[KristenC]

I really need to start recording Zany and her communication buttons.
She is known to hit "daddy" repeatedly if my husband goes out of the room. She tends to hit "mommy" if she isn't getting her way. She regularly uses "outside" and "water".
She recently started using 2 buttons consecutively, and it has been so cute... "love you, daddy" and " love you, mommy" are our favorites.
Last night, though, things turned sassy. She and Zyan were both being handfuls, so I told them to "knock it off" in an exasperated manner. That little stinker went to her board and pressed "mommy, settle" and then came to me and stared. We use "settle" when the dogs are being complete jackasses.
She told me, I guess!

 

[Sunje]

What is this communication board?! I've never heard of such a thing for dogs!

 

[KristenC]

What is this communication board?! I've never heard of such a thing for dogs!

We use the Fluent Pet system. Here's a picture of her board a little while back, she now has "settle" in another tile attached to the top tile here. "Water" is near their dishes and "outside" in near a door. We'll move those soon and incorporate them to the main board.

 

[eegreen]

That’s so cool, I’ve never seen it. She’s gorgeous by the way.

 

[KristenC]

That’s so cool, I’ve never seen it. She’s gorgeous by the way.

It is really fascinating to watch them learn and work using the buttons. Zyan refuses, but that is fine as he and I are just really in-sync. One look from him and I know the issue.
Zany is very different, and in trying to figure out best what she wants, we tried these. She took to them really quickly at about 5 months old.

And thanks, we think she's gorgeous, too! Will likely have her out in the conformation ring later this summer.

{edited for typos}

 

[Sunje]

We use the Fluent Pet system. Here's a picture of her board a little while back, she now has "settle" in another tile attached to the top tile here. "Water" is near their dishes and "outside" in near a door. We'll move those soon and incorporate them to the main board.
View attachment 155177

Amazing! I want to get one of these! Is it easy enough to teach the dog how to use it?

 

[KristenC]

Amazing! I want to get one of these! Is it easy enough to teach the dog how to use it?

I think it depends on the dog. My older boy doesn't use them at all. I bought them for him a couple years ago, he just wasn't into it.
I pulled them back out when potty training Zany pup, and she took to them right away. You basically program a button for the word you want for whatever you want them to do when it is hit. We started with "cookie". So the cookie button was near our cookie jar. Any time we gave her a cookie, we hit the button first. {note: that button has since been retired since she was hitting it every 10 seconds in hopes of getting fed, haha!}
Once she understood how the cookie button worked, I programmed an "outside" button, which for us indicates the need to bathroom. So any time we thought she had to go, we'd arm ourselves with cookies in our pockets, head to the door, hit "outside", let her out, and then give her lots of treats when she went to the bathroom.

We had just those two buttons for a while. Then she was hitting "outside" but walking down a hall towards the food/water bowls. I finally figured out she was thirsty, so programmed a "water" button. It is really fun stuff, I think!

The most interesting thing is that when Zyan wants something, he'll go and nudge her with his nose and then head to what he wants (if I'm not paying attention) and she'll go hit a button!

 

[ECIN]

That’s so cool, I’ve never seen it. She’s gorgeous by the way.

Elaine - Your 2 would be hitting the buttons that say -- Mommy , Shark ! LOL

 

[eegreen]

Elaine - Your 2 would be hitting the buttons that say -- Mommy , Shark ! LOL

Too funny! Kato would probably ignore it and Tia would try to eat the buttons ha ha.

 

[CChoyce]

I give you a lot of credit for now giving Zany a new “voice” to use! Targa has way too many of her own vocalizations & opinions to encourage more demands!

 

[Arrow-The-GSD]

Arrow would only need one button to say "throw ball" 😆

 

[KristenC]

I give you a lot of credit for now giving Zany a new “voice” to use! Targa has way too many of her own vocalizations & opinions to encourage more demands!

Zany does, too, but this cuts down on a lot of what seemed to be frustration on her part. I am not programming any buttons where she'll REALLY be able to speak her mind, haha!

 

[KristenC]

Arrow would only need one button to say "throw ball" 😆

Would be helpful in getting used to working with buttons!

 

[bentely's_mama]

I'd love to get these but I'm afraid of what Bentley has to say to me. lol. He would be so sassy

 

[KristenC]

I'd love to get these but I'm afraid of what Bentley has to say to me. lol. He would be so sassy

I have seen boards with a lot of not-so-kind things programmed, and it is hilarious what some animals say to their humans. The cats especially!