How Stella Learned to Talk

The Groundbreaking Story of the World's First Talking Dog

By: Christina Hunger

Narrated by: 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 thirty 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.

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!

Touched my heart!

I'm an elementary teacher and this book seriously seriously touched my heart! It's a book about communication and how everyone one deserves to be able to able to express themselves and be heard. I don't have a dog but I know that when I do get 1, I will refer to this book and give my dog a voice. I have also been using the framework in my classroom and in understanding my student's communication better! I am so greatful Christina Hunger decided to share this with the world!🥰

Where'd She Get This Dog? :-)

Amazing how many words her dog learned. The book seemed more like a study at times. And I felt like she was trying really hard to make sense out of the words the dog used. I do believe her. Now I'm wanting to adopt a dog. My cat won't even try. :-)

Fascinating!

This is a great read/listen. The narrative is well-paced, and informative when needed without feeling like a textbook or lecture. It’s definitely inspired me to pay more attention to all the ways my dog is already talking to me.

I was glued to this story and needed to know how to teach my dog!

I loved this story, the book, the “how to” education piece in each chapter, and how organized she was throughout the whole process. I really want to meet Stella, so my Stella can watch and learn from her as well. Lol

There is another “how to” section at the end of the book in the appendix. Be sure not to skip this part.

Definitely worth the read! Especially if you are trying to teach your dog how to do the buttons too. She shared valuable insight and technique.

Thank you for sharing!!