Speech is something that is uniquely human…or is it? Many researchers have looked into the phenomenon of speech with decades of study under their belts. Speech is understood as one of the defining pieces that allowed humans to become the earth’s most dominant species in history.
Babies learn to speak around the 12-18 month mark.
Designed like a sponge, babies are always absorbing the world around them. At 9 months, many babies can understand a few words that humans are saying! For many, the word “no” and their names are commonly understood. WebMD says:
Before babies learn to talk in a real language — English, say, or Spanish — they babble and coo, playing with sound. That’s baby talk, and baby talk sounds similar the world over.
What about dogs?
Dogs don’t have the ability to speak as humans do, but they can understand verbal commands! They have their own language that is mostly communicated through body language, barks, and other small things. Is there any middle ground between a baby’s ability to talk and a dog’s ability to communicate?
Dogs are social creatures that live together, and so they need a dog language in order to get along. How dogs communicate with one another is based on a system of common signals. Obviously, dogs can’t talk, so their “language” is comprised of other signals—primarily body language, such as movement and positioning of the ears and tail, as well as how a dog positions himself near other dogs.
One video captures the incredible moment a dog beats a baby to its first words!
Many parents know the journey of getting your baby to talk. Repeating words and hoping they mimic you is a part of getting them to learn. One of the funniest things is parents who try to get the baby to say who they are first! Dads always want to the baby to say “dada” and moms want their baby to say “mama.” We all know who usually wins that battle, though!
In the video, a family is trying to get their baby to say “mama.”
Food is one of the best tools in the arsenal for training dogs AND babies! Using it to coax them into your will is one of the oldest tricks in the book. In the video, we can see that a couple is sitting with their Australian Shepherd and their little boy. They are trying to teach the boy to talk!
Using the food, the couple repeats the word “mama” over and over again, hoping the boy will copy her!
I know that I will repeat almost anything for some food! Using that technique, the parents try to get their baby to talk for the very first time. The only issue, however, is that the dog wants the food more than the baby does.
The dog fully understands what’s happening and wants in on the action!
The dog seems to be thinking, “Hey! I can say that if you give me the food!” As the food inches closer, the dog desperately wants it. Hoping to get a chance at it, he starts repeating the word back to his owners.
The dog starts saying “mama” in order to get the food!
This is one smart dog! It seems like the dog beat the human on the journey to say their first words. Give it a few months and the baby will catch up, I’m sure.
Check out the video below.
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