Looking Back on One Year of Ripley Using Buttons
Exactly one year ago today, we first introduced the buttons to Ripley. What a crazy year it’s been. He’s now up to 75 words and counting. If we had the space, I wonder if there is even a limit to what he could learn.
We had no expectations getting into this. Starting Ripley so young, we had no idea if he would even like buttons. We originally planned to give him more time to acclimate to our home before starting, but he was so confident and curious that we decided to introduce them on his third day of being home. He was 8 weeks old. We were blown away by what happened next.
Immediate Exploration
We put down two hextiles, one with a WATER button and the other with POTTY. He immediately pressed both. He then pressed WATER twice and looked up at me. I brought him to his water dish; he took a drink, and played in it while we celebrated. We knew we were in for an adventure.
Rip was super curious about the buttons and paid attention to what happened after he pressed them. He started showing intention and understanding of words really quickly. He seemed frustrated when he couldn’t express himself, so we added words rapidly. We were up to approximately 10 words in the first month or so. It was mind-blowing to us.
Starting out, we were pretty skeptical about the whole thing. We thought it was possible that dogs could communicate, but to what extent? We were doubtful. Coming from a psychology background, I was trained on confirmation bias, Clever Hans, cognition, and the like. If these animals were genuinely communicating, a lot that I learned was about to be turned upside down.
He Freaked Us Out!
At some point along the way, we couldn’t deny what we were experiencing. It was so clear Ripley was ‘talking’ with us, and truthfully, it freaked us out! From relaying emotions to concepts of time to telling us his wants and needs to commenting on sounds and things in the environment, he communicated about all sorts of things.
I now look at the relationship between humans and dogs differently and with newfound respect. As a counselor, I was trained on the importance of consent, autonomy, and empathy for building relationships. These are not things I ever thought about with my dogs. Now I do. They are integral in approaching everything we do, a relationship-first perspective.
Adventure
Every day is a new adventure with Ripley. We truly never know what he’s going to press next. He’s constantly forcing us to do better and reevaluate our approach. We wouldn’t change any of it for the world. We also couldn’t imagine having another dog and not teaching them buttons. It’s been that impactful for us.
Ripley’s Progress
Check out this video with a quick look back on Ripley’s first year of button-using.
Current Word List
Go
Ooops
Why
Want
Yes
Love You
Hi
Bye
No
What
Where
Stanley
Cooper
Mommy
Daddy
Brothers
Friends
Ripley
Stranger
Pops
Sofia
Grandma
Come
Rubs
Frisbee
Food
Work
Potty
Help
Settle
Dig
Ball
Look
Walk
Play
Treat
Ears
Paw
Belly
Squirrels
Puzzle
Toys
Jug
Music
Water
Licky
Bone
Ice
Lake
Inside
Tug
Beach
Couch
Outside
Car
Gardens
River
Ouch
Smell
Sound
Sad
Happy
Mad
All Done
Tomorrow
Soon
Now
Later
Hmm???
Pen
Bed
Ball Gun
Rain
Wormy
Brush
