Mishka Talks

Mishka says 12 words and phrases, including "I love you"

[With the heat of July in the Northern Hemisphere come the so-called "dog days of summer," a perfect time to remember just how cool man's best friend is. The Romans called the dog days "diēs caniculārēs" and connected the period's hot temperatures with the star Sirius (a.k.a, the "Dog Star"), the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, or "Large Dog."]

While it may sound like Mishka is actually talking, what she's really doing is imitating. "Dogs are able to imitate humans as well as they do because they pick up on the differences in our tonal patterns," writes Tina Adler in a Scientific American article entitled, "Fact or Fiction: Dogs Can Talk." It's something that Harry Miles Johnson of Johns Hopkins University back in 1912 described as "intelligent imitation." Especially effective if there's a treat involved...

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c8MMiytwNs



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