Last night, after consistent modelling and asking Gravy to paw the "tug" button before playing tug with him, Gravy went up to the button mat and pressed one on his own. He instigated tug with Theodore (one of our corgis) immediately after. This was so cute and so great! He absolutely pressed the "all done" button which is on the total other end of the board, but I'll take it hahaha

#HungerForWords #dogsofmastodon #Keeshond

It's wild to me still that Gravy managed to connect the dots so well so quickly. I knew he would likely learn faster than a puppy because he's already an adult, intelligent, and knows many cues. I had no idea it would be such a fast turnaround before he used a button on his own though!

#HungerForWords #FluentPet #Dog #Keeshond #ServiceDog

Morning and afternoon, we spent more time modelling "tug" and "all done," as well as modelling "walk" for the first time.

At night, I was on my computer when I heard it, my own voice coming from a button on the mat a few feet behind me, cheerfully saying "tug!" I whipped around, and saw Gravy standing at the buttons. He was holding a tug toy. I repeated "tug" back to him, praised him, and played tug with him. I'm so proud!

#HungerForWords #FluentPet

On 6/20/23, I started training Gravy to use the talking pet button mat offered by companies like #HungerForWords (HfW) and #FluentPet (FP). While my preference would be to have the FP boards, there is no way I can afford them.

Gravy's first words are centering around play, as that is what he tends to bark as a way to get my attention for. He wants to play, but half the time I can't tell what he wants to play with, and we both leave a bit frustrated.