I've seen videos of husky's talking and there's also that one famous dog who can say I love you. I'm not sure if I buy that they're actually trying to say something but I guess it's possible? I wonder if anyone has ever conducted research on that. It may be more of a mimic than actual thought out speech.

On that note my ex would always say our dog would say mama to her. It does make you wonder if they're actually trying to say something, or we're just hearing what we want to hear.

I have never heard a dog talk before. I have only heard them growl, howl or bark. I don't think dogs are capable of speaking, but they can and do show emotions which humans are able to pick up. They use their body language and behaviour to express what they are feeling at the time. They are also good at picking up on our own attitudes and the way we feel towards them as well.

Yeah that's very true Cgirl dogs are pretty receptive at emotions. I find that to be pretty amazing. Dogs can be pretty over-protective at times too. So they can communicate in their own ways but i'm not convinced dogs can really 'talk'. I think it's either mimicry or like I said before, we hear what we wanna hear. I think it may be like how our eyes are programmed to see faces so we'll sometimes see faces in weird places. Since our ears are programmed to hear words and sentences, it may be a similar experience.

I think they are trying to mimic the sounds that we make to them and some dogs are really good at it. They do change their tone and pitch when they are expressing different needs or emotions. It is kind of like trying to figure out what your infant needs based on their cries. I think it is very interesting to try to figure out the differences in their barks and try to determine what they want. When my two dogs are play fighting, the one will bark in such a way it is almost like she is asking a question of my other dog. It is fun to watch unless they are getting out of control and then not so much.

Watch this. They will try to speak and mimic you. They can't articulate but they try.

[video=youtube] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c8MMiytwNs [/video]

I think they're intelligent beings and thus capable of communication through verbalizing, body language, facial and eye expression and telepathy, every bit as much as we are. I once read an outstanding book called Dogs Who Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home. Excellent research! At any rate, yes, I believe dogs can "talk" and that as we are members of their pack (alpha, ideally), they would want to try to meet us halfway by trying to mimic our language or teaching us theirs. Anything's possible, as Einstein said.

Wow, great 🙂 My pup does speak somewhat, but he is mostly body language/demeanor oriented. For example, he has a "hmmph" sound he makes with his nose that is "yes!!", for example if I say "gotta go potty?!" he goes "hmmmph!" and then almost jerks his neck towards the door to get me to come after him and let him out. Other than that though, If I'm asleep, I trained him to push on my chest with his hands to let me know how to wake me up when he wants to go potty by only agreeing to open my door when he did his overly-excited dog pacing in my room when I ask him if he has to go potty. Basically, I shot up out of bed the second he put his paw on my chest, and it took about 2 weeks before he knew that he can get me to get up if he just paws up on my chest.

I would like to think that dog talks! Capone tries to say I love you when I brought home a new toy! He loves squeaky toy and he would do anything to get it. It surprises me when he mimic the phrase and it comes very close. I think if we have enough patience teaching him, he would do great. When he has enough, he just whines and shows no interest at all.

My Japanese chin sounds like he's saying mama when he yawns. His foster mom told me that and I thought she was nuts until I heard him. I've had other dogs who sounded like they were trying to mimic me at times too.

Haha this is so much fun! The most I've gotten out of mine have been obliging barks when called upon to do so. I would love to have a dog who tries this hard. :-D... That being said, I wonder if this is what we sound like to dogs when we try to speak 'dog' (everyone here has done that at some point, right??) 😛

My small husky only a few years old tries to speak all the time haha.

Usually when I say "Stop it" or "Move" he lets out a little "nyy" like "Noooo" or "Whyyy". Probably just being a stroppy little teenager haha.

This reminds me of something which happened to us fairly recently. We were about to take my mother-in-law's dog out for a walk, he was on the leash ready and everything but we were messing about trying to sort something out in the house. After a few minutes, we could see that the dog was getting impatient and then after a while the dog turned around and said "come on!" out clear and loud as though it was a human nagging. We were amazed!

I don't know why would a dog try to copy what you say, but that video is amazing! I've never seen anything like this before, I didn't even know it's possible.

My dog tries to talk too and it makes her sound like Scooby Doo. She didn't always do it; it was only after we took her to doggy daycare and she socialized with other dogs. It's very cute, she doesn't do it to protest but just seems to enjoy it and does it when she's excited. We even go "buwr wur wurrrr" back to her (that's my best translation into written word) which I think makes her feel like we're communicating or something.