How Stella Learned to Talk

The Groundbreaking Story of the World's First Talking Dog

De: Christina Hunger

Narrado por: Ann Marie Gideon, Stella the Dog

An incredible, revolutionary true story and surprisingly simple guide to teaching your dog to talk from speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger, who has taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using simple paw-sized buttons associated with different words.

When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy, Stella, it didn’t take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet. During the day, she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development and used Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to help them communicate. At night, she wondered: If dogs can understand words we say to them, shouldn’t they be able to say words to us? Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans?

Christina decided to put her theory to the test with Stella and started using a paw-sized button programmed with her voice to say the word “outside” when clicked, whenever she took Stella out of the house. A few years later, Stella now has a bank of more than 30 word-buttons, and uses them daily either individually or together to create near-complete sentences.

How Stella Learned to Talk is part memoir and part how-to guide. It chronicles the journey Christina and Stella have taken together, from the day they met, to the day Stella “spoke” her first word, and the other breakthroughs they’ve had since. It also reveals the techniques Christina used to teach Stella, broken down into simple stages and actionable steps any dog owner can use to start communicating with their pets.

Filled with conversations that Stella and Christina have had, as well as the attention to developmental detail that only a speech-language pathologist could know, How Stella Learned to Talk will be the indispensable dog book for the new decade.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Christina Hunger (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

Great book and narration

Straight forward, fun and entertaining. Loved that has a science behind and teaches us a little about speech therapy. Great too that at the end of each chapter gives you advices. And mostly, love that this is a way for Christina to show her way, path and feelings as she wanted to portray it and with no specific conditions.

Perfect for Teacher Dog Lovers

This was a great pandemic read. I loved the author's process and dedication to her profession. This story really touched me and made me proud of the author.

I love my dog and talk to him like he's a person all the time. I get angry when people say he doesn't know what I'm saying. Christina Hunger has proved me right.

I think educators will enjoy this story. The narration was a little bit slower than I like but it was still good. I laughed out loud and had to share some of the Stella stories with my family.

Delightful

If you enjoy learning via story, then you’ll love this book. Stella’s story of development is delightful and engaging. Additional insights throughout the story from the human perspective on making life changes, simplifying life, and handling overwhelm will speak to you as well. I highly recommend the audio version.

Jaw dropping; Discovery into a new language.

Each time I get further in the book, I hug my dog, anticipating what our first conversation might be like. I support this work 100%.

Fascinating story

Truly fascinating story about how the author taught her dog Stella to use English words to communicate. Anyone who lives with dogs will be intrigued, if not inspired. I’m now following her Instagram to see some videos of Stella talking. I’ll be trying her techniques with my own dog.

Captivating

I am in awe of Christina and Stella. The techniques that Christina used to help Stella express herself and the fact that Stella learned how to use the buttons and does express herself is just amazing. I have often wondered what my dog is trying to tell me when he stares in my eyes - he’s clearly trying to communicate. How amazing it would have been to start working with him when he was a puppy and have been talking to him for the last 13 years. I am just so impressed with this story that I’m gonna go buy more copies of this book and give them to several family and friends

Inspiring

She makes it sound so easy to train your dog to talk using the buttons. I enjoyed learning about the process.

Fascinating

I was hesitant to listen to this book thinking that it might be boring and slow. The more I heard, the more I didn't want to stop listening. This is a story worth listening to. Kudos to the author and especially to the narrator who drew me in.

Smart and entertaining

The book is written by an educated young woman. It has a lot of solid scientific examples and suggestions.

At the same time, it’s easy and enjoyable to listen to. It’s not often I enjoy nonfiction.

Even if you decide to use a different brand of buttons, you should listen to this book . She is the ground breaker on this topic.

Worth the wait

I am a Master level Audible member with over 120 titles in my library but have never written a full review until now. I’ve been following Christina and Stella on Instagram for a few months now. I come from an animal centered family, my parents have been rescuing and rehabilitating for +30 years which has fostering my interest for animal welfare in so many ways. I have read a lot of literature throughout the years on animal psychology, cognition, the various sub fields but have not come across a resource like this. I really appreciated the author’s approach to providing the material, it was concise as a guide of method and application. I look forward to Christina and Stella’s future, as the lives of animals are such an important part of mine and much of the reason I have found purpose and community. Thank you!