How Stella Learned to Talk: The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog

Description

How Stella Learned to Talk:  The Groundbreaking Story of the World’s First Talking Dog

by Christina Hunger

ISBN: 9780063046849

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication Year:  2021

Format:  Trade Paperback

Pages:  260

From the back cover:

When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger brought home a puppy named Stella, she asked herself a simple question: If dogs can understand words humans say to them, shouldn’t they be able to say them back to us?

Using her skills and experiences from working with children with significant language development delays, Christina taught Stella to use paw-size buttons programmed to say “outside”, “play”, and “water” to express her different needs, kicking off a revolution in animal communication.

In less than two years, Christina grew closer to her dog than she ever thought possible as Stella amassed more than forty-five words. Now, Stella regularly presses several buttons in a row to say phrases like “bed want outside” before taking a nap in the sun, or “love you come come” before flopping over for a belly rub.

How Stella Learned to Talk  is an unforgettable story about how the love between a dog and a speech-language therapist changed the world. It’s also a guide on how to employ their methods to connect with pets in a deeper and clearer way than anyone thought was possible.

“Delightful…a joy to read.” – Con Slobodchikoff, PhD, author of Chasing Doctor Dolittle

“A wonderful book.”  Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation

“[A] fascinating study of the untapped potential in human-dog interaction.” – Booklist

About the Author:

Christina Hunger, MA, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and the creator of the project Hunger for Words. Christina has a graduate degree  in speech-language pathology from Northern Illinois University and has professional expertise in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). She lives in Illinois with her husband and Stella.