Do soundboards really help dogs communicate?
Devices that suggest they allow dogs to speak by pressing buttons linked to words or phrases are being hailed as the latest advancement between owners and their canine companions in communication, but beyond the entertainment value, but does this method of communication actually work?
Weighing in on this quickly growing phenomenon is Carolyn Menteith, Behaviourist and Dog Trainer at Tails.com, to uncover whether soundboards work or if they are just a fad.
What is your opinion about owners attempting to communicate with their dogs via a soundboard?
For people who share their life with their dogs, there is always a desire to understand them better and to find ways to communicate with them. All relationships rely on good communication – and after all, when it comes to our dogs, we are two totally different species and we do not speak the same language.
That soundboards have captured the interest of many isn’t really a surprise – and in fact that there is this desire for better communication is really encouraging for me, as knowing what our dogs are ‘saying’ to us, is the secret to a stronger bond, a happier life together and the prevention of many behaviour issues.
Dogs communicate with us all the time but unlike humans, who are largely a verbal species, dogs mostly ‘talk to us’ via body language. For those owners who spend the time getting to know their dog and learning how to ‘speak dog’, there is already a deep understanding and communication.
What kind of training is required for dogs to effectively use soundboards?
Soundboards are a ‘human’ thing, not a dog thing – and using them is, for dogs, a trained behaviour. We can teach them through reliable repetition of linking a button to an action and a positive rewarding outcome that pressing certain buttons will produce a specific response from us. In fact, it gives dogs a way to train us.
As with all training, teaching dogs that pushing a certain button will produce a response from us takes consistency; you teach them to produce the desired behaviour every time that button is pressed to receive a positive, rewarding outcome.
It’s no different to teaching your dog that when they go to the door, you will take them out to the toilet.
Do you believe soundboards help strengthen the bond between dogs and their owners, or could they create confusion for the dog?
The use of soundboards is unlikely to confuse dogs, as this is a trained behaviour that dogs can use to produce a response from us. It doesn’t replace what they regard as communication.
It is a fun thing to teach your dog to do, however – and everything we teach our dogs using positive, reward-based methods deepens the relationship we have and the bond between us.
How do you measure whether a dog truly understands the words on the soundboard versus just pressing buttons for rewards or attention?
By reliable repetition and reward, you can, with skill, teach them that a certain button produces a certain response. It’s not the same as them understanding the word – but they can learn to understand the expected outcome.
When we teach a dog to sit and reward them for it, they don’t understand the word ‘sit’, but they do understand doing a certain action when they hear it. For example, putting their bottom on the ground produces a response from us (a reward), and that makes it worth repeating.
Do you think soundboards could ever replace traditional forms of dog-owner communication, or should they be viewed as supplementary tools to enhance the communication that has already been implemented?
This is a fun training exercise that may give dogs an opportunity to help us humans get a limited understanding of what they want. It doesn’t replace owners and caregivers learning how dogs communicate and understand what they are telling us all the time.
