What Are Dogs’ and Cats’ First Words When Using Talking Buttons?

First Words and Commonly Used Words by Dogs and Cats

The analysis involved roughly 610 cats and 1,550 dogs, and here are some of the most interesting findings:

• “Outside” was the most common first word for dogs.
• “Treat” was the most common first word for cats.
• Play, treat, potty, and food were the other top words used by dogs.
• Play, food, and scritches/scratches were the other top words for cats.
• About 16% of the early vocabulary of cats included words like cuddle, brush, and scratches.
• Names like Dad and Mom made up roughly 5% of the first three words of pets.

Recognizing Patterns in the Ways Pets Communicate

Even more fascinating: FluentPet found that pets combine words in ways that are consistent, not random. This helps shed more light on how pets reason and communicate.

One example is the phrase, “Mom, love you,” which combines two buttons: “love you” and “Mom.” Pets tend to put the name at the beginning of this type of phrase. In fact, “Mom” was the first word in this phrase in 72% of households, with fewer pets using “love you, Mom” to communicate their feelings.

Another example is time-related phrases. When it comes to sentiments related to time, words like “later” and “now” usually come after a request for something. In 64% of these cases, the word “now” came second rather than first in phrases requesting things like play, outside, or food (e.g., “food now”). Another example is “outside later.”

If you’ve been thinking about using talking buttons with your pets, remember to be consistent and patient as you train them to express themselves. Before you know it, you might be surprised by how much your dog or cat has to say.

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