Dogs communicating with humans using buttons

Perhaps it’s no wonder that initial scepticism is slowly giving way to startled admiration, as new research indicates that dogs really can press the correct button to express their needs.

Professor Federico Rossano has recently completed a study on dogs’ use of communication buttons at the University of San Diego and his findings make for remarkable reading. “My initial research focus was on non-verbal communication in humans, then small children and primates,” he says. A colleague alerted him to Stella, the “talking” Instagram dog, and sparked an interest in researching canine communication. “We now have 10,000 dogs from 47 countries in our study – way more than we anticipated,” says Rossano.

Many owners have reported that the buttons empower their dogs to communicate their needs clearly. “We found that soundboards lead to a decrease in barking, because the dog is less frustrated,” adds Rossano. “We even have dogs using the ‘ouch’ button in combination with body parts, like ‘ear ouch’ or ‘paw ouch’.

“In our study we have a huge range of button use, with the median number of buttons currently nine – but a couple of dozen use over 100 buttons and there’s a handful working with more than 150.”

Like Bunny, these dogs often combine more than two words, at times producing up to four-word combinations. The training method is based on “operant conditioning”, which uses rewards (and in other instances, punishments) to modify behaviour – the owner presses ‘outside’, then opens the door and the dog goes out. If the dog then presses the button, the same thing happens. “Our studies also show that they pay attention to the word being spoken, not just where the button is situated,” says Rossano.

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He now hopes to demonstrate that the dogs are not simply learning these patterns via training, but are in fact able to use the information they are taught to express their own needs independently, by pushing buttons in combination, such as “want treat”.

“If so, that’s similar to how young children learn to produce two-word combinations,” Rossano says.

Some dogs, of course, are more adept than others. “Border Collies are usually considered the smartest, but as herding dogs, they like repetitive tasks and going to fetch,” says Rossano. “Out of the top 10 in our study, seven are mixed breed. Poodles, Terriers and working dogs are good, but what matters is their motivation to communicate with humans and their willingness to spend time doing the training. Individual temperament is probably a better predictor of success than breed.”

Ethical questions

Interestingly, the dogs’ newfound ability to express themselves might raise ethical issues, he admits. “If we can show that dogs communicate more transparently than we thought possible, how would this affect their rights? And what if we train other species to use these buttons?”

It’s certainly true that some dogs possess enormous intelligence, and take to the buttons immediately. London-based Schnauzer, Ovi, seven, is another star of Instagram with more than 13,000 followers. His use of the mat is remarkably adept in the videos his owner, Mika, posts.

“Ovi has always been incredibly expressive and smart,” she says. “I quickly realised that keeping him constructively busy was essential.” Discovering the mat was a game-changer. “I knew Ovi’s intelligence and curiosity would make him a perfect candidate.”

Mika began with four basic buttons: play, scratches, treat and finished, adding them gradually over a few days. “Initially, I would press the button and model the action. If he seemed hesitant to press the buttons, I’d press them to show him the connection. At first, he was suspicious but as soon as I introduced the ‘treat’ button, everything clicked.”

Just over a week after starting training, “he began pressing the buttons independently”.

Mika admits she’s amazed by his progress. “It’s incredible to see him understand that buttons are tools he can use to express himself. He knows each one represents something different, and how to use them to communicate his needs and seemingly his thoughts. His most-used button right now is ‘chew’.”

Their relationship has, she says, been enriched as a result. “It’s been a beautiful change. I used to wish Ovi could understand me better, especially when he was anxious. Now, we have a shared language.”

Not every dog is as willing as Zelda and Ovi to use the buttons, however. Leah Milner, 43, a writer from Brighton, bought four buttons for her collie, Lola, seven. Like Humphries, she says, “I’d watched Bunny the talking sheepdog and been amazed by her apparent ability to communicate.”

Lola hadn’t been taught tricks, but, says Milner, “she seems to have quite a big vocabulary she’s able to understand.” Sadly though, try as she might, “I could never really get her to engage with the buttons.”

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“Although she’s been good at learning commands at agility classes, she’s quite sensitive about her feet and she doesn’t like anyone touching them,” says Milner. “She’s also alert to different textures and I think the shiny, plastick-y feel of the buttons was off-putting for her.”

Joe Nutkins, a dog trainer from Essex, had better luck with her Norwich terriers – Ripley and Merlin. “I started with ‘play’ as it needed to be something I could initiate any time,” she says. The dogs already understood pawing a ball or bell, so “introducing the new button was easy,” Nutkins adds. “When we started any kind of play I’d ask the terriers to paw the button. It only took a few sessions before Merlin chose to press the button of his own accord.”

Once they both understood the object, they moved onto “outside”. This was hit-and-miss, and while it worked, Nutkins adds: “Unfortunately I live in a small house so the mat was often in the way. I moved the ‘outside’ button to the kitchen door, and introduced a button for brushing next to the grooming table which were both successful.”

Some, of course, would argue that dogs typically go straight for what they want without the need for a button.

“Dogs usually know what they want and they will let you know,” says Rossano. Indeed, many dog owners will argue that their dogs can communicate “food”, “walk” and “outside” via body language alone.

Rossano agrees, but adds: “My hope is that the study will at least help us appreciate that dogs are excellent learners, highly motivated to communicate with humans and that they have wants and needs that are often different from ours and that we should address.”

Cue a million dogs, happily pressing “eat” and then “now”.

Telegraph UK

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