How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World's First Talking Dog
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- Create Date：2021-08-13 08:51:18
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Christina Hunger
- ISBN：1529053870
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Summary
An incredible， revolutionary true story and surprisingly simple guide to teaching your dog to talk from speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger， who has taught her dog， Stella， to communicate using simple paw-sized buttons associated with different words。
When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy， Stella， it didn’t take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet。 During the day， she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development and used Augmentative and Alternative Communication （AAC） devices to help them communicate。 At night， she wondered: If dogs can understand words we say to them， shouldn't they be able to say words to us？ Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans？
Christina decided to put her theory to the test with Stella and started using a paw-sized button programmed with her voice to say the word "outside" when clicked， whenever she took Stella out of the house。 A few years later， Stella now has a bank of more than thirty word buttons， and uses them daily either individually or together to create near-complete sentences。
How Stella Learned to Talk is part memoir and part how-to guide。 It chronicles the journey Christina and Stella have taken together， from the day they met， to the day Stella "spoke" her first word， and the other breakthroughs they've had since。 It also reveals the techniques Christina used to teach Stella， broken down into simple stages and actionable steps any dog owner can use to start communicating with their pets。
Filled with conversations that Stella and Christina have had， as well as the attention to developmental detail that only a speech-language pathologist could know， How Stella Learned to Talk will be the indispensable dog book for the new decade。
When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy， Stella， it didn’t take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet。 During the day， she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development and used Augmentative and Alternative Communication （AAC） devices to help them communicate。 At night， she wondered: If dogs can understand words we say to them， shouldn't they be able to say words to us？ Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans？
Christina decided to put her theory to the test with Stella and started using a paw-sized button programmed with her voice to say the word "outside" when clicked， whenever she took Stella out of the house。 A few years later， Stella now has a bank of more than thirty word buttons， and uses them daily either individually or together to create near-complete sentences。
How Stella Learned to Talk is part memoir and part how-to guide。 It chronicles the journey Christina and Stella have taken together， from the day they met， to the day Stella "spoke" her first word， and the other breakthroughs they've had since。 It also reveals the techniques Christina used to teach Stella， broken down into simple stages and actionable steps any dog owner can use to start communicating with their pets。
Filled with conversations that Stella and Christina have had， as well as the attention to developmental detail that only a speech-language pathologist could know， How Stella Learned to Talk will be the indispensable dog book for the new decade。
Reviews
Tiffany Breyne
，
Such a fascinating book！ Recommend for dog lovers of course， but also for fans of narrative nonfiction or who love learning about communication and relationships with pets and animals！
Dew Rotor
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Very Interesting！A great walk through of Stella’s communication and Ms。 Hunger’s breakthrough in human animal communications。 My mom and I have always been fascinated by animal communication; Koko ‘s signing， Prairie Dog language etc。 But Ms。 Hunger layed the groundwork for everyone to be able to speak to their own animals。
Sineala
，
You've probably seen the videos of the woman who taught her dog to talk by pressing buttons that correspond to particular words her dog would like to communicate。 This is her book about how she did that。Unsurprisingly， she is by profession a SLP; I am not， and I have only had a limited amount of training in acquisition and elicitation as part of my linguistics education， but this all seems pretty sound and linguistically well-motivated to me。 The writing style here is a cross between a "yay dogs You've probably seen the videos of the woman who taught her dog to talk by pressing buttons that correspond to particular words her dog would like to communicate。 This is her book about how she did that。Unsurprisingly， she is by profession a SLP; I am not， and I have only had a limited amount of training in acquisition and elicitation as part of my linguistics education， but this all seems pretty sound and linguistically well-motivated to me。 The writing style here is a cross between a "yay dogs！" sort of memoir and a bunch of tips for teaching your own dog how to use communications devices。 It's pitched at people who have zero formal experience with any kind of language acquisition and I think it does a very good job being clear and cogent， such that you could run out right now and get some buttons and have a shot at teaching your dog to talk。 I mean， I'm not going to， but I bet you could if you wanted to。Anyway， if you care about dogs or communication， you'll probably enjoy this。 。。。more
Noelle
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This is a very， very good book。 The story of how Christina Hunger used her SLP skills to teach Stella to communicate using an assistive device is charming and inspiring。 It's unfortunate that Hunger never thought to check in with an animal behavior expert， though。 In fact， in the last chapter， she seems to go out of her way to poo-poo people with expertise that differs from hers--in the same way that she throws her own colleagues under the bus in the early chapters because they don't use the sam This is a very， very good book。 The story of how Christina Hunger used her SLP skills to teach Stella to communicate using an assistive device is charming and inspiring。 It's unfortunate that Hunger never thought to check in with an animal behavior expert， though。 In fact， in the last chapter， she seems to go out of her way to poo-poo people with expertise that differs from hers--in the same way that she throws her own colleagues under the bus in the early chapters because they don't use the same techniques she wants to use。 Hunger seems surprised that dogs have skills and intelligence similar to a human toddler， but this is something behaviorists， and even lay people who pay a moderate amount of attention， have known for decades。 （It's me！ I'm lay people！） Congratulations to Hunger for having the idea to incorporate an assistive device into Stella's communication skills。 That is a unique perspective that only an SLP would be likely to incorporate。 But the idea that Hunger has "discovered" what dogs are capable of is wrong and is probably pretty insulting to people who've spent their entire careers learning about animal behavior。 。。。more
Jena
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I follow her on Insta and Christina is unbelievably talented for a new SLP and she describes in depth the rational for how to use the buttons， modeling and teaching strategies and her dog's uncanny ability to communicate using 3+ word phrases！ I have my dogs also using buttons which is super cool！ I follow her on Insta and Christina is unbelievably talented for a new SLP and she describes in depth the rational for how to use the buttons， modeling and teaching strategies and her dog's uncanny ability to communicate using 3+ word phrases！ I have my dogs also using buttons which is super cool！ 。。。more
Audrey
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This book has neat ideas and concepts and the speech therapy is described well。 But this book has major issues。1。 The author is an arrogant attention whore。 She actually has a whole chapter about press on her and Stella。 Her tone is incredibly arrogant and she annoyed me throughout the whole book。2。 The last two chapters were complete waste of pages。3。 The book was too long。 It should have stayed a blog。 It got incredibly repetitive。 A good editor would have cut about half of it。4。 She used rese This book has neat ideas and concepts and the speech therapy is described well。 But this book has major issues。1。 The author is an arrogant attention whore。 She actually has a whole chapter about press on her and Stella。 Her tone is incredibly arrogant and she annoyed me throughout the whole book。2。 The last two chapters were complete waste of pages。3。 The book was too long。 It should have stayed a blog。 It got incredibly repetitive。 A good editor would have cut about half of it。4。 She used research; yay！ But it is so cherry picked that it provides no value。5。 I don't like that she did not consider or at least talk about traditional dog training。 Self-training your dog is fine， but the scope can really open up if the combination were considered。 6。 She claims she did all this research and is the first to really communicate with her dog in this way。 This is simply not true and ties right back to the first point with her arrogance。In short， don't bother reading。 You can watch videos and read blogs quicker for the same value and save yourself from the arrogant tone。 。。。more
Phyllis
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I love dogs and language acquisition， so this book really appealed to me。 The author explains everything very clearly and serves as a good resource for dog lovers who want to try this approach。 Stella is a lucky lady！
Natalie
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First book I have read in awhile where I actually chuckled out loud。 I found this interesting。
Eleanor
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So sweet。 Loved the stories about Stella and am totally pro-talking dogs。 You better believe that all my future dogs will learn how to talk with communication devices！
Margaret
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Great intro to Stella's learningVery interesting to someone who is interested in language learning and how we can better connect with animals in our care。 Highly recommended。 Great intro to Stella's learningVery interesting to someone who is interested in language learning and how we can better connect with animals in our care。 Highly recommended。 。。。more
J。C。
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If someone had just told me about this book， I probably would have been skeptical。 Sure， dogs can understand words， but learning to speak？ Not only did I LOVE this book， I am totally taken with the idea of teaching our dogs to communicate with words！ The author is an incredible voice for the field of speech pathology。 Her understanding of language acquisition and her observational skills give her an innovative perspective into the world of dog training。 I will definitely be giving this book as a If someone had just told me about this book， I probably would have been skeptical。 Sure， dogs can understand words， but learning to speak？ Not only did I LOVE this book， I am totally taken with the idea of teaching our dogs to communicate with words！ The author is an incredible voice for the field of speech pathology。 Her understanding of language acquisition and her observational skills give her an innovative perspective into the world of dog training。 I will definitely be giving this book as a gift to my dog training friends！ 。。。more
Kathy
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I loved this story from start to finish！ So extremely interesting。
Diane McKenzie
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Excellent refresher for someone retired from the field of Speech Language Pathology and familiar with AAC as well as having a dog。 I have started a list of my furry ones expressive， receptive， and pragmatic language skills and I am intrigued by the thought of a recorded buzzer system for my furry one to have a voice。 Well written， step by step directions， and a delight from beginning to end。 I HUNGER for a follow up novel！
Shannon Rochester
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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review。 I chose this book because of the dog on the cover and the title of the book。 It seemed like it could be a good pairing。。。I didn't read anything about the book， however， so imagine my surprise when Stella really DID learn how to talk。 Christina Hunger was a language pathologist who worked with kids who could not talk but learned how to communicate anyway。。。one day she got the idea to give her puppy butt Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my digital copy in exchange for an honest review。 I chose this book because of the dog on the cover and the title of the book。 It seemed like it could be a good pairing。。。I didn't read anything about the book， however， so imagine my surprise when Stella really DID learn how to talk。 Christina Hunger was a language pathologist who worked with kids who could not talk but learned how to communicate anyway。。。one day she got the idea to give her puppy buttons she could push and just a few words to see if Stella could learn them。 It didn't take long before she was telling her pawrents that she wanted to go outside or when she didn't have any water。。。so they kept adding words and Stella kept learning them until she was using 3 or 4 at a time。 I thought the story was amazing and it is actually true which makes it more so。。。now I wonder if my dog could do it and what she would say。 Would we be getting up in the middle of the night to HUNGRY or TREAT？ 。。。more
Elizabeth
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Full disclosure: the author’s uncle is a good friend of mine， and he gave me the book for my birthday。 https://www。goodreads。com/photo/user/。。。This is a quick， engaging， and informative read。 Christina is passionate about helping children with developmental delays in language skills be able to communicate， to have their voices heard。 Her curiosity， passion， and observational skills led her to notice characteristics in her new puppy Stella that made her wonder if she could apply similar technique Full disclosure: the author’s uncle is a good friend of mine， and he gave me the book for my birthday。 https://www。goodreads。com/photo/user/。。。This is a quick， engaging， and informative read。 Christina is passionate about helping children with developmental delays in language skills be able to communicate， to have their voices heard。 Her curiosity， passion， and observational skills led her to notice characteristics in her new puppy Stella that made her wonder if she could apply similar techniques to help Stella communicate。 The book describes this journey in a compelling and inspiring way。 The reader learns much about human communication as well， since Christina clearly yet simply describes the theory and practices therapists use with children and how she adapted them to Stella。 I haven’t watched any of the videos she has posted but I’ll be sure to track them down。 After all， I now feel as though I know Stella！ 。。。more
Carol Farrington
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Ms。 Hunger has done an exceptional job explaining the steps of children's language learning and how she observed the same traits in Stella。 I also am an SLP who works in a home-based 0-3 program。 I have said， to my husband， at times that our dogs communicates more effectively than some of the kids I was working with at the time。 I however have minimal experience with AAC as it did not really exist when I went to school， yes I am old。 From this point Christina jumped to facilitating Stella's verb Ms。 Hunger has done an exceptional job explaining the steps of children's language learning and how she observed the same traits in Stella。 I also am an SLP who works in a home-based 0-3 program。 I have said， to my husband， at times that our dogs communicates more effectively than some of the kids I was working with at the time。 I however have minimal experience with AAC as it did not really exist when I went to school， yes I am old。 From this point Christina jumped to facilitating Stella's verbal communication in the same way as toddlers learn language。 I have 4 dogs， 2 of whom are deaf， and can't wait to try this！ I am going to add pictures to the buttons as my deaf dogs will not be able to hear the words。 I am going to start with things they love that I sign to them all the time and hope they can learn to associate the picture with the word。 。。。more
Heather
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I've been following Hunger's insta about her dog， Stella， who can press buttons to say words for a while; I am obsessed with it & it is incredible。 So obviously I was all in on her book。 It is a very earnest explanation of her methods teaching her dog to use the buttons， mixing in a lot of information about speech therapy （she is a speech therapist for young children） and developmental speech milestones in humans （from which she extrapolated to teach her dog）。 She definitely has the enthusiasm o I've been following Hunger's insta about her dog， Stella， who can press buttons to say words for a while; I am obsessed with it & it is incredible。 So obviously I was all in on her book。 It is a very earnest explanation of her methods teaching her dog to use the buttons， mixing in a lot of information about speech therapy （she is a speech therapist for young children） and developmental speech milestones in humans （from which she extrapolated to teach her dog）。 She definitely has the enthusiasm of a scientist for a scientific discovery， and it is super duper cool that she was able to teach her dog to use the soundboard。 It is definitely going to expand our understanding of what animals （dogs） know/think （ex: her dog comments on things that have happened in the recent past -- like if one of them leaves， she will often go to the board and say their name and bye， or else they come back from the park and the dog will punch they keys to say she had just been doing。 When most conventional knowledge is that dogs don't really have a memory， this seems to blow that up。And it is great how she lays out how to do it for you to do it on your own， and when I don't have very little kids in the house and have more time to devote to dogs again， I will probably try to do it。 In the meantime， I was definitely way more into the stories of what the dog was saying than the scientific expalanations of language development， althoug I appreciate why she wanted that info in there and how it is certainly very significant。 。。。more
Christopher Owens
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Subtitle: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking DogA month or two ago， I saw a story on CBS News Sunday Morning about a speech therapist who used technology designed for children with slow language development to teach her dog to talk。 When I saw there was a book about it， I decided I had to read it。The story is fascinating， because it shows that dogs （as probably lots of other animals as well） have thoughts that go far beyond their ability to express through actions and body lan Subtitle: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking DogA month or two ago， I saw a story on CBS News Sunday Morning about a speech therapist who used technology designed for children with slow language development to teach her dog to talk。 When I saw there was a book about it， I decided I had to read it。The story is fascinating， because it shows that dogs （as probably lots of other animals as well） have thoughts that go far beyond their ability to express through actions and body language。 I have to admit to wondering if I could teach my cat to speak like Stella does， but in many ways it seems pointless。 Trixie doesn’t have to ask to go outside to use the restroom – she just goes to her litter box。 When her food bowl is empty， she stares at it until we fill it back up again。Again， at the start of the book I thought it would be super cool to teach pets to talk， but by the end I was wondering if it was such a good idea after all。 It seemed that Stella became more and more demanding as she accessed a bigger vocabulary， and sometimes expressed sadness or anger。 While most people love their pets， I don’t know if they would be open to the negative potential of increasing communication with their pets。I gave How Stella Learned to Talk five stars on Goodreads。 It was truly enlightening to see Stella abilities grow， and to understand the reasons why thanks to author Hunger’s explanations。 。。。more
Ash Andrews
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After watching a few videos of Stella using her AAC device， I had to know more。 I bought the audiobook and listened to all 18 chapters in one day， and all I have to stay is "Wow。" This book is masterfully written and guides readers through the author's first hand experiences adapting what she knows about language acquisition in children through her work as a speech pathologist to help her dog Stella engage in two-way communication。 As I read about Stella's growth， I found myself emotional when S After watching a few videos of Stella using her AAC device， I had to know more。 I bought the audiobook and listened to all 18 chapters in one day， and all I have to stay is "Wow。" This book is masterfully written and guides readers through the author's first hand experiences adapting what she knows about language acquisition in children through her work as a speech pathologist to help her dog Stella engage in two-way communication。 As I read about Stella's growth， I found myself emotional when Stella said how she felt and why; elated when she did something that showed her spunk; and encouraged that trialing this myself with my own dog could actually work。 If you've ever struggled to understand what your dog wants or needs， I highly recommend you add this to your TBR list！ 。。。more
Lisa
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A delightful book。 I don't know if the results Christina achieved are reproducible in other dogs but it doesn't matter。 For those of us who love dogs it confirms our belief that our dogs understand us and want to be out friends。 Christina's enthusiasm and just plain "niceness" come through。 I suspect she's a wonderful speech therapist。 I'll continue under the happy delusion that if I'm just a bit more diligent or had adopted my dog when she was younger， she would be talking with me too。 A delightful book。 I don't know if the results Christina achieved are reproducible in other dogs but it doesn't matter。 For those of us who love dogs it confirms our belief that our dogs understand us and want to be out friends。 Christina's enthusiasm and just plain "niceness" come through。 I suspect she's a wonderful speech therapist。 I'll continue under the happy delusion that if I'm just a bit more diligent or had adopted my dog when she was younger， she would be talking with me too。 。。。more
Mindy
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I really enjoyed this book and it makes me want to teach my dogs！ It is a great beginner's look into the field of speech therapy and how communication devices are used。 It gives practical tips and the story of how it all happened is entertaining。 I love how sassy Stella can be！ Highly recommend！ I really enjoyed this book and it makes me want to teach my dogs！ It is a great beginner's look into the field of speech therapy and how communication devices are used。 It gives practical tips and the story of how it all happened is entertaining。 I love how sassy Stella can be！ Highly recommend！ 。。。more
Jocelyn Brown
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Absolutely loved this！ I've followed Christina for years， but seeing her scientific approach to teaching Stella just made me admire her more。 This book does a great job of telling their story and gives tips if you're interested in doing this yourself （which I'll be doing as soon as I get a dog！！） Absolutely loved this！ I've followed Christina for years， but seeing her scientific approach to teaching Stella just made me admire her more。 This book does a great job of telling their story and gives tips if you're interested in doing this yourself （which I'll be doing as soon as I get a dog！！） 。。。more
Jasper
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stella’s journey is so inspirational and wonderful。 i cant wait to see what this research means for the future of interspecies communication
Jen Medos
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Interesting read on how a speech pathologist creates an AAC device for her dog and shows her how to use it。 Definitely worth a read… critiques are that it was a little repetitive in the end and a bit too idealistic。So far， Gru hasn’t gotten very far with his buttons but the two year old keeps reprogramming them so not much of a surprise！ Haha。
Linda
，
I've followed Stella （hunger4words） on Instagram for a while now， so I was anxious to learn more about how her communication skills came to be。 This book explained it all。 The idea that dogs would tell us so much if only they could has been proven！ If I had a dog I would teach them to "talk"！ I've followed Stella （hunger4words） on Instagram for a while now， so I was anxious to learn more about how her communication skills came to be。 This book explained it all。 The idea that dogs would tell us so much if only they could has been proven！ If I had a dog I would teach them to "talk"！ 。。。more
Karen
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HOW did I miss this？？ Oh， right， I don't have a tv and don't read People。 But seriously， how have I not seen anything about this author and her dog？ Thankfully， I was between audiobooks and went browsing my library's collection and spotted the dog。 Yep， I'm predictable。 Put a dog or cat on the cover and you grab my attention。 This one actually sat on my digital bookshelf for a couple weeks before I started listening， but once I did， I was hooked！ Hunger， a speech pathologist， used the tools she HOW did I miss this？？ Oh， right， I don't have a tv and don't read People。 But seriously， how have I not seen anything about this author and her dog？ Thankfully， I was between audiobooks and went browsing my library's collection and spotted the dog。 Yep， I'm predictable。 Put a dog or cat on the cover and you grab my attention。 This one actually sat on my digital bookshelf for a couple weeks before I started listening， but once I did， I was hooked！ Hunger， a speech pathologist， used the tools she utilizes on a daily basis with children to help her dog communicate。 She covers the process of trial and error to figure out what worked and what didn't for her dog， Stella。 This is not just an instructional book however， the reader also gets plenty of story here and plenty of chuckles as Stella learns to express herself and making demands。 haha Pretty sure if I used these method with Reilly， I'd be hearing "eat" about 50 times a day。 =） 。。。more
Linda
，
Christina Hunger's How Stella Learned to Talk chronicles the speech pathologist's work with speech delayed children， her dog， and augmentive and alternative communication devices （AAC）。 This fascinating book relates pathways， processes， and progression of a child's typical speech development。 "Nonverbal communication plays a crucial role in language development。" （p。40） The author offers many suggestions on how to capitalize upon a being's efforts to communicate。 She explains that a person or an Christina Hunger's How Stella Learned to Talk chronicles the speech pathologist's work with speech delayed children， her dog， and augmentive and alternative communication devices （AAC）。 This fascinating book relates pathways， processes， and progression of a child's typical speech development。 "Nonverbal communication plays a crucial role in language development。" （p。40） The author offers many suggestions on how to capitalize upon a being's efforts to communicate。 She explains that a person or animal's receptive language （what a being understands） is far greater than productive language （what is verbalized） in early stages of communication， so that if a speech therapist were to set a low bar for the number， variety， or scope of words incorporated into an AAC device， the child/user in need of an AAC device will be stuck （p。8）。 This fascinating book incorporates tips， such as ways that people and animals communicate: Joint Attention-two people are focused on the same object， Observe how your child （or pet） already communicates using gestures and/or vocalizations， pair words with the communication and respond to communication， children typically start saying words that they already have gestures for （p。60）， allow wait time for the person to respond， avoid excessive prompting， 300-400 core words comprise 80 percent of what we say， fringe words （nouns， specific words） comprise the remainder， ， assess AAC user skills， track work use， the environment and context， gestures， and routines that elicit that word use （p。 118）。 The author utilized Aided Language Input， using the AAC （or buttons， in this case） to say the word naturally while hearing the word on the device at the same time （p。 56）， and Focused Language Stimulation-repeating target words relevant to the activiety at hand to boost receptive and productive skills （p。 58）。 As toddlers will do， Stella （the author's dog） used the programmable speech button where a single word was used to describe entire thoughts （p。 138） which I believe is referred to as a holophrase。 Studies show that people respond best to intrinsic rewards， rather than extrinsic （p。 164） and that all creatures need to learn social rules of language。 In other words， because a child （or Stella） wants to do something "play！" it is acceptable to reply， "later！"The author utilized up to 32 buttons， each one a separate word on a board， and taught her dog， Stella， the meaning of each。 Stella was able to "talk" this way。 Stella， like children do， exhibited three stages of Motor Learning: Cognitive （high variable performance）; Associative （learner refines skill） and Autonomous （conscious thought is no longer needed） （p。 179）。Stella pressed buttons to let her thoughts be known， "help-beach-love you-water" and even learned to substitute "water" for "beach" （p。 169）。 When Christina responded， "No，" Stella replied， "love you"（。 170）。 The author mentions other resources， such as Dr。 John Pilley， who published a research study "showing how he taught his border collie， Chaser， to learn the names of over one thougsand different toys。" （p。 48） The author mentions that she has a blog， Hunger for Words， and has included Notes for citations。 I highly recommend this fascinating book for those interested in communication。 。。。more
Kasey
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This book was phenomenal。 For instructive non-fiction， the storytelling is engaging and fun。 And as a soon-to-be parent I really enjoyed that I was learning about language acquisition in children without feeling like I was studying。Completely recommend for any dog lovers or language nerds。
E。B。
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Wow。 What a dog。
Chris Bartal
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