They’re often referred to as ‘man’s best friend’, and now one dog can even speak to its owner - well, kind of.
Christina Hunger, a speech-language therapist based in San Diego, has created a custom soundboard that lets her dog Stella communicate with her.
The soundboard features 22 buttons, which when pressed, play a recording of a different word.
For example, one button says ‘ball’, while another says ‘outside’.
Amazingly, Stella has learned to string different words together to form sentences, by tapping the buttons in order.
For example, in one unbelievable video, Stella taps ‘happy’, then ‘ball’, then ‘want’, then ‘outside’, indicating that she’d like to play in the garden!
Despite using the sound board for just eight weeks, Stella has already learned 29 words.
Speaking to People, Ms Hunger said: “I’m in constant amazement and shock. Every day she says something cooler than she said the day before.
“The way she uses words to communicate and the words she’s combining is really similar to a two-year-old child.”
Unsurprisingly, Stella’s favourite words are ‘walk’ and ‘beach’, according to Ms Hunger.
She added: “I think how important dogs are to their humans. I just imagine how much deeper the bond will be.”
You can follow Stella’s progress on the blog Hunger for Words .
