learning to talk
Justin has always been incredibly vocal and communicative. So when Justin’s mom Sarah came across Christina Hunger’s dog Stella (who started the talking pet movement) and later Bunny the dog, she was fascinated and wondered if cats could also be capable.
Then she found Billi the cat, who was successfully using buttons, and was convinced. She began the process of button-training with Justin in June of 2021. It wasn’t overnight - Justin took 2 months of training to say his first “word”. But the rest was history.
Since then, Justin has learned over 50 words, and even uses sentences. We decided to record the journey to show more people that cats can learn to talk, too!
but how?
Animals learn to use the buttons via their owners modeling the buttons in context. In the same way that pets can learn to ring a bell to go outside, you can teach your pet to press a button by placing it near the entryway and pressing it every time you open the door. The same concept is expanded to words like “play” and “snuggles”, until your pet has a working vocabulary.
Once pets learn that different buttons have different meanings, buttons can be moved to a centralized location. Pets memorize the location of each button on the soundboard the same way that humans can learn to type and text without looking at the keys.
If you’d like to get started, we have training videos to help.
FAQ
My pet is older - can they still learn?
Yes! Justin was 6 when he started learning. There are many cats and dogs that started even as seniors.
Where did you get the buttons?
Justin’s buttons and foam hex-tiles are from FluentPet - you can order them here (affiliate link).
There are no cat or dog-specific buttons - the buttons on their site are ones Justin uses.
Does Justin still meow?
He does! Justin still vocalizes as often as he did before the buttons. Sometimes he even meows while he uses them.
what breed is justin?
I’m not sure - he was adopted from a shelter as a kitten. We haven’t taken a DNA test yet, but we plan to, so stay tuned!
how do you know if he’s just randomly pressing buttons?
It’s all about context. If Justin presses “play”, I ask myself, does he he seem playful? If I offer a toy, does he engage with it? These are the sorts of clues that let me know if Justin intended the button he pressed. Repeat presses tell me a lot, too. The first time Justin pressed “bird food” to describe wanting to eat birds outside our window (yes, really), I thought it was an accident - until he repeated the phrase day after day, even combining it with other words to create sentences that were contextually correct, such as “Justin want bird food”.
What words should I start with?
“Outside” and “play” are popular to start with – but you want to think about words that will be motivating to your pet. What do they ask for already, using body language? Those are the words they’re more likely to use as buttons. The only button that isn’t recommended to start with is food – pets can get a little too fixated on it.
how do you teach emotions or abstract words?
Again, context! For a button like “mad”, I pressed it whenever Justin seemed mad, or whenever I was mad at Justin. You can also model the buttons in the context of words they already know, like “Justin mad now”. I have a video that talks more about this here.
my pet isn’t pressing the buttons :(
It can take awhile! My first advice is to be patient. Justin took 2 months before he pressed his first button. If you’re still struggling, be sure to watch my training video, as well as my paw targeting videos part 1 and part 2. Paw targeting is a training method for teaching pets to physically press the buttons using their paws. It’s important to honor your pet’s existing form of communication while teaching the buttons - NEVER withhold food or other requests from your pet in an attempt to get them to start pressing. Some pets never take to the buttons – and that’s OK! All communication is valid.
I still have questions!
I answer questions as often as I can on my TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube! Follow to learn more about how to teach your pet to talk.
You should also follow Stella, the first talking dog – as well as Bunny and Billi, some of my other favorites - for more examples of talking pets.
For more advice, check out how.theycantalk.org - it’s an amazing resource.