Dog's Life

Just Between Friends

By Paula Felps

From the first instant I met Zoe, my Boston Terrier, it was obvious that we had a special way of communicating. She was only seven weeks old, but when she looked at me with those huge brown eyes, it felt like we understood each other. As we explored the world together, she proved that she was, indeed, learning as much as I was, with two important words that jump-started any conversation: “eat” and “sleep.”

Nine years into our relationship, we’ve amassed a pretty large vocabulary that includes special words and phrases. When it comes to words that excite our dogs, “walk,” “treat,” and “go for a ride” are favorites. But then there are other, unexpected words that become shorthand between two best friends.

In Zoe’s case, that phrase is “TV time.” With the exception of any word involving food, nothing gets her wiggling with anticipation faster than those two words. She knows “TV time” means that for the next 90 minutes or so, she’ll be curled up beside me on the couch as we hang out together. Zoe’s reaction to those three syllables makes us both smile. When it comes to having favorite words and phrases, Zoe is not alone.

Cheri Steel, of Knoxville, Tennessee, and her 3-year-old Border Collie, Baby Lu, have created an entire dictionary of special words.

For example, Baby Lu races to get her pink basketball and roll it with her front legs when she hears “circus dog.”

“From the time I first brought her home, she loved playing with balls but didn’t like to fetch,” Steel explains. “So she rolls it around with her front legs, walking backwards [like a circus performer], so now that’s all I have to say and she runs after her ball and starts playing.”

Another of Baby Lu’s favorite words is “horsey.” At the drop of that word, she rears up on her back legs, paws in air, like a wild horse. She’ll then prance up and down on her back legs for added effect.

“She had started doing that, and I asked her if she was doing her ‘horsey’—and the name stuck!” Steel explains. “She loves doing that! She really goes crazy and you can tell she enjoys herself. It’s fun because we have all these words we use just between us; it makes us feel closer.”

As often happens, you and your dog discover favorite words through playtime, and those phrases become treasured communication between you both.