WEBVTT - Talking Dogs, Stoned Dolphins and Screaming Wheat 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:14.880 Now really now really, Bill comin bienvenue. Welcome and hello 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:19.120 to another episode of Really No Really, the podcast that 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:24.040 explores things that make you go really really really really 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:27.520 really really really. I am Jason Alexander. You may know 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:32.120 me as an actor from stage screen television, which is 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:34.600 also a screen. I don't understand why they differentiate the 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.000 movie screen of TV screen. I don't understand things. That's 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:40.320 why I am joined by my good friend, a producer, 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.320 a writer, a long running radio personality here in Los Angeles, 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.120 Mr Peter Tilt and say Hello, good to see you, 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:49.800 Nice to see you as well. And in today's episode, 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:56.040 we're going to explore talking dogs really no really, because 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.520 they are all over the Internet and they are pressing 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:03.920 these recorded buttons and apparently expressing themselves to their owners, 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:08.720 but really because they're taught to use the soundboard, which 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:12.080 has these circular buttons. That these large recular buttons, they 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.520 are prerecorded words on them, so when they paw the button, 0:01:14.600 --> 0:01:16.880 you can hear the word, and when they paw several 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:21.440 buttons to putting together these loosely structured sentences that may 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.680 be open to multiple interpretations if you know what I'm saying. 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:28.480 So We're gonna talk to the pet parents of Stella, 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:32.240 Stella the dog who kicked off this whole talking dog explosion. 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:35.600 And we're also going to talk to Bunny and her 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.600 own Bunny is the sheepadoodle who is immediate superstar. She 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:43.880 knows over ninety words and may have demonstrated self recognition 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.680 or self awareness. We're also going to find out if 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:51.040 cats can and will communicate the same way. And we're 0:01:51.080 --> 0:01:53.400 going to meet a pirate that solved the murder. And 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:56.040 you're ready for this, an animal with no arms or 0:01:56.120 --> 0:02:03.480 legs that was taught to drive. Really the big question, 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.320 oh Jay, because are we guilty of intentional ignorance where 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.280 we really don't want to know what animals were thinking 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.440 of feeling. Because if you were able to have an 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.960 actual dialogue with an animal, it would change a lot 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.240 of people's mind as far as their ability to look 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:22.760 at animals as food. So, keeping on with that in mind, 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.120 we had to find out from being a hunger tell 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:30.360 his mom where she got the idea to teach Stella 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:34.080 to start communicating. This all started out. I'm a speech 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.120 therapist and I worked with a lot of kids with 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.840 different disabilities who couldn't talk with verbal speech, and when 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.680 that happens, it's my job to find a different way 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:47.080 for them to say words. Because verbal speech isn't the 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:50.480 only way that we talk. It's just one form of language. 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.120 So there's all sorts of ways that we can say 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:57.320 words that people could potentially say words. And so when 0:02:57.320 --> 0:02:59.600 I brought my dogs sell A home as a puppy, 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:03.440 I just saw how much she was already communicating like 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.880 any typical dog. Would you know, She's wagging her tail, 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.560 she's whining, she's barking, she's standing by the door, she's 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.600 using her eye contact to direct us towards something. And 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.800 I just kept thinking, you know, this is what kids 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:21.440 do right before they start saying words. And we know 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.240 that dogs understand words, they just don't have a way 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.519 to say them. So I wanted to give her the 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.120 opportunity to say words as well, just a different way. 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.280 And so when this started out, it was really simple. 0:03:33.320 --> 0:03:35.400 I thought, you know, maybe she can just use a 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:39.560 few different buttons that say words to say things like outside, 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:42.560 she has to the bathroom, play and she wants us 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.680 to play or water if her dish is empty. But 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:50.640 that happened, but then it's taken off way more than that. 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.400 So now she's using words to to say our names, 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:58.040 to say how she's feeling, to say exactly what she 0:03:58.120 --> 0:04:00.839 wants to tell us. When we're doing something wrong, she'll 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:04.520 tell us no, we're all done, or later. And so 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.120 they started off as just a really simple idea and 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:13.080 now it's this this insane relationship of my dog has 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:16.159 a say in what we do every single day and 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.440 she is really an equal part of our household now, 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.560 which is it really has taken off in that way. 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:25.919 But Christina, can you Instella on a quiet evening at 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:28.799 the dinner table and go deep and have a meaningful 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:34.240 conversations about important stuff like politics or science or the Kardashians. 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:39.200 You know, we're not having these like philosophical conversators or anything. 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.000 But what happens if she says, you know, Stella, go 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.640 out now play and you have to go. No. If 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:47.839 I know that she's been in the bathroom and she 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:49.600 doesn't have to go and she just wants to go 0:04:49.640 --> 0:04:51.280 out or go to the park, but we're not able 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.720 to go or something, so I'll either say, um, like 0:04:54.800 --> 0:04:56.920 no park or park later. If we're planning I go 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.919 into the park later. Then normally she'll ask for this 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.599 same thing in a different way, so she'll say something 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:07.039 like play outside, ball like a different way to or 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:12.360 come play outside. Have you ever recorded her when she's 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:14.600 alone in the house to see if she's communicating when 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:17.839 you're not there? Um, it was actually really heartbreaking. We 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:22.039 did record her when we left, and Stella has some 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:27.680 separation anxiety too, and so back thought everything was fine, 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:32.720 and we watched the video. Stella was pacing around our 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:37.159 apartment back and forth. She said where, and then how 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:42.839 old this heartbreaking noise? I've never heard her sound like before, 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.560 and just waited by the door. So the only thing 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:48.640 she said when we were gone was where, and sat 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.280 right by the door waiting for us to come back. 0:05:52.560 --> 0:06:02.800 So that a bush heart breaking because it was it 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:07.280 was That was one of the moments that really got 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.480 to me and my husband of yeah, I mean we 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.320 felt terrible obviously when we came back and saw that 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:18.120 that's what she did when we were gone. Oh, it's fantastic. Wow, 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:20.920 that's great. More and more guilt. That's what I needed, 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.760 more guilt. Thank you by by now, thank you for 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:29.840 the technology, and with guilt, I have more guilt now, 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.440 all right, Great, someone gave me a puppy for Christmas. 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:35.840 And now I'm sure and I can believe because the guilt. 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.480 I can't handle the guilt. Oh my god, can you believe? 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:43.840 What are we doing? What are we doing? Buttons? What else? 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:50.920 What else? Yeah? This is this is what I feared. 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:54.159 That that now you know, you're you're now you're aware. 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:56.919 So what happened? You never leave the house. You always 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:59.120 take the dog. You're going to a Broadway show, you 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:00.920 take the dog? What is the what are what are 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:03.360 you doing? This is? This is a look at the 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:05.800 road we're down already. You're doing a couple of things. 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:08.240 Even you're paying either you're paying dog walkers or people 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:10.000 to come to the house for a tremendous amount of 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.240 money to keep the dog company. And then of course 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:14.960 the dog that pressed the button saying don't like dog walker, 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.200 get another person. I mean, if you're you're in hell. 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.320 Actually is lovely and he are we. So this begs 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.680 the question are we absolutely sure that this isn't some 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.120 random thing. I'm glad you're smart for bringing that up, 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.600 because the disclaiming asterisk is as nice as she is, 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:38.400 and she's launched this whole button pushing epidemic. Whenever this 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.239 kind of stuff has talked about, it's clever Hans, who's 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:46.760 who could do math and division and multiplication, who invertently, 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:50.520 inadvertently was given cues by his owner who wasn't even 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:54.680 aware that he was doing it. Really so, Jason, keeping 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.040 in mind, let's take this animal communication thing to the 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.760 next level and meet Bunny the sheepa doodle who actually 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:04.840 pressed buttons that said what dog is when she saw 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:09.520 herself in the mirror, asking the existential question about I'm 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:14.440 seeing me? What am I next? This whole next level stuff, 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:16.960 which is why Bunny has a million followers eighteen million 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:20.240 hits on one video, much more pompulent than you. This 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:24.040 is an amazing superstar, doug Um. She knows over a 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.880 hundred two words. According to alexis divine her pet parents. 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:30.400 And as I said, Alexus divine her parents. She s 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:32.920 thought Bunny how to speak using the Fitzgerald Key method. 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:37.400 Oh yes, yes, of course, the Fitzgerald Key method. The 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.439 alexis For those who may not be, you know, fully 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:44.400 aware of the Fitzgerald Key method, perhaps you could introduce 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:48.600 the concept to our listeners the Fitzgerald Key meth Okay, okay. So. 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:52.440 Edith Fitzgerald Um was a deaf woman and teacher in 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:56.800 the early nineteen hundreds who wanted to develop a method 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:02.200 by which deaf children could learn syntax and m so um. Sensibly, 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:05.680 the buttons are organized by sentence parts right, s vo 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:09.280 subject for objects, so that she could, in theory, move 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:11.959 from left to right and create a sentence. Really, how 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:13.920 do you get through a hundred buttons? And how do 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:16.480 you decide what a button says? How do you decide 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:19.959 to prioritize with the languages? Yeah, well, it's a lot 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:22.520 of getting getting to know your learner, right. Um, All 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.520 dogs are gonna be interested in different things. Um. Some 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:28.160 dogs are really interested in humping. Some dogs are really 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.720 interested in doing plants. Some dogs are really interested in 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:32.840 like a specific toy. So you want to get to 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.400 know them and m add words to the board that 0:09:35.440 --> 0:09:37.800 you think they might be interested in communicating about. Do 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:41.360 you see what I see? Oh? Well, whoa, whoa? Excuse me? 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.280 What's with the barking? Here? What's with the barking? A 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:47.760 second ago she was a Rhodes scholar. Right, million jillion 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:51.680 followers the buttons, Now we got barking? She still she 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:53.920 she barks a lot. She still barks more than I'm 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:59.960 comfortable with. If you could get these animals to do, 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:02.880 one of the things besides sort of talking that they're doing, 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.400 is if they had one other sort of people's skill, 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:07.800 what would you trying? What would you want them to 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.360 be able to do? I don't probably drive me around. 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:14.440 I don't like anything. Right, Really, that's what you would want, Jason. 0:10:14.480 --> 0:10:15.800 If you're if you had a dog and you could 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:17.280 get you want to just go out and talking? It 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:22.400 would be driving? No, what would it be? Uh? Two 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:24.800 things right now? I would say, make a huge living 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.959 so I could retire. Uh. And in about twenty years 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:32.520 from now, I would say, uh, you know, I'm infirmed. 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:36.680 They do everything for me. Prepare a meal, give me 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.880 my medication, uh called dial nine one one. You know 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:42.480 these are the important things. You want your dog baiting you? 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:47.320 Why not? Why did you go there? Don't want anybody 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.839 bathing me. It's like I guess when I'm when I'm 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:53.840 a hunter, rest soundly, you know what. No one wants 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.320 to bathe you. By the way, you know what dog 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:01.240 either invest wisely? Invest wise actually hawk so that I 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:03.559 can get a lot of money for taking it if 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.800 if she's at seven seven million TikTok follows, an actual 0:11:06.880 --> 0:11:09.120 talking dog would blow Bunny out of the water. Bunny 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:12.000 would be unemployed. My luck, I'd have a dog that 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:14.560 would get me fine because it wouldn't be politically correct. 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:18.840 It would be either racist, misogynistic. Something horrible would happen 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.280 and I'd be censored right away with the dog. One 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.480 of my favorite moments with Bunny is when um Johnny 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:26.480 left to go pick up some take out in the evening, 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:28.680 and normally once he comes home after work, he's he's 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.520 home for the night. But but he left and she 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:33.880 walked over the board and looked at me and down 0:11:33.920 --> 0:11:37.400 the buttons and said, we love you. Why went um? 0:11:37.440 --> 0:11:41.880 So she's using like plural, she's using shared emotions, she's 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:45.520 asking a question, she's using past tense. It just sort 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:48.520 of blew my mind. And she did look in the mirror. 0:11:48.600 --> 0:11:50.240 It was like one of the first cases of a 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:53.559 dog maybe self awareness. What did she say when she 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:55.640 looked at the mirror herself? Because usually dogs they say 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:57.520 they don't they have no self awareness and they don't 0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.400 know that they're looking at themselves. What did Bunny say? Yeah? 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:03.600 So there were a couple of times where Um, she 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:04.960 looked in the mirror. She could see me, and she 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:06.520 could see herself, and I could see that she was 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.240 looking at herself and I said who this? And she 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:11.600 said hi, bunny or something like that, and then I 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:13.679 pointed to myself. I could see that she was making 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.600 eye contact with me, UM, and I said who this? 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.320 And she said yes, mom, something like that. I remember 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:21.240 the exact words, but it was it was pretty clear 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:24.840 that she had an understanding UM, based on what she 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.079 was communicating. And then there are times that I'll ask 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:28.920 her who that is and she'll say Ball. So who knows? 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.640 Is crazy? That's crazy because I look in the mirror frankly, 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:35.880 and I go, you have lost a lot of hair, 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:38.640 and I you know, that's what happens when I look 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:41.800 in the mirrorless. It's funny. Thank you so much for 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.640 coming on. It was a pleasure out. Hey, j what 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.000 do you think the dog started stuff in the mirror 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:55.880 and recognized the stuff? Yes, said Ball, What are we doing? 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:59.480 What are we doing here? What are we doing? All right? 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:03.120 I can't say you're wrong, but I do love your 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:05.560 greatest fear that your dog would talk and would say 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:09.480 something that get you and the dog can immediate racist 0:13:09.920 --> 0:13:12.400 Where would where would the dog be picking up those notions? 0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:19.520 And you know I saw some specific you have to 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:21.719 be carefully talk to. You know, it's that kind of thing. 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.480 I'm just saying, So, wow, I didn't do it. Well, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:27.760 that's what I mean. The dog would go out on 0:13:27.840 --> 0:13:31.760 the huge Howie Mandel and you know whoever on America's 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.240 got talent and they say, well, the whole episode tonight 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:36.959 is Peter Tilden's dog, and the dog would say something 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:41.160 completely horrible, right, and ay, they wouldn't believe the dogs 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:44.400 the careers are over and be exactly. They go right to, well, 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:49.400 he must have Yeah, I didn't tell him that, that's 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:52.880 what he's actually talking. Also, you know, I love that 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:55.480 she added buttons based on what she thought the dog 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.959 was interested in. My my my dog. May God bless 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.439 her and may she rest in peace. My dog went 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:06.400 to her grave with over a dozen kills. Sandy would 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.920 go out and kill, but she killed squirrel, she killed. 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.880 So you know, I'm afraid I'm like aiding and abetting 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.400 a serial killer. If I just put buttons on the 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.600 floor by the way her interests, you could put there 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.960 a bird, a squirrel, the kid next door with the 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:34.040 drum set. I'm already upset over this because you know 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:36.680 what this is. There's another opinion in the house. There's 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.920 somebody else weighing in. It's already this is my ass. 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.160 Look fat in this shirt. Now I got to ask 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:48.640 the dog, by the way, and what if the dog 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:50.760 is your mother? You're gonna go out in those pants? 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:55.120 Can you imagine under the breath commenting and remark and 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.600 that's just a dog, that's just from a dog. Thank 0:14:57.720 --> 0:14:59.640 God that I only had a dug. Can you imagine 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:02.600 if I have cat? I mean I can't because I'm 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:06.120 allergic to cats. But they look opinionated. I think you're 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.840 different from dog because they're going, hey, if you're going out, 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:11.880 I need a couple of things. That's what it cats like. 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.640 So now we asked the question can a cat be 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.000 taught to use the button word system? And the answer 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:36.440 will go to Billy, who's a thirteen year old domestic 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:40.240 cat lives in Florida with her cat parent. Kendra Baker, 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:44.520 a veterinarian who during the COVID lockdown, was inspired by 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:48.920 Christina Hunger and her dog Stella, and like Bunny is 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.680 part of the ongoing research project called They Can Talk. 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.960 The goal is to understand if animals can communicate with 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.000 humans through these A A C devices, these button devices. 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:00.920 And yes, it's true this that he is mostly made 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.760 up of dogs, but about five percent of the animals 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:08.520 using A A C devices are now felines. Kendra Billy 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:12.640 has a fifty word board now. But when you began, 0:16:12.880 --> 0:16:16.000 what were her first words? I mean, truly, it was 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:18.320 the food one. Um, you know, the first button that 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:20.520 we used. I would pair it every single time that 0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:22.440 we would feed her, and I would press the button 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:25.320 and I would give her some food, and she very 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.760 very quickly, Billy is incredibly food motivated. She very quickly 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:30.920 was like, I know something that this button does, but 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.960 I'm not quite sure exactly how I do it. And 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.280 so that was the next stage where she was kind of, 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:39.760 you know, playing the drums around it and um. And 0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:42.440 then three and a half weeks in she pressed it 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:44.760 for the first time and I just showered her in 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:57.440 food and a little the bathroom. Right now, I'm going 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.760 to put on the food shower and perfect. Everyone needs it. 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.800 So after that, you know, we focused more on the 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:05.919 concrete words, the ones that are a lot easier for 0:17:05.960 --> 0:17:07.840 me to say, like if I press this button, you 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:10.120 get this thing. So we moved on to pets. Every 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:12.400 time I press the button, she'd get some pets, and 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:14.959 she's she's a very tactile cat, so she really enjoys 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.000 that a lot of cats are not. So it may 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.920 not be the most rewarding. Are there abstract words or 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:23.240 emotional words that Billy uses? I guess the first abstract 0:17:23.280 --> 0:17:27.880 word that we landed on was mad because cat right. Um. 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:31.760 So she got that in about three modeling times. Um. 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:33.959 So there were three instances, one when I told her 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:35.840 she could have food later, and two where I moved 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:38.439 her off my lap when we were cuddling. And the 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:40.119 fourth time that I moved her off my lap, she 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:42.600 marked right over that mad button and she smacked it 0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:44.960 and it was like I had given her this thing 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:46.840 that she had been wanting to tell me for her 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:51.600 entire life. And she uses that button with so much emotion. Wow. 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:53.440 What when did she use it? By the way, now? 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:58.040 What other Well, the most recent one was when she 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:00.679 asked me to come. So she has a come button, um, 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:02.760 which I kind of thought that I would use for her, 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.040 but it turns out she uses it for me. Um 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.800 and um. I was washing the dishes and um. She 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:10.320 pressed the come button and I told her I'd be 0:18:10.440 --> 0:18:12.880 right there, and I said I'd come soon, And when 0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:15.439 I walked over, she pressed mad, mad, and then she 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:19.359 pressed before where, And I basically had to explain to 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:23.320 my cat my actions and why I did not answer immediately. 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:26.200 So that's an interesting thing that I do now one 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:30.600 a nightmare. Does Billy actually understand what you answer back? 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:34.040 Using non button words to answer? This is a foreign 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:37.240 language to Billy write English? What what's going on? So 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:40.560 I imagine, because I've learned a couple of foreign languages 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.040 where I can sit in the conversation and understand the 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:46.160 gist of what's going on, but I can't participate in it. 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.080 So I feel like that's maybe where we're at right now, 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.160 where she potentially understands more than what she is able 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:55.400 to press. That being said, I'm a scientist at heart, 0:18:55.600 --> 0:19:01.400 and I am still skeptical about the entire thing. Is there? 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:03.320 If you don't mind me asking, is there a significant other? 0:19:03.359 --> 0:19:06.639 Because I always wonder about these animals you talk about, mad, 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:09.800 if this cat, if cat sees you having sex with 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:12.600 a significant other. You don't have a button for that. 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:14.960 My significant other is going to kill me for this. 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.720 But when we have sex, he says inside pets to 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:21.480 Billy and then walks into the bedroom. So, UM, I 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:26.800 don't know, you have to edit. He's gonna kill me. 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.119 So honestly no. To back up, my significant other is 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:35.160 incredibly supportive. Um, he truly believes do you have a button? 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:45.600 This inside? And with this demand that you yes? No. 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:49.760 Data is a family show. Let's let's veer from the 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:55.159 Prairian interests. Kendra, how is your relationship to Billy change? 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:56.879 Do you do you as a result of this? Do 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:00.399 you feel closer? Um? I mean she's a very social 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:03.280 cats so we always kind of have done things together. 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:06.040 But I will say that the buttons have kind of, 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:11.200 um deepened her interest level more than anything. So now 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:13.040 instead of just kind of like doing her own thing 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:15.480 while we're in the house together, she's constantly buy me 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:18.359 and she's always looking at what I'm doing. Now. Um, 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:23.240 it's it's very different behavior. Have you ever left a camera, 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:26.119 a video camera running when when the house is empty 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:28.560 to see if she's interacting with the buttons? And if so, 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:31.760 what does she say, yeah, she does not use them 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:35.320 when no one's in the house. Really, she uses them 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:38.160 if we're in another room, um, and she knows we're here. 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:40.560 But the motion we have motion sense in cameras and 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.240 it has never picked up her using the buttons when 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:45.679 she is alone these things. And I am curious. I 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:47.000 hate to go there with you. But you know, in 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:49.000 the thirteen year old cat, I wonder what the last 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:51.520 words of all these talking animals on the internet. Yeah, 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:54.720 you know, it's interesting. There's a I don't know if 0:20:54.720 --> 0:20:57.320 you've seen Bastion and Bruce. Um, he's a little terrier 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.560 that uses buttons. And they have two cats where they 0:20:59.840 --> 0:21:02.000 had two cats and one of the cats who never 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:06.600 used buttons, but her her last word was goodbye, and 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:13.879 then she died. No time that she ever used the buttons. 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:18.600 I want to blame. That's not random because other button 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:21.919 it has been hit. Billy's gonna say mad, and then 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:23.600 she's just going to piece out it's gonna be fine. 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:27.240 This was a dog or captain said goodbye the cat. 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:31.240 The cat never never used the button, never used about 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:40.439 your fault, your fault, it's my entire family would be 0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:46.199 pressing your for your your fault, your fault. Yeah, I 0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:58.560 blame you, so kay. Speaking of last words and how 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:02.640 we project and the human communication and stories getting bellished. 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:07.040 Cocoa the Gorilla who lived to Santa Cruz Mountains Preserve 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:10.200 for the Gorilla Foundation and new a new American sign 0:22:10.280 --> 0:22:12.480 language and that signed over a thousand words and understand 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.000 two thousand, did a final message right before she died 0:22:15.040 --> 0:22:17.720 about the planet Earth is going and man is stupid 0:22:18.400 --> 0:22:22.880 and it's time hurry fixed Earth, help Earth, hurry protector Earth, 0:22:22.920 --> 0:22:25.720 thank you, and then through a seven that didn't happen. 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:27.439 Those one of her final words. It was a p S. 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:30.359 A that she filmed three years before she died that 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:32.840 was totally edited. And I'm sure there are a lot 0:22:32.880 --> 0:22:36.760 of banata streets of banana chifts and streets involved. So 0:22:37.080 --> 0:22:39.600 it was it was not her final words. It became 0:22:40.600 --> 0:22:42.720 it was. It was an urban lantern. She was doing 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:45.600 this edited highly edited p s. A. Wait a minute, 0:22:45.960 --> 0:22:50.640 Coco the Gorilla did a public service announcement. Yeah, look, 0:22:50.640 --> 0:22:54.240 it took a job away from the sponsor. First of all, Yes, 0:22:54.320 --> 0:22:57.760 took a job away. Jason. I'm the I'm the face 0:22:57.800 --> 0:23:01.600 of the blue of the flu vaccine by I don't 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:05.840 need a rabbit replacing me on that it's gone. I 0:23:05.880 --> 0:23:08.920 think it was the organization that that they said, hey, 0:23:08.960 --> 0:23:11.000 you know what, we need a spokesperson and went to 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:13.720