Comments | mssaskia: Birthday Boy!

mssaskia

Birthday Boy!

Dec 26, 2011 18:32

Wilbur and I were sitting in the bedroom yesterday. I told him that his birthday is coming up in a few days and that he's going to be 13 years old. I showed him on my fingers how many 13 is. No idea if that sank in or not, but I do know he knows a few numbers. I reminded him that last year he got a present for his birthday. He wagged his tail ( Read more... )

wilbur

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syducingfate December 27 2011, 14:10:39 UTC

Our puppy, Bexley, is almost 6 months old now. She's not anywhere near Wilbur's vocabulary levels yet, but she's definitely understanding & responding more every day- which is good, because I'm starting to feel like an idiot by following her around and chronicling her every move: "Is that Bexley's water? Does Bexley like water? Water is nice to drink. Water is wet and cool." You were right though, it sure does seem to be working! And it doesn't hurt that she's so freakishly smart as to be at least one toe over the "too smart" line.

Language sharing: U r doin it rite! mssaskia January 4 2012, 20:57:00 UTC

That's exactly what I did with Wilbur when I was working with him. And still do, but less often since he's gotten good at understanding new words from context. He's also gotten surprisingly good at listening to human conversations and learning new words from that ( ... )

Re: Language sharing: U r doin it rite! syducingfate January 4 2012, 22:31:09 UTC

At some point over the years, I'd asked you how you taught Wilbur to be so smart & chatty, so I got this from you. We talk about everything at this point, she's not always interested- but she's happy to let me know, "Mom, you're boring. Shut up!" I'll have to email you her photoblog!

We miss you, too!

Re: Language sharing: U r doin it rite! mssaskia January 5 2012, 02:44:01 UTC

It occurred to me that I was repeating myself. Which I do a lot. In a redundant, repetitive way.

There've definitely been times I've been rephrasing things for language acquisition purposes and Wilbur's heaved a big sigh, like he's sick to death of me yakking on and on and on. "I get it already! Enough!"

They're just like little kids mssaskia January 4 2012, 20:59:23 UTC

it gets tedious talking only about the things that most interest them, like water bowls and toys and sleepy time, but it definitely pays off. Even our Special Needs Dog, Banzai, understands a lot more than we expected him to. He still depends on Wilbur for communicating more complicated stuff.

ALSO mssaskia January 4 2012, 21:00:45 UTC

dogs can learn to understand sign. not all sign, but simple stuff, to begin with. they can become trilingual. quadlingual, if you end up getting a cat.

Re: ALSO syducingfate January 4 2012, 22:33:18 UTC

She had a personal trainer who alternated using words & hand gestures for commands. And of course, I sign to her when I don't want her Dad to overhear ;)

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