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

Written by Christina Hunger

Narrated by Ann Marie Gideon and 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: May 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063046856

Christina Hunger

Christina Hunger, MA, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and the first person to teach a dog to “talk” using augmentative communication. She is the founder of Hunger for Words, a movement dedicated to giving everyone who understands language the tools to communicate. Hunger has a graduate degree in speech-language pathology from Northern Illinois University. She has professional expertise in using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) to teach children with speech and language disorders to talk using communication devices. She lives with her husband, Jake, and of course her dog, Stella.

Reviews for How Stella Learned to Talk

[Joyce Roderick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The year 2020: The Year a Dog Learned to Talk
Well, ok, it was mostly 2019. But the rest is true. I have known some incredible canines in my 60 plus years. I wish I had another chance to listen to them. I’m think I knew a Bearded Collie with a strong sense of irony and a Beauceron who thought I was in constant danger. Christina’s experience and mastery of her craft, as developed in this book, make me sure. Please read or listen to this book. You will be rewarded.
Good dog!

[Mitch · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a great book!
I've often wondered what my dog would say could she talk. Now not only do I know they want to talk to us but they do have something to say. I can't wait to start training myself as well as my dog.
Thank you for this well written and easy to fallow how-to on getting closer to my best friend.

[Steve Rosen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Easy to read & excited to read and learn how to communicate with my dog.

[Dana Ryan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely a must read! I thought I knew as much as there was to know about doggos being a groomer for the past 15 years and having always had my own companion but she has left me with an even greater appreciation for our fur friends and I wish I had this information sooner!

[potds1011 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a good book for someone interested in dogs, language, how language can be taught/learned, and what those things can tell us about both dogs and language. It isn't perfect- I personally found the entire last chapter entirely unnecessary- but it's written in a very accessible way and is very engaging. I found myself flying through this book with ease, something I've found more hit or miss even with books I love. Stella is a fascinating pup and I enjoyed learning more about alternative methods of communication through her experiences. Definitely a book I'd recommend.

[mpensack_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If only dogs could talk! This book, written by a speech pathologist, explains how the author actually teaches her dog Stella to talk using large button devices that she learned to push with her paw. The account of this process is an enjoyable, well written and fascinating read.

[liscarey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Christina Hunger was working as a speech pathologist for young children, in Omaha, Nebraska, when she and her boyfriend, Jake, got an eight-week-old Catahoula/Blue Heeler mix puppy. They named her Stella, and started doing what neither of them had done as adults: potty training, walks, crate training, and of course puppy proofing their home.But as she got to know her new puppy, she noticed behaviors in Stella and in the language-delayed toddlers she worked with. The children and the puppy showed similar pre-linguistic behaviors, the behaviors language-delayed children show before they begin to use words. Christina started to wonder if Stella, exposed to the same language therapy and same type of communication device, could learn to use words to communicate her needs to Christina and Jake.The first step was to make a device that Stella could use--one with large buttons she could easily press. Christina's original plan was to teach just a a few words, words Stella would have frequent and obvious use for. For instance, being able to "say" the word "outside" out loud, so that Jake and Christina could hear it from anywhere inside, not just seeing her go to the door when they were in the same room, would reduce the number of indoor potty accidents.What follows is a fascinating discovery of the intelligence and adaptability of dogs, and the growth of this dog and her owners as a family, as well as Christina Hunger's own growth as a professional. Along the way, Christina and Jake each complete their professional training, and together decide to relocate from Omaha to San Diego. Stella learns the first set of words, and then the next set, learning to press the right buttons--but not just in the ways intended. She learns more words than Christina thought possible at first, and starts using them not just to request a potty break, or a walk, or playtime, but to comment on what's happening. She starts putting two words together--just as young children learn to do.Stella will never be a college student, but her progress in learning to use her speaking device, make herself understood, and ask questions has been a major step forward in understanding how much dogs are capable of understanding. And Stella is a wonderful dog, with a great human family that's well worth getting to know. Christina Hunger also includes, at the end of every chapter, basic guidelines for applying what she's learned in teaching your dog to "talk" in the same way, if you want to undertake that.An excellent book. Recommended.I received this book as a gift from a friend, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

[carolee888 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I studied animal behavior in college, but we did not have courses on animal to communication. This book by Christina Hunger is on learning how to communicate with a dog and vice versa. I have read about monkeys learning communication but not dogs. The author works as a speech therapist with children are non-verbal. My brother is severely autistic and said his first word at the age of six. He had speech therapy for years, but I believe that was before communication devices were invented.The author observed the children very closely to pick up cues from the children that they were exploring how to communicate. Later when the author and her boyfriend bought a puppy, she began to notice signs that the puppy was trying to tell her something. Then, she thought why not use the communication system that she uses at work. She set up buttons at home and Stella, the puppy figured things after they were demonstrated to her.Stella's vocabulary has grown over time and later she started to put them together to making her communication more complex. There are photos in the book so that you can understand the setup.This book can be a how-to book if you want to train your puppy. I want to apply this idea to birds. my birds have picked up parts of my speech and used them appropriately. Now I wish that I could live long to set a vocabulary that that birds could use. Many of the things that the author states in her book are also true for my birds.I received a finished copy of this book as a win in a FirstReads contest from the publishers.