67 Percent Say They Understand Their Pets

Poll Indicates Pet Owners Associate Meaning To Certain Woofs And Meows

(AP)  When your dog says "Woof," you hear an eager, "Let's take a walk." And your cat has a certain entitled meow that you know means, "Put more food in my bowl - now!"

You are not alone.

Sixty-seven percent of pet owners say they understand their animals' barks, purrs and other sounds, according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll released Wednesday. In a finding many parents of teenagers might envy, 62 percent of owners say that when they speak their pets get the message.

"I speak to her on limited subjects and she does the same with me," said Stephen King, 63, a retired chemist from Kempner, Texas, who claims to understand his dog Dagny's repertoire of barks signaling anger, eagerness, contentment and other feelings. "Common sense works 98 percent of the time."

King is among the one-fifth of owners who said in the poll that they and their pets understand each other's sounds completely.

The survey, conducted by GfK, shows that owners' affection for their pets goes well beyond speaking their language. Even as a recession forces millions of families to curtail their budgets, just one in seven owners said they've been forced to trim spending on their pets in the past year. And more than four in 10 said they still plan to buy holiday gifts for their animals - about the same as last year.

"They look to me for food and shelter just like my children do," said Charlotte Phillips, 40, of Abingdon, Va., a mother of two whose family is cutting spending overall but not for its two dogs and five cats. "They can't fend for themselves."

Even so, these tough economic times are taking a toll.

Of the 15 percent of owners who say they're having to spend less on their pets, about a quarter say they've contemplated giving up the animal. Half or more say they've seriously considered cheaper food, fewer toys and delaying routine veterinary visits.

"It would have killed me," said Krystal Kantala, 27, of Bonneau, S.C., who contemplated giving away one of her two cats when her husband lost his job. They kept it after they took out a loan and he found a new job.

More than seven in 10 women but fewer than six in 10 men say they and their pets understand each other's efforts at communication. Older and lower-income people are especially likely to say they and their pets get the message.

On the flip side, men are twice as likely as women to say they and their pets are clueless about what each is saying to the other. All told, those folks include fewer than one in 10 pet owners.

"It's kind of like, 'What are you doing?"' Edwin Oto, 47, of Moraga, Calif., says of his futile efforts to figure out what his dog, Shilo, wants when she keeps barking after he lets her into the house.

Dog owners prevail over cat people when it comes to claims of successfully speaking to their animals: Three in 10 dog owners think their pets are baffled when they speak to them, compared with nearly half of cat owners who say the same.

When it comes to communicating in the other direction, cat owners do better. Twenty-five percent say they completely understand those meows, compared with 16 percent of dog owners who claim to be totally fluent in barks.

Jane Starring, 48, of Barrington, R.I., says she and her family are confounded by their 8-year-old cat, Flannel, who often chases people about the house meowing.

"We're not sure we're making much progress understanding him," said Starring. "I don't know what his point is."

William Miller, a professor of veterinary medicine and medical director of Cornell University's Companion Animal Hospital, says it's not unusual for many owners and pets to understand some of each other's speech. He said animals and people learn to communicate over time by associating certain sounds with actions, such as a particular bark when a dog wants to go outside or the soothing tone many people use when petting their cats.

"It's not like you'll sit down and have a U.N. conversation with them" spoken in different languages, Miller said.

Some 74 percent of all pet owners have dogs, and 46 percent have cats, according to the poll. Men and women were about equally likely to own either kind of animal.

Twelve percent of pet owners have fish, 7 percent have birds, and 2 percent or fewer have horses, rabbits, rodents, turtles, lizards or other pets.

Even with economic cutbacks, 43 percent said they would buy holiday gifts for their pets - 48 percent of dog owners but just 28 percent of cat owners.

The AP-Petside.com poll was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from Dec. 3-8 and involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,129 randomly chosen pet owners. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Petside.com is a Web site with information and advertisements about pets and pet products.

[mzwild]

Howz that going 4 U? U related 2 Michael Vick?

[incog-nito]

My dogs only need to understand one command: "Go get''em. Kill! Kill!"

[mzwild]

Really? How come none of the pets told their owner not to give them any more of that crappy pet food?

2 ig-no-rant:

my cats eat fresh alaskan salmon and when they can''t get that? Beluga caviar. As for the dog, she gets prime cuts of any endangered species available at the time.

[incog-nito]

Really? How come none of the pets told their owner not to give them any more of that crappy pet food?

[mzwild]

Ihave 3 cats, one adopted, and a little foofy dog who is still a puppy. I taught my cat Horus, who is 11 now, to respond to my asking him is he "HUNGRY????" Of course he always is and so I feed him. Now he gives me ''kitty kisses'' in the morning yah, I know the lovely whiff of cat breath... anywayz, he gives me a lick on the tip of my nose and then I HAVE to get up and feed him and the other cats. The dog got into the action too-she barks when I ask if Horus is hungry, Mitzi will dance about waiting for her turn. (last) She is also an amazing guard dog and I can tell her different tones of yips and barks, when she wants to go outside and use the facilities or just go out and bark. My adopted cat ''CinderCat'' is a crazy Mo-Fo. He loves 1/2 n 1/2 and understands when I ask if he wants a ''dollop?'' They all respond to their individual names and anyone who sez dogs and cats just don''t understand is appallingly obtuse and thick headed.

[ajaxtheleast]

Nothing has been more impressive about the
intelligence of animals than the recent
TV images of that small type monkey going
about his business doing the intricate tasks
he''d been trained to do to get a disabled
person through the day.

Jumping around, pouring from containers,
twisting ***, fetching items at command
and always looking intently back at the
disabled person as if to question..
"Is this right?"

[e7eryday]

Posted by USGENERAL:"67 Percent Say They Understand Their Pets"

...and 95% of these types say they hear voices in their head telling them to run naked through the nearest shopping mall.

/
----
HAHAHAHA, this reminds me of a recent episode of Little Britain USA!
Dog to Crazy Lady: Take your clothes off!!
Crazy Lady: why doggy I just couldn''t, well ok....
Dog to Crazy Lady: Now stand in the trashcan!

[kutyadog1]

I understand my dogs. If you live with them long enough and understanding is developed between each other.

[erasmus606]

I recently met someone who''''s cat vocalizes in long strings of sounds as though it were imitating the pattern of human speech.

Posted by razzl at 02:34 PM : Dec 18, 2008

Cats can make 16 different sounds. I have three cats, but only one of them makes use of them. And because she makes so many different sounds, I can tell what she wants.

[erasmus606]

Posted by talkingham at 02:21 PM : Dec 18, 2008

Do you not have noise by-laws? Report them.

[Razzl]

I recently met someone who''s cat vocalizes in long strings of sounds as though it were imitating the pattern of human speech. It seems like just a couple more generations of breeding might produce a talking cat variety, which would be a lot more fun...if we can get them to listen to us...

[msay3]

This story reminds me of how much I still miss
my pets.Had a cat and 2 dogs when I was much younger.
This was over 20 years ago and though they have long since passed away.I find myself at times in tears whenever I would think about them.

Posted by noaanhc at 02:00 PM : Dec 18, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What''s stopping you now? You can always get another dog or cat.

[talkingham]

Iowa0319- no, I go to bed about 1AM- and these aholes have all these dogs in the smallyard next to me have never taken one of ''em for a walk as far as I can tell. They have a mastiff, a doberman, a rottenwilder, a mutt (the only nice one in the bunch. I think there should be a stiff property tax on loud dogs since I have to pay more than a $1000 a year for the privilege of listening to these renter''s dogs.

I''ve worked all of my adult life and just retired at 58 years young, so go stuff yourself in a doggie bag.

I like dogs, think they''re great. I just can''t dog owners who don''t give a dang about their dogs or the peace and quite we all deserve at certain times of the day, jag-off.

[erasmus606]

Hello. I know a lot of women that cannot even communicate amongst one another without the occasional knife in the back.

Posted by rixmix98 at 01:34 PM : Dec 18, 2008


Hahahaha. Women don''t lack in communication, no matter what form it may take.:)

[usgeneral-2009]

"67 Percent Say They Understand Their Pets"

...and 95% of these types say they hear voices in their head telling them to run naked through the nearest shopping mall.

/

[noaanhc]

This story reminds me of how much I still miss
my pets.Had a cat and 2 dogs when I was much younger.
This was over 20 years ago and though they have long since passed away.I find myself at times in tears whenever I would think about them.

[rixmix98]

Hello!! Duh! A lot of men can''''t understand or communicate with women, so how are they going to communicate with their pets? Huh?

Posted by erasmus606 at 01:20 PM : Dec 18, 2008



Hello. I know a lot of women that cannot even communicate amongst one another without the occasional knife in the back.

[erasmus606]

"More than seven in 10 women but fewer than six in 10 men say they and their pets understand each other''s efforts at communication."

Hello!! Duh! A lot of men can''t understand or communicate with women, so how are they going to communicate with their pets? Huh?

(Except for you AJ. You have great communication skills.):)

[erasmus606]

"My cats know exactly what I''''m saying."

Posted by erasmus606 at 01:08 PM : Dec 18, 2008

Sorry. I meant to say, "I know exactly what my cats are saying".

[erasmus606]

"Isn''''t it funny how animals know what we''''re saying but we can''''t understand what they''''re saying"

Posted by jamster31 at 12:11 PM : Dec 18, 2008

Speak for yourself. My cats know exactly what I''m saying.:)

When my kids would cry, I would know what kind of cry it was. There was the cry for dirty diapers, the cry for hungry.... It''s no different for a cat or dog. You just have to be paying attention. Of course a lot of people aren''t paying attention to their kids, never mind their pets.:)