(How) Do You Talk To The Animals Around You?

[Coidzor]

I was just sort of wondering how other people do or do not verbally interact with their pets and the animals they encounter as they go about their daily lives.

I say hello to my cats and sometimes tease them a little bit about how they're going to be cooked and eaten if they don't shape up. And sometimes if they're upset/nervous/agitated/whathaveyou I'll say things to try to reassure and calm them down. I generally talk to them more when they're kittens because I think it helps them become socialized to people more to understand that people will talk to them for certain purposes such as getting their attention and such...

I'm a lot more verbal with my dog though it sort of varies whether I'll talk to him a lot or not at all. Mostly because my dad carries on a two sided conversation for himself and the dog, complete with separate, scaredy-cat voice for the dog. Because he sorta does have some kind of anxiety disorder for a dog anyway. Possibly because he was abandoned as a puppy and was rescued with two of his littermates.

Sort of hard to relate in language that doesn't just make it all seem rather silly or unintelligibile now that I come to think about expressing it to others.

Edit: Oh yeah... and I generally talk to animals about an octave higher when I want to appear more friendly towards them. about two octaves higher when I'm babying them.

One of my exes used to give me crap about how me, my dad, and her dad all seemed to talk on the same sort of voice when we played with a dog...

[Strawman]

I talk in full-on baby goo-goo gah-gah talk to my sister's dog. It's disgusting but I can't help myself.

[Ninja Chocobo]

Cats: Baby-talk. Unless said cat is bi-polar like my friend's old one.

Dogs: "**** off, dog."

[Comet]

Not much of a cat person, so I usually go with "the lulz".
Where's yo cheezburger, katzen?

As for dogs...
"Hey, dude. Still awesome, I see. Keep it up!" usually works.

I don't really talk much to animals, seeing as I don't personally own any.

[TRM]

I have a particular slang dialect which I use to talk with my pet bird. The voice is pitched differently and 's' is slurred into 'z'; I call her things like "bro" and mix in Spanish, ridiculous accents, and occasionally Chinese; there is a large amount of profanity because she is a terribly frustrating pet.

I also talk to squirrels, telling them to get the **** out of the road before I run them over; very rarely I will give them helpful advice such as "Run before that truck makes you as flat as a ****ing pancake."

[Tiger Duck]

I greet random animals I encounter. It amuses me greatly.

[Mauve Shirt]

I talk to my dog in either a high pitched oh-you're-so-cute voice, or I imitate what I'm sure his voice sounds like, a low stupid voice.
I just talk normally or whistle at my parrot. I imitate his voice as high and nasally and punctuated by squeaks.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Depends on the animal. For one, I was practically raised on a farm, and everything got treated differently. Mostly, animals and I work with body language, and actually few treat me like a human, but just another animal in their midst. Dogs and cats in fact tend to see me as another dog or cat. Kind of disconcerting at times.

With dogs I tend to be annoying and rowdy, which they enjoy. With cats, I treat'em like slinky, bad tempered gals... which mine is.

Then there are chickens (of which I've had alot for pets, really, there are pedigree chickens). Kind of treat them mockingly.

[Telonius]

To a dog: "Hey puppy."

To a cat: "Tsch Tsch!" (closest I can come to replicating that "Come here, kitty" noise in print)

Horses, I basically say hi to them and go about my business.

Haven't figured out how to talk to llamas or alpacas yet. They look pretty smart, which makes it a little more difficult, and I can never tell if they're staring at me because, "Hey, what's that," "Stay away or I'll bite," or "Mmm, looks tasty."

[thubby]

much the same way I'd talk to a toddler.

[Dragonrider]

@Thubby: I talk to a toddler more or less like I talk to any other human. :smalltongue: That's probably why when my youngest brother was two and you asked him how he was, he would reply lispily, "I'm excellent!" :smallbiggrin:


I go into stream-of-consciousness mode when I talk to cats. When I was eight or nine I would tell them EVERYTHING because my family had just moved and I had no friends, but that's not really necessary anymore. :smallamused:

[The Demented One]

I tend to talk to dogs in "oh-good-doggy" mode. Not quite babytalk, but close enough. Cats, on the other hand, I talk to like they're rational, reasonable people. They don't seem to appreciate it. :smallwink:

[Mando Knight]

One cat I talk to almost like we're having a normal conversation. Except that she mews her side, so my replies are usually based off of her body language. The other cat is a lot more skittish, so she tends to not try to get my attention.

[WalkingTarget]

I think this applies for a lot of people.
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/cat_proximity.png

As for me personally, I don't really have conversations with animals. Our dogs were pretty much always outside pets, so there's little socialization with them for extended periods of time like you'd get with household pets. I guess I do usually great them verbally when I go back to my parents' house though if they run up to my car.

I probably talk to the cats more, but only just. Mostly I'll pet/play with them if they come over to me/are lounging in obtrusive places, but don't baby talk them or anything.

I suppose I talk to a friend's corgi more than to my family's pets. Maybe that's it, dogs try to be more social than cats, but if they stay outside then there's always that buffer. Indoor dogs are hard to ignore.

[Jalor]

I talk to a toddler more or less like I talk to any other human. :smalltongue:

I do that too, probably because my parents did the same. I do to both babies and animals, actually.. I actually get stranger looks from people for going "Salutations, cat. How was your day?" than "Kittykittykittykitty!".

[CDR_Doom]

I always just talk normally to both cats and dogs, except when I'm feeding my brother's dog. Then I put on my Xhibit voice and say "Yo dawg, I herd u liek kibblez!":smalltongue:

[Perenelle]

I also tend to talk an octave higher than I normally do when talking to my pets. If they're annoying me or do something stupid (which happens often :smalltongue:) I tend to talk lower. I guess It depends.

[Athaniar]

Although I value animals nearly as highly as I do humans (and sometimes even higher), I can't help but to gibber nonsense to my adorable Birman overlord pet rather often.

[Inhuman Bot]

I talk in full-on baby goo-goo gah-gah talk to my sister's dog. It's disgusting but I can't help myself.

That's how I talk to my dog.

[Castaras]

I... talk to animals normally? :smallconfused: I'd tell my cat when she was sitting on my laptop "Oi, you, get off." She'd look at me, and it'd be "Yes, you." Of course, she wouldn't.

Spiders I greet friendlily and ask them how their day has been. It scares people at school. :smallbiggrin: "Oh dear, mister, don't think people like you here, come on. Oooo yes, you're an impressive beastie aren't you. Come on, let's go find a better place for you to sit."

[Krankheit]

I talk to my Shih-tzu like I do to most other people, and either I'm crazy or he understands enough to be able to respond decently with body language.

[Athaniar]

There's no denying animals are smart enough to understand humans.

So why do I still talk gibberish to them?

[13_CBS]

Interestingly, though my toy poodle was born and purchased in the United States, my mom trained it in Korean (my mom can speak comfortably in only Korean--English...is a bit difficult for her.)

[kamuishirou]

I talk to most animals like I do my friends.

Having a conversation is something I've been doing a lot with my girlfriend's cats. I'm watching them while she's deployed, so I talk to them on a daily bases. I'll miss them dearly when I head out <sighs>.

edit:


Spiders I greet friendlily and ask them how their day has been. It scares people at school. :smallbiggrin: "Oh dear, mister, don't think people like you here, come on. Oooo yes, you're an impressive beastie aren't you. Come on, let's go find a better place for you to sit."

I always help spiders out. Especially when they like to get stuck in my bathtub, or in places that they shouldn't be. I tend to get out some paper and set them free outside. They take care of all the bad bags :).

[orchitect]

There is a lot of work going on in my house right now and I've been talking to my dog. Its not babby talk, but its not "normal". For example I call her wapplesauce.

I talk to my cats a lot too, but its usually just "no," or "that's the other cat's tuna!" We pet and scratcth them all the time though, so its not like they're deprived of attention.

[Trog]

To cats I usually talk in a semi-baby talk tone to them but not goo-goo ga-ga sort of talk. "Who missed me? Who did? Who's a good kitty?"

If they are being irritating I think I hold conversations. "Why are you bugging me?" "Meow!" "I'll get you food in a minute, sheesh."

And finally if other people are around and it's more of a social thing I tend to narrate what I believe to be the cat's thoughts at that time. "Why are all these people sitting on my comfy spots? Remove them at once. Don't you touch me. Did I say you could touch me? Just... Don't. And get out of my spot, I was lying there yesterday."

[Athaniar]

And finally if other people are around and it's more of a social thing I tend to narrate what I believe to be the cat's thoughts at that time.
Same here. Sometimes it's pretty obvious what my cat means. Like when he's trying to scratch through the door with his claws, meows constantly, and stares at me creepily.

[Coidzor]

What's really mystifying is when a cat meows and meows for your attention and then leads you all throughout the house, down the stairs, and then back up the stairs to where he was meowing for you.

And is still meowing the entire time. @_@

[Jalor]

What's really mystifying is when a cat meows and meows for your attention and then leads you all throughout the house, down the stairs, and then back up the stairs to where he was meowing for you.

And is still meowing the entire time. @_@
They're toying with you. They have nothing better to do, but they know you'd rather not follow them around all day. Cats are the Xanatos of the animal kingdom.

[Dewey]

When I talk to my cats ( or to cats in general) I use baby talk, but I also tend to narrate both side of the conversation, it's difficult to explain...

edit, I didn't read carefully enough, and what Trog described is eerily familiar to how I talk to my cats...

[orchitect]

All of these cat stories remind of a bumper sticker I saw once. It said, "Cats are kids you don't have to put through college." I think its a very accurate statement.

[Crimmy]

Well, I most of the time insult my cat, but that's because he is reaaaaally stupid.

I mean, what kind of cat, when seeing a big thing about to attack, falls down to his side and shows the enemy his belly?

And what kind of cat asks to get out when it's pouring rain, and I mean POURING. ?

[orchitect]

Its a defensive reaction. The cats is being submissive and saying, please don't kill me.

The rain thing is odd though. Are you sure its a cat? :smallwink:

[Coidzor]

Some cats do really like the water... But, yeah, is it showing the belly to you or to something else? Because, y'know, if it trusts you, that's a good thing....

[Mando Knight]

Its a defensive reaction. The cats is being submissive and saying, please don't kill me.

It also sometimes seems to mean "I've got all my claws up. Touch me and die."