” a dog wagging it’s tail doesn’t mean it’s happy. It’s an expression of excitement a dog can wag its tail and bite you
you will never see a dog display body language indicating that its happy and then go to immediately attacking someone (in the vast majoirty of cases). you can see dogs instead nipping and jumping at you when theyre happy but thats not an actual attack
@@namaewasubarashii796 you just wrong as hell commenting nonsense huh 😂
Correct. Dogs wag their tail in non-happy situations as well. Naysayers, just google it. The fact the marine biologist in the video didn’t know that shows she’s unqualified to be assessing these Bunny videos. The real deal is Stella the dog, whose owner is a speech pathologist. Her videos are much clearer in differentiating between random button presses and true communication.
I believe if you keep it simple, and keep particular buttons near the meaning (such as food button next to feeding area) I think it works just fine. Outside button near the door and maybe another 2 buttons to separate wether they just need to use the bathroom or play outside
I agree!
Not the hexagonal bs
My dog can use the outside button and the play button 😅
maybe the reason the dog is having an existential crisis is too many buttons!
I know a man who has a dog, it will stand in the living room and bark for an hour, it will not go to it's bowl if it's hungry, it will not go to the door if it wants outside. The man literally has to get up and go to the living room and ask what it wants. It it also won't go to the door until he opens the door, he can say outside as much as he wants, it will wait till he opens the door to start leaving the living room. The dog is 7, so not a puppy. Your dog only learns as much as you teach them. So, I do believe it can learn what the buttons mean if you take the time to teach it instead of waiting on it hand and foot and not letting the dog learn any knowledge.
Just think about it for a second, if it would actually be possible for a dog to form complex sentences that she meant to say she would at least have to look at the buttons she’s pressing. Half of her TikToks is Bunny pressing buttons with her back paws while looking at her owner. Other video’s are Bunny stretching and accidentally hitting a button (if you really want to communicate you don’t do it in a stretch).
Don’t get me wrong it would be amazing and an extreme breakthrough but the reason it isn’t is that only the highlights are uploaded.
Another thing to remember is that all the buttons can be lead back to some sort of meaning that relates to her since those are the only buttons she’s got.
Dogs are incredibly smart and you can really get to “know” their personalities once you live with them but they are not extremely complex thoughts smart like we evolved to be.
That kind off would be like saying their brain is not so different from ours but in reality it is. It is compared to the capacity of a 2 year old baby (abled to respond accordingly to stimuli but not abled to grasp the real meaning behind something).
We are now at a point where her owner is claiming that she is depressed because she doesn’t understand why she and her owner are different and almost making it seem like a human mind trapped in a dog’s body.
Still love seeing that dog and she still really looks supersmart for a dog tho!
(Sorry if I made some grammar mistakes, English is my second language)
Weirdly, my dog is doing the stretch thing, and I think it's releasing anxiety, and trying to figure out what I want. We've had buttons for a week, and sometimes he's very confident, other times he stretches out and kind of slides his paw over it. I'm talking one button, so he's not picking one out of a lineup (yet). Once he starts choosing to press them on his own, if that ever happens, will observe to see how this works. But I know that sometimes he's very anxious about being asked to use the buttons, and we get a lot of yawning and stretching before he starts confidently pressing the button. But then, could also be, press button, get attention, owner smiles. Who knows?
When I was seven, science claimed that dogs don’t think, feel, and only act upon instinct. I knew then that not all science is true, as I had a poodle and we communicated well. And her actions proved that she could problem solve, as well as show emotion. I currently have three dogs and they easily understand close to 30 words. I do think people need to teach their dog to be familiar with the words they offer for them to use before adding that button. And I do believe some of these videos shown were reaching to assume what the dog wanted by the buttons they tapped. I certainly do think the buttons could be a great tool! But as I stated, the dogs have to already understand what the word means before adding it to the button group. You are absolutely right that animals communicate with us all the time! But I do think these buttons can be a fun tool to communicate outside as you said as well as park, treats (my dogs get fruit or veggies as treats) or other actions or destinations they already are familiar with. Would be great to be able to teach a dog to use the button to convey that their belly hurts or their leg hurts or their ear hurts.
I don’t believe science has ever claimed that animals couldn’t feel things. Although people certainly thought so at one point.
@@KPassionate They most certainly did! They taught that in grade school in the late 60s.
@@BGr8ful4all I’d love to see the source on that.
@@KPassionate Sorry I didn’t keep my science books from grade school.
@@BGr8ful4all just because you were taught something in school doesn't mean it was accredited science. the teacher's own bias affects everything, as well as whoever wrote the textbook. textbooks are not infallible either - there are creationist "textbooks" that teach the earth is 6000 years old.
That said, science is ever evolving, yes. We do know more about animal behaviour now than we did 60 years ago. It can be difficult for people to accept the new "changes" (nothing has actually changed, we just figured out how to better understand it). But a dog suggesting it's having an *existential crisis* because it hit the buttons "no tomorrow" in sequence (this was another of Bunny's recent videos) is somewhat ridiculous. the dog just as easily could have been saying they didn't want to do a thing tomorrow, or that they didn't want to do it now because it could be done tomorrow, or that the dog doesn't know the concept of tomorrow and accidentally stepped on that button.
I do believe a few buttons could be trained and be useful, like "outside" and "treat" and "play" but like she said, we already have communication for those things, so why bother with expensive buttons unless it's just for views/likes on social media?
It definitely would be nice to know when something is hurting them, but how do you train for the word "pain" without causing it?
Talk about confirmation bias and cherry picking - the biologist is selectively choosing exchanges that support her arguement that the dog isn't using buttons intentionally. For example: Bunny hears a cat meowing from upstairs and pushes "I hear cat cat". Those words, in that order. Clearly that is a sentance, and responding to an environmental cue. Right before time to take medication Bunny pushes "medicine" imediately after taking the medicine "bye is medicine. love you". Some of the words (like mad) while they may not mean what she thinks they should, could still be being used as language. Eg "mad" might mean "I don't like this/unsatisfactory/this is not what i want". Interpretation is always key in understanding - we use tone, context and body language to interpret meaning with other humans, so why wouldn't we with dogs? Further, the biologist is evaluating a snippet of an ongoing communication as if it were an experiment to test the dog's understanding, which it isn't.
I completely agree with your breakdown.
Furthermore, I think dogs like Mila or the cat Billie from Billiespeaks are examples of what you're looking for. The first thing that struck me was the drastic change in the cat's attention behavior and body language, focus of attention, in the cat videos. Knowing many cats seem to lack affect hunger, I am very interested in cats seeming to evince this behavior.
While I can't say these other sources are valid, I can say they aren't approaching it with strict scientific rigor, but do seem to be aware of confirmation bias and other common analytical pitfalls, but they are applying the idea in a more rigorous and structured manner, and I think you'll find those more educational about whether this is a complicated form of operant conditioning or if its actually a type of executive function and you can see from the rate of response and the animal's body language that they are selectively interacting with the buttons is a high likelihood as opposed to random and easy attention getting interactions.
Mila's videos include Schatzi, her sister, who acts as a control, not being trained on the buttons.
It requires watching more than one, I'm afraid, but they're short.
I found it fascinating.
Billiespeaks
ua-cam.com/video/aV4zo01_8Bg/v-deo.html
Mila
ua-cam.com/users/shortsr1wLUp-7uOc
This assumes of course, these videos are presented with integrity. I have not verified or validated any of it of course.
Imagine trying to flex your intelligence, while being literally the most close minded and hard headed person I've ever seen. Lol.
Lmao... it's mind blowing.
it's so sad how desperate you people are to believe that your dogs can communicate with you lmao, it speaks to how starved you are of genuine human connection
@@djames1990 If most people are like you, then ʇıɥs, I couldn't be happier about being "starved of human connection" 😂😭
@@RyleeCoyote13 and some of us don't wanna connect with people who can't accept reality and lash out at anyone who challenges your idealistic fantasies lmao. so pathetic
This is LITERALLY the most closed minded and hard headed person you've ever seen? Really? It's just an analysis of what's actually happening, gives good information to back up her points. Good science is based on empirical evidence and looking at things from all angles, emotion needs to be kept out
I want to give this video full consideration, but the title card notes "debunked" and then offers a bunch of questioning hypotheses, while the author asks people in comments for proof. I'm certainly biased towards this communication being a thing, but primarily because I've developed that opinion over a long time of watching and listening to these videos.
There's a few points that I think are wrong just because of a priori assumptions on this video poster's part (the "lack of planning" argument being one -- many clips shown were extremely early on in the dog's training and don't show the more complex chained thoughts happening. The "planning walk" is a pretty common phenomenon and shows to me that OP may have had preformed views and simply wanted to make a video confirming their beliefs for a greater audience.)
One thing for me that is convincing is that I have a fair bit of experience looking at language generation models -- my career field is ML ('AI') research, and there are certain motifs that show up in RL/NLP models that are "random distribution matching" behaviors that work in short term context but not long term. The way you suss this out is in long term consistency, which we see with certain animals.
Even if the owner is the most cherrypicker of cherrypickers, if you have X amount of extremely low probability events you can eventually satisfy a reasonable proof criteria that there is intelligence happening, and that's become more obvious in the later videos. Obvs having a more unbiased observation environment is going to really benefit things, and the clips you sort of cherrypicked (in my also biased opinion, lol. I am extraordinarily biased on this topic, weirdly so over time.) I think show that ambiguity from low/single-word communication.
Okay, that rant over, I think we'll see in the long run how things shake out. There's a lot of goalpost moving that seems to happen in the opinions at large in terms of animal psychology with respect to assumed intelligence, one commenter rightly pointed out that the assumptions were much simpler in like the 90's and I'm sure even earlier. My perspective is that any system that operates on the highly chaotic, highly nonlinear-and-maybe-quantum wetware platform of neurons and neurotransmitters (and more) is going to have some level of sapience, assuming otherwise is a little arbitrary and I think reflects some of our own species' humanistic projections of ourselves onto ourselves.
Extremely long winded which happens if I get frustrated so my apologies for that, but on a slightly lighter tone, I am working on some lightweight open source software for a phoneme keyboard to extend vocab beyond the limited scaling of dog buttons. A few, like Bunny, for example, seem to be limited with words on the buttons ("big upstairs bird" for plane, for example) even if they may know the actual words themselves. So hopefully with a good Raspberry Pi setup, a pressure sensitive mat, and some light software, it'll hopefully just take some training for some of the more advanced dogs to have a free form expression avenue. This also opens an opportunity for further tightening out knowledge of whether or not it's just random combinations as phonemes are far more combinatorial than fully completed word buttons. If there is any interest in this or using this, please let me know and I can p
loop y'all in on it in case there is interest in studying the matter through this lens! :)
Best,
-FB&CO
Here, I think: Wouldn't it be easier if we try to develop a kanguage in a communication mide that is easily accessible to both cat/dog and human instead trying to get your cat/dog using human language? Coco the gorilla is an example for that: She seemed to be quite proficient in using sign language. Dogs and cats seem to be quite proficient in listening to human speech, but their most efficient way to communicate to us is body language. Could we make phonemes and words out of body language to buikd some kind of dog or cat sign language?
@@burkhardstackelberg1203 Koko wasn't actually proficient in sign language, there were a lot of flaws. But Bunny using the buttons is actually based on evidence based techniques of teaching language (such as to nonverbal kids).
Completely agree. Cherry picked clips. Goalpost moving of public assumption. All of that. But I am not sure what you need a phoneme keyboard for thoough? The buttons are simply little several second long voice recorders. If they wanted to re-record one to be the word plane they could. No software or raspberry pi needed.
@@burkhardstackelberg1203 We don't have the necessary scent glands or tails or flexibility (well I don't anyways) to essentially meet them halfway. They don't have the opposable thumbs or vocal chords. So unless you seriously want to do an interpretive dance for the bewilderment and amusement of your pets then these buttons are probably a more realistic option.
@@burkhardstackelberg1203 sign language is man made too, doesn't show any expression, just moving your hands. If my heats me scream her name, she comes, but if scream out something else she won't. Dogs understand human language and body language
She called 'dogs' the "learner" because not only dogs can be taught
Though my pup talks without use of buttons. He boops things he wants with his nose, he has a yip he uses for “Mommy help” or “Your on my toy, move” , he flicks his nose down for “give to me””give to Cuddles” a nose boop and the flick his nose down means “this give this to me” that’s as complex as it gets. Oh wait he once booped my pop so I offered a cap full for him to taste but the fizz got him so he booped his water bowl, I filled it with water that he refused. He then booped to pop and then his bowl and flicked his nose down to say “pop in water bowl” (notice I didn’t add mommy cuddles wants pop in his water bowl? He is a dog not capable of the complex emotional tags and wording but does understand the concept that in a cap the pop bubbles tickle his nose but the same amount in his bowl might not. He thinks the cap is the problem not understanding pop has fizz so no matter which bowl he drinks from, but now he no longer asks for pop. Which still tickles his nose even in his bowl btw) but he communicates because I saw an action he did I responded and so the next time he wanted the same thing he repeated the action I repeated the response, if you observe your dog, heck I talk to mine like I used to my toddlers chatter away but in simple terms and explain what I’m doing and going to do plus I keep to a routine as much as possible. Dogs do better if they know what’s expected of them, what they can expect I find. Cuddles may not know time but if I tell him “no treats now, big sleep, morning walk then treat, you best believe that pup curls up, sleeps, gives me his “pee now” kiss and goes to his favorite treat bag right after. Partly from routine partly from my previous night saying sleep, walk, treat not meaning he remembered the next day but meaning that night he was comforted by me saying our routine would result in a treat again and the next days routine allowed him to know what to do and what he gets when. Am I missing anything or wrong? I want to have the best relationship I can with my boy but most of all I hope to be the best pet parent I can to help him be the happiest, healthiest (mentally not just physically) pupperoo possible and I feel clear communication is key as well as observed body language and vocal tone on part of both pet and pet parent?
You're projecting yourself onto your dog.
You are right that for a wild animal smell is everything. But for a domestic animal that lives with humans, they know our words. Like come , inside, outside,food ,bath etc.
Yes, animals can learn to respond to a variety of human words. I never said otherwise. I work with a walrus who knows over 50 different cues. That is very different than what these talking pet videos claim to show.
You can't say dogs can't communicate through recognized words. My dogs know the difference when I tell them to get a ball, a tug rope or there stuffed animal. They also know the difference between the truck and the car with out me leaving the house. I can tell them to wait by the truck or the car and they know which vehicle I am talking about, while I'm still inside the house. My work boots, tennis shoes and flip flops are all kept in the same place and I cam tell them to get my boots and they will come back with my boots. So if they can know what those words are and there differences what is stopping them from using those recognized words when they hear it?
I definitely never said dogs can’t communicate and certainly didn’t say they can’t understand words. In fact if you watch the video I say the exact opposite. I specifically say a few buttons with word associations could be useful. What I do say is that they cannot string together words to form complex sentences.
@@KPassionate If you study dogs the theory is they don't speak how we do in complete sentences you know what nevermind u are clueless and obviously never owned a dog
They don't need complete sentences any way
Just understanding what their needs are and what their humans desire is
Then the fun begins to make the match
@@KPassionate I don't know how complex sentences you're dubenking, but bunny can for sure string words together to:
- make a compound noun "noisy bird" for plane
- put subject/verb/object in sentence
- use modifiers "big sound" "belly ouch"
- add complements to atomic sentence (where and when action took place)
- string subject, verb, object, place, time in a sentence. In no particular order and no strict syntax whatsoever i agree.
But i think it's because the main goal of bunny owner is communicate, not experiment. Since owner will understand and perform with loose syntax, dog is not reinforced to use strict syntax. If owner insisted talking in strict syntax and only executing dog requests when posed in strict syntax, i'm sure bunny would use strict syntax as well.
@@ideegeniali no need to bother talking with the woman from the video. She isn’t a marine biologist or any kind of scientist. She’s a zoologist who trains dolphins at a knockoff sea world. I am absolutely certain she could decipher what you just said anyways. Classic 95IQ brainier.
I work with dogs, and was having a conversation about Bunny today with a peer. While I’m skeptical, I can say I have a bias, because I’d love for it to be true. I’d love if animals could speak to us with more than just body language. Not because they need to, but if they can have more complex thoughts, Wouldn’t words be helpful in relating them? I am excited to see where this research goes. That being said, there are a few things that make me very curious. First, in her videos without cuts, you can see Bunny being thoughtful of what buttons to press, seemingly to get her point across. Why would she do this, if she’s not actually thinking about which words to choose? Do you think she’s learned some phrases or buttons get more of a response? Also in regards to her paw video, I saw your comments with this, to me, it seemed like she deliberately chose buttons that related to her current situation. Do you believe that this simply needs a concrete study, or is there a way she could more convincingly communicate complex thought? I hope this comes across okay, I’m genuinely curious about your thoughts. Apologizes if you’ve already addressed these questions. I enjoyed hearing your opinion on this.
watch billispeaks and you will know it is true
My cat understands lots of words, like “salir, comer, hambre, siesta, dormir, no, si, etc.” he has no buttons, but he totally understand my words, I would imagine that he would understands the same words coming out of buttons.
So I have the talk buttons. Yes, my dog's first go-to method of communication is body language. She mostly uses them when she wants to express something complicated that she can't with her body language...or if she's bored...or if she's really excited...or if she's being demanding because I'm ignoring her body language.
Soooo you're saying any prompt will lead to you giving it attention. Not necessarily to fulfill a specific request. Right?
The amt of people thinking their magic dog can think when they just replicated Pavlov's experiment is truly wild
No, it's not just a hit a button and get a reward type exchange. Although that does happen of course, it's much more than that. For example, after Moti, my dog, ate her meal I pressed the button HUNGRY and then GOOD and then the button ?. Some context for you: HUNGRY typically applies to anything food related so I was asking her "Was the food I just made good?". Moti's usual response to that question is either YES or GOOD or MORE. This time her response was HELP. When she pressed the HELP button I was very perplexed and confused so I responded by pressing HELP MOTI ?. She did not reply back and my slow brain was just staring at her while she started to scratch herself with her paw, wondering what on earth would she want help with. Then it came to me...duh, maybe she needs help with scratching. I didn't have a button for scratch so I verbally said MOTI DO YOU NEED HELP WITH SCRATCHES and then I pressed the ? button. She stopped scratching herself and walked over to the buttons and pressed YES. So I gave her a bunch of scratches all over her neck where I saw her scratching at. Then I pressed MORE HELP and ?. She walked over and pressed the NO button.
So that whole conversation was just that, a conversation...and not a Pavlov situation. On top of that she ended the conversation with NO in which she gets nothing when she hits that button. She could have hit several other buttons in which she know that she might get something like treat, play, snuggles, etc but she chose to press NO because it applied to the topic and current situation.
Dogs are highly intelligent and understand us much better than we understand them. It is because of our narrow understanding of them that limits our ability to see that. It's our own ignorance and judgement that holds us back from seeing their and other animals sentience and ability to communicate with us.
@@timothykennedy2454
@timothykennedy2454 Here is another example that occurred on Jan 9th. I shared on social media right when it happened. I taught Moti to open and close the door to the patio. She often asks to have it open and after it's open for a while I am always telling her to go close it. She usually listens to me but not this particular time:
"OMGoodness, this fur ball is full of too much sass!
So I just asked Moti to go close the patio door and she pushes it almost closed. It's left open by a crack. She often does this either to keep it loose enough to open and close on her own or to keep a bit of fresh air flowing into the apartment. Still, it's letting the humidity in so I ask her to push it closed more. I end up asking her several times as she is ignoring me and running away to go play with her toy. In a more serious voice I say, "Moti, close the door! Go push!". She drops the toy from her mouth and runs over to the buttons and presses ALL DONE. In a high pitch tone I gasp loudly in response and then repeat "Go. Close. The door!". She stares at me. I try "I'll give you a treat...go close the door", in a sweet excited tone. Treats usually persuade her but she makes a resistant eye roll humph sound and then presses SNUGGLE. I burst out in a laugh. I just tried bribing her with a treat and now she's trying to bribe me or at least distract me from closing the door with a snuggle (I often press MAMA LOVE SNUGGLE when she jumps in my lap so she knows I'm a sucker for the cuddles). I say "Nooooo, no snuggle. Go close the door." She then walks over and presses BAD. 🤯 Y'all my brain is all over the place. I have raised a sassy back-talking stubborn pile of living fur, lol.
And guess who ended up closing the freakin' door...it was not Moti 🙄. I caved. She is her own being after all."
@timothykennedy2454 here is another one that occurred Nov 2023 that I shared on social media:
"So I asked Moti "Hungry" "Good" "?" with her buttons again. (We use "Hungry" to cover the same meaning as food or anything related). She replied by pressing "Hungry" "Love" "Training" "Mamma" "Yes".
Wow, I was surprised that she pressed FIVE buttons and they totally relate. It always takes a little bit of translating since there are limited buttons to express herself with. I am sure that "Hungry Loves" means she loves the breakfast I made for her. And that she wanted more food, specifically the treats that we use when we do "Training" exercises.
Lol, I guess she's a foodie just like her pet parent 😄😄😄"
@timothykennedy2454 Another example. My post from July 2023:
"So my mind is 🤯.
When Moti was about 6 months old I got her first 👉talk buttons👈. I followed the modeling techniques by Christina Hunger, speech pathologist, and the Fitzgerald Key for sentence structure. Being an open minded skeptic, my expectations were very low and limitless at the same time. Now she is a couple of months from turning 2 years old. I've had enough time and experiences to legitimately say that dogs are beyond aware and full of so much thoughts, feelings, desires and depth. More than the average joe realizes. We just need the correct eyes to see it. When given the chance, animals are capable of expressing these on our level.
From now on, I think I will start sharing some of Moti's talk button interactions. She mostly uses them when she wants to express something complicated that she can't with her body language...or if she's bored...or if she's really excited...or if she's being demanding because I'm ignoring her body language.
One of her last big interactions that I recall was when I had a cat friend over. Moti adores cats even though they don't reciprocate the same way. It's like she just wants to give them a big ole doggy hug. Well, she got sooo excited that she kept pressing the 💚 LOVE 💚 button over and over. So many times that it was beyond ridiculous. Definitely more than 20x! Usually if she presses LOVE she will say MAMA LOVE one time and then try to get me to take her outside to play. (Yep, she figured out quick how to use that card, lol) I always questioned that her understanding of the LOVE button was just her mirroring me when I would press LOVE MOTI. But this proved to me that her depth of that word is more than copy and repeat. 💕🐶💕"
I hope you've heard all this by now, but... They say "learner" because people are using buttons with different kinds of animals, not just dogs.
It's NOT always assumed that the dog understands everything they "say" with the buttons. But over time, you realize that some things are definitely not just coincidence. And you KNOW that your dog understands a LOT of words. Dogs know the names of their family members (of all species) because they hear them all the time. Of course some dogs are going to be able to use and interested in using some of those words themselves when given the tools.
You need to watch more than just one of Bunny's videos. She walks around in circles and plans her sentences ALL THE TIME. In fact, the walking around in circles for ages before starting or finishing sentences is a pretty common trait that's been observed among dogs who use the word buttons (not sure about cats and other animals, but dogs, at least, seem to do quite a lot of planning and thinking before they speak). You just picked a video where they're only showing very short clips of her with the buttons, not whole conversations. Look up the videos where she's talking about dreams.
I would bet you anything that in the clip where Bunny said "cat" and "sound" and the cat was upstairs, she could hear the cat making a sound. I would bet that because that's the case in SO MANY of her videos. You can hear the meow -- she says something about the sound.
One thing we have learned from all the dogs in this experiment are that the dogs tend to make up their own syntax. They put together the logical words, but the order is not necessarily the same as you would use. Also, they are very good at putting together words to name a concept that they don't have a word for. Like Bunny using "sleep talk" for "dream".
Teaching dogs to use words to better communicate with us is not teaching them to be humans. It's just improving communication. If my dog can tell me that he has an ouch and then show me where it hurts, that's FANTASTIC, and I no longer have to guess from his body language that he MIGHT be hurting. And our dogs will say "outside" rather than barking or scratching at the door. Way better! And "back rooms" rather than barking or scratching at THAT door or gate. MAJOR improvement!
I could only make it so far before turning this off just due to how condescending and rude this woman is for no good reason. Before she explains anything she is making faces at the button video- as if it is so ridiculous that we are supposed to get why before she explains anything. I don’t know shit about animals, and what Bunny-woman is doing is cool as hell so WHY would people agree with you making faces at her and speaking so patronizingly?
There are respectful ways to disagree with someone, and than there’s this. 2:40 when you laugh before explaining confirmation bias, that is a perfect example of the disrespect I am talking about but there was more before that and I imagine there is more after. That’s around where I stopped watching. Literally, even if the woman teaching her dog about buttons is dead wrong, there is no reason to be this rude. After all, even if she is wrong ,she had undoubtedly devoted an insane amount of time and patience to this animal. All I’m saying is be respectful when attempting to debunk somebodies project they are probably extremely passionate about. Also, I am not some bunny-fanatic. The lady in the vid could have easily convinced me that it wasn’t really communication, because I’m still on the fence about it. I just hate this style of video and this is exactly what you should *not* do.
Thanks for watching!
She completely ignored that Bunny tapped Help twice and she just said “Oh what else makes you happy?” Lmfao
That particular video is definitely sensationalized. If you keep up with all the clips it makes more sense. The dog often uses “help” when it needs assistance, like if a ball gets stuck under the couch.
Yeah there’s a level of confirmation bias, but it’s not her role to stay “skeptical.” Her role is build a relationship, and develop communicative patterns. In that sense, confirmation bias can be beneficial. That’s why the study bunny is a part of, involves third party participants analyzing their behavior. There’s a camera on the letter board at all times, directly fed to UC San Diego for analysis.
Skepticism can actually be a hamper on studies like these. That’s why all previous animal communication studies fail grievously. It just doesn’t work in a lab setting. Overtime, the animal or scientist gets emotionally fatigued, and they hit a plateau. Either that… or the handler ends up getting pressured into jacking off the animal to maintain the study.. like the NASA dolphin communication study back in the 60s. 😬
I understood that bunny wanted help to become happy now.. that's why she said what makes you happy
@@ferial4091 Exactly. That's why her human responded with something like 'what would make you happy right now'. I felt like the girl in this video is so excited to prove her point that she skipped some of what was actually happening and being said.
Y’all are absolutely wild 😂. Thanks for watching
I have a parrot (Rainbow Lorikeet) which knows over 100 words, conjugates it's own sentences, and even uses some limited pronouns while talking. They also appear to form their own novel definitions of words based on what context they could glean from the word. I want an avian intelligence expert to study them actually.
Most of their language revolves around more than a dozen different ways to talk about food (although the word breakfast has two meanings depending on the inflection - with one version apparently being a word for "sex" or masturbation). But they do come out with some very surprising statements at times. Examples of some of the sentences they have conjugated themselves are: "You have to help me get some breakfood"; "I'm going to eat your big food now", or novel questions like: "What's a birthday? Can I have a birthday?" (This latter one happening after talking about my child's upcoming birthday a few years ago - and her hearing the word for about a week).
Their use of pronouns includes: I, me, my, you, your, we, our, we're (yes they use contractions), and appears to always use them appropriately (I can't think of a single time in which a pronoun is used in the wrong context). So mostly first and second person, inclusive and exclusive pronouns. I've tried teaching them to count, but numbers are just a game to them and don't appear to have any context associated with them (they are just fun words with no meaning to the bird).
But they appear to have started using some colours spontaneously. Just the other day, they used green as an adjective appropriately. They described broccoli as "yummy green food", despite never hearing that phrase before. I've also heard them say "I'm green baby bird". The only time she has ever heard the word green associated with her was when I was trying to teach her some basic colours. And I said - green. You're green. The cup is green. Etc. But that specific phrase (green baby bird) has never been said around them. (Green is the only colour I have heard them use spontaneously - and this was after me giving up trying to teach them colours more than a year ago).
TBF, my method of teaching my birds language is to just treat them like a 2yo, and just talk to them and explain things in a simple way. My other birds mostly parrot (but tbf, even human children go through a parroting phase when learning language as well). Only Opal appears to use spoken language deliberately (even coming up with their own definitions of unfamiliar words based on observational context), as well as coming up with their own compound words to describe things (they invented the word breakfood while trying to learn the word breakfast. They still use breakfood sometimes, but usually say breakfast).
My cats have learned like 17 words so far with these buttons, even though only one of my cats uses the buttons to talk. Try it yourself before you debunk it. It's amazing enrichment and really helps with communication!!
Sorry to disagree with you! Thanks for watching.
Yes True. I felt like she is totally saying all this out of her biased. Time will prove that the buttons really work.
Imagine after 10 years we will be laughing at this scientist just because she didn't accept the change in technology. Lile Nokia never accepted the Touch screen and android OS importance and now we laugh at Nokia.
Buttons do actually work, we just need to add smell to them for dogs understandings.
@@waqarahmad-gx1vl someone will be laughing for sure!
@@KPassionate 😂
@@KPassionate maybe Dog or Cat can't never understand sentence.
But they can understand simple word like their name, like sit, shake hand or eat.
I believe this button is possible for communication and to teach the dog.
Not so sure about this. I can tell my dog to go to her bed in a whisper, a yell, a happy tone or angry tone, and she goes to the bed. I can tell her anything in any tone and she knows the word. She also knows the difference between me saying "the bed" ( my bed) and "bear/your bed" ( her bed). She's not just listening to the sound the word "bed" makes , but also the word before it that differentiates which bed I mean. I also had a cat who was an indoor/out door cat. If he wanted out and I had somewhere to go, I'd tell him "ok, go out potty whatever, come back right back I gotta leave" he'd be back in 10 to 15 min every time all the time for 15 years with out fail. Animals understand words... not just tone.
i don't think she said they don't. everyone knows dogs can learn tons of commands like look at sheep herding. I think she more meant that words are only a small piece of what a dog understands. They understand that you mean to go to their bed no matter what tone you use but they probably can also interpret your tone on top of that.
You really shook the hornets' nest with this one! Haha I appreciate you making this. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills when I see these talking dog videos and the comment section is people wanting to rush out and buy the buttons. It's like, I can enjoy a cool magic trick but let's not start praising the illusionist for being a great and powerful wizard of the dark arts
Yeah my comment section is wild 😂
Bunny is far from the only animal that can do this. There are many examples of dogs and cats using these buttons to express desires and questions. And it’s baffling to me that dog’s understanding words and trying to communicate is controversial. My family literally had to speak in code whenever our dog was around so she didn’t think she was going for “walk” or “car ride” or getting a “treat” every time we mentioned the word. She knew tons of other words too. “Bed”, “outside”, “bark”, “leash”, “collar”, etc.And those were all words we didn’t teach her - she picked them up on her own by listening to our conversations. That’s not including commands.
The scientific research in this area is severely lacking or just wrong if they think dogs can’t learn to communicate this way. Check out Mili the talking dog, or Billi the talking cat. There are tons of examples of them going to their board, searching out the words, and pressing them intentionally. Milo using her nose to press them, and clearly walks around the board searching for the right words. Look her up. Words like, eat, potty, cuddle, want, mom, and dad are used a lot. She makes basic sentences like “potty now”, “eat now”, “Milo walk soon”, etc.
Please do more research in future.
And I am far from the only critical voice urging caution when watching these heavily edited talking pet videos. For example, Dr. Mélissa Berthet is a PhD specializing in Primatology, Bioacoustics, Semantics, and Animal linguistics. She wrote this excellent article about Bunny and other talking pets for Neuroscience News which is the leading journal in the scientific fields of cognition and communication. Hope it helps!
neurosciencenews.com/animal-communication-18280/
I am definitely skeptical about the complex button training, but I 100% think basic needs could be helped with button training. My dog has the same body language for different needs, and I would love to know what he's needing. Maybe a bell is better?
Learner is used, I assume, because this used with other pets than dogs. And some folks don't view animals as pets. I myself have a roommate. :) lol
Some people are like pets. They live rent-free, eat your food, leave a mess, when you're not at home, but your live would be less rich without them.
bells are limited to one stimulus association. Its not better. In fact if you do it wrong, a simple association trigger can do a lot more harm than good
@@nickmagrick7702 couldn't you have multiple bells that have different pitches depending on what the dog wants?
@@Yusa_Beach theoretically, whats your point?
@@nickmagrick7702 well I thought that sense they tend to recognize or remember the different pitches of the sound of a word makes, they would be able to communicate with having a set of bells which had different sounds that meant certain words.
I don't think it would really work, but it was a thought I had
Whilst I agree with some of your points, there are a lot of things that just can't be explained or are yet to be explained by science. Talking buttons is a new concept just like how the idea of ships made of metal could float 100 years ago. Many people laughed/snickered at the ridiculousness of it. But here we are now 100 years later.
Jesus, just this computation of a ship and a dogs psychology shows your education and knowledge about how science works.
@@Xajane02 well my point is that the Biologist is stating that there is no 'scientific evidence' to back these claims of the talking buttons. And dog behaviour to her is considered a 'science'. Also ship thing is an analogy
@@Missraeraeruru why wouldn't a dog behavior be a science? Ans she's not saying that for her to believe it, it would have to go through a long scientific research. it's just how there's no proof in this videos that these dogs aren't just randomly pressing buttons.
@@Xajane02 call it whatever you like. And like I just said, some things just can't be explained or are yet to be explained by science. But the way she is smirking at the possibility that dogs can communicate in OTHER ways comes off as narrow-minded to me. There are SO many things in the past that are now proven by science today. You just never know
There are many ways to rationally defend the buttons, this comment isn't one of them
The buttons could be useful if the excess claims were not made. "outside" is an obvious one. I will related a story about my cat to give an example of pets having slighty complex things to say. With my cat, I had trained him that if I said "show me" I would follow him and take care of the thing he took me to. This was good when I was in another room. He would come and get my attention. I would say "show me" and he would lead me to the door, his food dish or water dish. One cold and rainy night, it was the gas fireplace he led me to. I lit it and he promptly laid down in front of it. To me this seemed like he had extended from food, water, and outside to a new thing. I think that if there were maybe as many as 4 buttons in obvious places he could have learned to use them. I know that he recognized several words counting "show me" as a word. He also knew that "kitty" meant a cat in the yard. I used "cat" for the other cat and for him. He would go to the window to look if I said "kitty"
These buttons can be helpfull as long as you don't overdo it.
I teacher my dog: "outside" "petting" "open door" and "thirsty"
I did this by making him press the button and than immediatly went outside with him. As well as filling his water bowl up (I emptied it before the walk, so I catch the moment he is recognizing that the bowl is empty and has interest in it beeing filled) and whenever I noticed him sitting in front of the closed bedroom door, I made him press the button.
You realize that Bunny's owner - whose name is Alexis, by the way - is aware of confirmation bias right? She's been very open about her training process and shows errors as well. In videos up to a year ago she's said that it's hard to eliminate confirmation bias sometimes so she's unsure if Bunny meant to say what he said, so she's clear that she remains skeptical. Today, like many other pets, Bunny can press different combination of words to express something. Of course there are times where the owner is unsure of what Bunny meant, but still, that is just a part of the training process, and the owner makes that clear. Just because there is some error in an experiment doesn't mean the entire experiment should be disregarded.
There is a conflict of interest in the company selling the buttons to do research on this, but the people who buy the buttons aren't under any obligation to sell the product more. They purchase the buttons with their own money, if anything, they'd advocate for cheaper buttons and more companies to start doing these so they'd have more options. There's plenty of videos and information out there about people struggling with training their pets to do this as well, because it's hard, people don't just believe that you'd buy these buttons and your dog can magically know English all of a sudden! In addition, the owner has done plenty of Q&As and been open about how she approached it. Most of the people who train their dogs DO have a 24/7 camera and put up moments, good and bad, from it as well. Plus, she is not a scientist or a linguist like the people who first began the company, she is very open about how she just wants to understand her dog better.
It kind of sounds like you have a confirmation bias yourself, given that their experiment isn't complete and you've already developed your own conclusion. It's okay to criticize a study objectively because obviously these studies aren't being conducted by scientists, but there's still merit in these owners input after having spent years with their dog. Plus, you cherry picked certain compilations and criticized them without looking deeper into them. There are plenty of sources, which have existed BEFORE bunny, by the way, which already go against most of what you say - which is dogs can't use multiple words to express themselves, and that dogs are only doing it because each button means "attention!" - there are multiple examples of dogs and cats who use multiple buttons to make simple sentences. Obviously they won't be Shakespeare level poetry or even grammatically correct, but equipping a pet with exquisite writing skills was never the goal anyway. But they have been able to express pain and go to the vet and discover stomach issues, or a thorn stuck in their paw, that there's a ball under a couch, even communicating via buttons with another dog in their house when no one was around. Also, often the pets will press a button with no expectation for a reward - or even be asked to be left alone - Alexis has made it clear that Bunny is very particular about being touched so shows Bunny saying NO to walks or pets. Billie the cat would press "water" to communicate that she was about to drink water. None of these examples resulted in direct rewards from the owner.
And I'm not sure why you assume that understanding dog behavior and attempting more specific communication is mutually exclusive. The people who invest time and money into this are extremely likely to be people who already have at least a basic understanding of dog behavior. The point of the experiment isn't to replace dog behavior and go "oh my god now a dog can act just like a human!" They want to be able to know more specifically what a dog needs. The trainers are aware that the animals they are training are different then people and use their understanding of certain pet's behaviors to train them, the training is obviously a ton of work and takes a lot of understanding of your pet in the first place, and if anything, they are more dedicated than the average owner in attempting to understand their dog. Not every communication is with buttons either, Bunny has shown a lot of communication with her owner through animal behavior as well. I think it's disrespectful that you disregard this aspect of the owners completely, just painting them as clueless people who are jumping on this fad, and that you also don't give a full picture of this study.
if there is a lot of errors in the exercice, can't we say that there is possibly a lot of random in the results ? I did watch some videos of bunny and 3 times out of 4 the sentence doesn't mean anything.
what happens if the owner says nothing and just communicate with the dog using the same buttons ?
How do you teach your dog to make him understand "Where" "sad" "concern" "was" ?
Anyone who had dogs knows that you can change words in your sentence and the dog will still understand because it's basically the tone and one or two key words that will give sens of what you are saying.
I like how she has responded to *almost* every comment. Other than the ones that actually challenge her crap outlook / opinions, and her gross "I have a few pieces of paper that state I'm smarter than you, so that means anything I say trumps anything you say" attitude. 😂
I try to respond to as many comments as possible. But I do skip over the blatantly rude comments because there is no point. And anything longer than a paragraph or two because I am extremely busy and have lots of more recent content that is occupying my time. Yours are mostly the former lol.
I think that much like Bunny's owner you are being selective in using the clips and examples that best support your point . Also it shouldn't be ignored that both of your primary incentives are not to remain objective. Its creating content. You set out to make a debunking video and chose examples to support that. Bunny's channel has alot of far more compelling clips that are not as easily debunked. And that show unexpected potential value like Bunny alerting her mom that her paw hurt. Upon investigation her owner pulled out a splinter from between her toes. Giving a pet the tools to communicate when they are in pain has too much potential to just dismiss outright. They are onto something with these buttons and luckily they have been on the market long enough that dirt cheap chinese knockoffs are now available making your whole don't waste your money advice inaccurate. You can get a 4 pack for 20ish bucks.
I just picked a random video but yes it is content creation! I’ve talked about the splinter example that everyone loves to quote in other comments. But I do agree that communication is a good thing. I just think learning how your pets communicate is far more valuable than trying to ask them to do the impossible
@@KPassionate Agree with you there. And I have no doubt that a majority of people who buy the buttons will probably have unrealistic expectations. They are just a tool. It still takes a teacher who has that understanding in how your pets communicate to effectively train them to use the tool.
@@KPassionate Doing the impossible is clearly not quite an accurate statement. choosing a random video is maybe lowering the validity of your content. Why would you speak on something whilst weakening your evidence.
It is true, an owner has to be skilled in doing just what you mention is better, understanding natural animal behavior, a well established must, in order to begin associating the animals behavior to them with the words. This is essentially not any different from giving an animal a command, the process is simply reversed. An animal understanding a command is already proof that they can learn language.
Lastly, the syntax of this dogs sentences is limited to the buttons currently provided.
If you are to judge at such a negative angle, it will serve your content to appreciate the evidence of the counter argument. Otherwise your enthusiastic negation is more insulting to the subject matter than illuminating.
@@godesway sorry. You have a misunderstanding of language. You can read more about the studies that have been done on this in my description.
@@KPassionate as a person who studies psychology thank you for putting this video out, trying to explain to people that animals simply don’t understand our language in terms of internal states, like yes they can associate walk with going outside or that car ride means get in the car or sit means sit. That does not mean a dog can say I’m mad at you or I’m unhappy. You don’t have to watch all of these dog button videos to understand the history of trying to teach animals to speak language like koko the gorilla.
Good video. I'd say this button stuff only works when it's simple and the words can be connected to specific actions (such as a treat, walk button). This can be helpful sometimes when you don't know what your dog wants. However, my boyfriend's dog can communicate really well without buttons. As you sais, body language is the key. She's 50% border collie and extremely smart and pretty weird. She loves eye contact and observing you for example. She understand what mirrors are and uses them to spy on people. When she wants to play, she'll bring you a toy and put it onto your knee. When we forget to fill up her water she'll act weird and tries to guide us to the bowl to show us what's wrong. When she want's to go outside, she'll stare at people, have a sad expression or look outside the window or stand at the door. When she needs comfort, she'll just open doors and invite herself in to snuggle. When she wants you to pet her in a certain place, she'll take your hand into her mouth and put it where she wants it to be. When you play with her in the snow and he thinks you're doing a bad job by not kicking enough snow onto her, she'll woof at your feet. No words needed. Oh, and when she wants a treat, she'll go to the treat bags, sniff them and look at them.
This is really interesting and aligns with a lot of the data I've seen recently. Specifically, how important eye contact is for human-canine communication as well as how some dogs will use mirrors as tools. Links to these studies/articles are in my pinned comment if you're interested. Thanks for sharing!
It’s so sad when we constantly underestimate the animals around us. We learn that there are extremely few species who can recognize themselves in mirrors and screens, still the cat filter made dogs and cats clearly show us how they recognize themselves and their owner on the phone screen, and when they sit on the lap and the owner’s head turn into a cat head, they freak out and look ip and check their owner.
The sentences this dog make so much sense, all the words make a full meaning together, and the dog interacts with the surroundings according to the sentences it say.
Yes, the scientific level on the videos is low, but we mostly see the dogs making sense, not the owner making up shit.
Dogs can definitely understand words to a limited extent even without changing your tone. I can say bunch of random words, but the moment I say "outside" or "hungry" my dog still understands.
Yep! That’s what I say in this video. But what they can’t do is form sentence and language
The can absolutely form words. Seen my friends dog do it. Said “stomach hurt”
Her dog was not eating. Ended up going to the vet and she had a blockage from the cob of a corn that she had taken out of the garbage. Tons of more examples. Seems like you just want to rely on old science. Or have something against dogs and don’t want to believe it’s possible.
@@KPassionate eventually they will.
@@KPassionate without any evidence to disprove this assertion you assume its an impossibility. You are failing the scientific method. Speaking of scoentific methods have u considered doing an iq test? That’s a scientific experiment we’d all like to see
make the sound of an O. Good!
Now, make the sound of an E, Very good!
Dont those sound different to you?
Dont you see how its just a different sounds that can be easily symbolized by, oh lets say a ringing of a bell, or a press of a button?
Also, if you do the reverse of what you said and start yelling angerly at your dog but saying nice things, or if you happily start calling them bad things, then the dog wont register the words like the normally would.
My point is, that its not about them learning a language at all. Rather, just behaviors. Effect and cause.
Hey! Coming from a totally unrelated area of science (I work in medicine), I do mostly agree with your arguments. Respectfully, though I lack the expertise to judge on this issue in particular, bias in science generally is unavoidable, including amongst scientists (myself included!). I imagine behavioral sciences and psychology to be particularly tough, as data isn’t always that objectively measurable as other areas of experimental science. What I’m trying to say is that there is currently insufficient data on how pets are using buttons to communicate. You’re merely looking at case studies in this video, and 80% of the time at one dog. We need systematic studies which are currently lacking. Any arguments we make now are interpretive and based on previous observations (this is where all other forms of bias step in too)! Who knows, maybe there’s an inner Shakespeare in our dogs and we just don’t know it yet 😂 time will tell and I’ll stay curious
I think her best point is her last one. That dogs do communicate but buttons are not the best way to get them to tell you want they want or mean. they probably would do much better showing you what they want rather than standing by a button because even that concept of displaying meaning while never changing body language or leaving one spot is probably VERY foreign to dogs who never evolved to be able to understand that concept. Like how she said if bunny wanted to find the cat the most direct communication would be to go look for the cat. not stand and press random buttons. xD
I think for us to believe this is real, an edited video will not work. Someone would have to physically go to the house, do something and then look at the dog’s response and if they are able to communicate what just happened. Only then can we say it’s true. We can’t just believe everything we see. It needs to be properly repeated before we can. So since there is not enough data then we can say lack of data shows it is not true.
@bookbag6432 this is the burden of proof! Yes completely agree.
I think Bunny has at least some understanding of a few of the buttons. There's one where she does express something is in her paw. I think you are right though, especially when it comes to the existential questions that she sometimes asks like "dog what dog is"
I do think that dogs can understand certain signal/word chains. For example, I can tell my dog to…
1) bring me or get for himself… the
2) red/blue ball, yellow/blue rope or that weirdly shaped (😄) toy we named Bobo… from
3) different places and people (whose names he already knows).
I’m not sure if that means that he could express the same with buttons but he does understand the differences.
I think pet owners take it too far when they think that not only do they but also that a dog would even want to express their emotions/thoughts with words. They might use a button to cause a reaction but that’s not them expressing themselves, that’s conditioning (I think). Why would they want to use words when they never try to otherwise? 😄
In regards to causing a reaction: Best example, one dog destroyed a pillow while we were gone. Dogs don’t understand that we can’t know who done it. So when we ask (with our body language, voice, perhaps certain conditioned words): who was it? The "guilty" dog tries to placate us - but because they feel guilty but because they have already learned that it will change our behavior. Sometimes, the other dogs also do, simple because they want to appease because they want to avoid our anger 🥴
This biologist evidently begins with the premise that people trying to communicate with dogs by means of expensive buttons is a silly endeavor because animals cannot communicate other than by the most obvious physical gestures. The entire video, in which she points out what she sees as confirmation bias in the dog handler, is evidence of her own confirmation bias-- analyzing everything as supportive of her preconceived view. After vaguely mocking the dog owner for her good fashion taste (ad hominem attack to assail her credibility) the biologist says she doesn't understand why the dog owner refers to a dog being trained in the use of buttons as a "learner." Clearly, that is to emphasize the fact that the animal is being taught a new discipline, helping the trainer to keep in mind that its understanding is in a state of continual development. Not seeing that, the biologist then goes on to say that by calling an animal a "learner" somehow implies that the term "dog" would be an insult. There is nothing in this or any other video about Bunny that would remotely suggest the dog owner feels "dog" is an insult. One of the words on the board is "dog", which she uses to help Bunny better understand his own reality. She certainly wouldn't put a "dog" button on the board and use it if she thought it was insulting!
The biologist has taken the most ambiguous examples of Bunny's button use to make the word use appear random. Had she watched more videos, she would see Bunny's expressions become much more clearly communicative. The episode called "Talking With Bunny | Ouch, Stranger!" is a great example of such communication, where Bunny informs her owner that she has a thorn in her paw. I have never used button boards with my Border Collies, but they've been able to understand quite sophisticated ideas. If I told our last Border Collie (our smartest dog yet) "Go find little ball in the bathroom!" she would come back with a golf ball if the two balls she found there were a tennis ball and a golf ball -- but if the two balls had been a softball and a tennis ball, she'd return with the tennis ball. In other words, she understood the concept of "big" and "small." All the while, my Border Collies have been training me, too. To get my attention, our dog Vixie will go up to the bookcase in the room where I'm watching TV. If she turns her head to her left, she wants to go out the back door. If she turns it to the right, that means she's asking for a treat (dog biscuit.) If she rests her head on the coffee table, that means she wants some ice cubes. Although she's not using words, Vixie's using "body language" in a way that's much more sophisticated than our biologist here realizes dogs are capable of.
I think it’s odd that you defended the buttons but then went on to describe perfectly how complex your understanding of your dog’s behavior is. Which is exactly what I was saying throughout the video. Buttons are unnecessary and don’t work. Basic understanding of dog behavior and body language does.
Well, what about the dog that kept pressing "stranger" and "paw", and he was thinking about it, no doubt. Come to find out, he had a huge thorn in his paw. And what about the crows that can solve very intense tasks to get a treat out of a box? I'm just saying that we don't really know what animals can and can't know.
We actually know a lot about animal psychology and the way they think. If the dog had touched the buttons "outside" and "help" you would have also thought he wanted help with a thorn stuck in his paw. My point being that any combination of buttons and we humans could have found a way to make it about the thorn stuck in the paw. Confirmation bias. Crows are an entirely different animal and not what I was discussing in the video.
@@suziepeaches321 😂
@@KPassionate We don't understand HUMAN psychology, let alone animal psychology. The "WE" you are talking about, are perhaps the ones you agree with, but not all psychology practitioners believe the same thing. That is Psychology 101. It is not scientific, because there are too many variables. Additionally, one can't even understand something like trauma, unless they have experienced it, it is impossible, and too complicated to qualify across the board. The same traumatic event will always impact the people involved is very different ways, so trying to prove a scientific certainty with psychology, is flawed from the get-go. How many years were we convinced animals didn't feel pain, or equally profane BS. I used to work with Search and Rescue dogs, and some of the tasks they were asked to perform were extremely complicated, and more dogs wash out, then make it through the program, so even saying what dogs do and don't understand, can not be said with any reliability. The common thinking is that dogs can understand around 150 WORDS, so I don't know where you are getting your beliefs from. If I ask my dog "Do you want..." she will perk up and listen carefully, what I say afterwards, will bring about varying reactions, based on what I am saying next, but if the word is in her large vocabulary, she will know exactly what I am talking about. If I say "to the vet", it is not going to be the same as "to have a snack". So if she knows the word for PAW, she knows the word for PAW, if it took her 5 times to FIND the word PAW on a board, it doesn't just mean she is guessing, it could mean, she is trying to find the right button. I just think people are having a hard time with your absolute certainty about something you yourself, can not say with any scientific proof. If you want to debunk something, you have to evidence. Do your own study with a couple dogs that understand a minimum of 40 words, and show us how it is impossible.
@@KPassionate But if the dog had pressed "dad" and "poop", you would not have suspected that she had an issue with her paw. That's the entire point of language as a communicative tool, as you're aware. My interest was piqued in the first minute of the video by your confidence in attempting to discuss this subject, but unfortunately there was almost no relevant substance back it up. Besides, this phenomenon (and in fact this specific animal) has been the subject of research at the Comparitive Cognition Lab at UCSD for almost two years, as you surely must have known when you made this video less than 6 months ago.
Yea I’ve had my dog since birth & shes 10. I don’t need a button thing & human words to know how’s she’s feeling or what she wants. U been a bond with your dog after years of communication. Like when I say “gotta go peepee” she’ll run to the door. If she gotta go pee, she will start to cry, which lets me know. If she sees me getting ready & grabbing my jacket. She knows it’s time to leave & is up waiting. She rides with me a lot & when I open the door I could leave it open & she will stay inside the car. Until I say “let’s go bandit” it’s best to understand their language then to make them understand ours. & if she catches on to certain words I say that mean certain things then more power to her. Dogs are very intelligent, but to think they have human intelligence is just crazy & it’s a disservice to the dog