Tik Tok's MOST DEPRESSED dog is having an existential crisis
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- čas přidán 21. 10. 2023
- This video is about Bunny - a dog currently going through an existential crisis on Tik Tok! Enjoy :)
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why doesn't she just remove the tiny mirror that is causing the dog such confusion/anxiety?
Right???? Seems obvious for that issue
Exactly! AND, get her a friend to play with. The owner isn’t too bright.
@@PamelaH_HappyVibesshe does have another dog Ollie. He has buttons too but he's more normal with his buttons
OMG YES PLEASE WTF
The owner said Bunny has been having problem since before the buttons were introduced. the buttons were used to try and help them understand their dog better but it ended up not working like they hoped. The owner said Bunny has confidence issues
i read a comment on instagram that said “dogs understand everything they just don’t talk so they don’t have to pay taxes” and that’s so real
i think they can understand what dif words mean after a while like a child learning to understand language to a degree but they cant talk back or understand to the same degree as us but they deffo arnt stupid they no when they shouldnt do somthing and have XD
@@Starcicle that's so true, it really matters what words you use, i think many dogs understand "food, play, treats, toy, outside, good boy/girl" basically because that's what they hear and are able to get excited over also just hear it all their life if you talk to them.
To be fair, Bunny was extremely anxious before she even started the buttons.
And her mom is a speech pathologist, so this is her profession. This isn’t just some random lady online with a dog
Genuine question, what does speech pathology have to do with this dog? It doesn't speak
@@Mel-ff8qkAlternative ways of communication and cognitive behaviors with language are all parts of it
@@Mel-ff8qkjust because someone cannot verbally communicate, does not mean they cannot communicate 🤡
@LuckyPineapple love that answer! Apparently the dog DOES speak huh ? Lol
stop the cover ups, they know whats goin on and bunny got 2 aware then "she had 2" get put on anti depressants which is fucked up !
If I remember Bunny is part of a study with like Harvard or Yale. Dogs have the intelligence of a 2-4 year old. If that's the case, she may not be able to pull Bunny out. And her breed of dog (Standard Poodle) are incredibly smart. They're heard dogs, show dogs, service dogs.
It is very possible Bunny is truly understanding. You're not giving dogs enough credit.
I agree 100%
Yes! And her mom is a professor at Vanderbilt.
is there a paper on this i can read? I'm so intrigued!
They're great work dogs and they need mental as well as physical exertion. We play catch multiple times a day, hide and go seek, she has puzzles toys like 3 tiny squeaky chipmunks in a stuffy tree stump. God help the people who bring a dog home and treat them as furniture. Standards have a way of letting you know.
@@sixwilldo6865 that is so mind boggling!! I wonder if cats experience similar!
I love how Angelika seems like she's also having an existential crisis during the video
I really am! Me and Bunny are not too different after all
This lady is overly concerned.
FR
For sure! Lol
You seem bothered that a dog could be smart and could be intelligent. For so long scientist thought dogs didn't have feelings... now they have proven they have all the same complex emotions we do. We are animals and able to have thought is it really so far fetched to think they could too?? So often we think they cant understand because we want them to understand us instead of us understand them? They absolutely could be wondering why we can talk in their language. Really not far fetched. I try to approach everything in my life is it worth risking me be wrong? Is it worth risking thinking the dog cant possibly be intelligent when it is. Which is worse? All problems should be tackled that way.
The thought of a dog being on the same anxiety medication I am on is _sending_ me
Same! 😂😂
Me too I’m dead 💀💀💀
The dog was never on those kind of medication. This video is straight up fabricated. Go to the original channel and find out the truth. It's just a bunch of scummy CZcamsrs like this one making up fake stories to get views.
1) Bunny got tons of views.
2) Some people posted stuff online that had no basis in reality.
3) Other CZcamsrs who wanted ton of views pretend the story is real to get views.
My father in laws cat is on antidepressants due to litter box issues. It seems to work?! 😂
omg my mom and i take fluoxetine too 💀
Bunny is one of many dogs taking place in a research study. You keep mentioning “bought her too many buttons” but they’re introduced little by little, that’s how she remembers what each button says
Can you cite a source on this?
@@terretsforever ya.. by following Bunny the Dog from day one.
@@TheImportLounge that's not really a source
@@terretsforever "That's not really a source" 🤓. It's literally the only source dumbass.
@@terretsforever That's literally the only source dumbass
but to answer your question… researchers are currently doing more extensive research but from what they’ve found so far certain breeds (including poodles which bunny appears to be at least mixed with) are actually extremely conventionally intelligent and have a really good understanding of human language very similar to children
They don't though. Like they did this with primates, complex language is innately human from everything they've studied so far.
Its been proven that dogs can have the intelligence of around a 3 year old child, and can understand around 150 words in any Language they're taught, dogs learning buttons and communicating this way is incredibly interesting, i do think that bunnys owner is interpreting her incorrectly at times though, "when bunny gone" could just mean what do you do when i leave the room etc what this in relation to the mirror might just mean what is a mirror, not her reflection in the mirror etc you have to remember her intelligence is equivalent to a toddler, so use that knowledge to interpret her instead!
That's a really good point about her asking what is the mirror itself rather than her own reflection and that's why she says help after. Maybe she's like what is this sorcery that I see myself in?! Such a good thought
That's how I feel, the owner is applying meaning because we don't really know what the dog is asking or saying. It's assumption.
this! this is how i feel theres also cats with buttons to its all so interesting and so many ways to interpret multiple button presses
@@Starcicle yes I've seen a cat or two aswell, one seems very smart and deliberate with his buttons and will lead the parents to the "problem" they're having, very cute
To be fair, a 3 year old toddler could point to the mirror and ask who that is, kids that age usually point at themselves and say their names🤷🏽♀️
Her dog was already on medication for being reactive and anxious and barking before she did the mirror thing. She’s in a real study who watches the video feed and talks to the owner about how to teach bunny and interpret the button pressing. Bunny also has chronic illness and is always going to the vet. She is not depressed
Depending on the dog they can learn English just as much as a baby can. And not just English any other language. A dog that was born deaf was taught sign language and that’s how him and his owner communicate. Dogs can be as smart as a human, same with birds. However I think we should limit how much we teach our dogs. The simpler the mindset the happier they are. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
yell at you dog you love him is an angry way. and tell him he is a pos in an energetic euphoric way. see how much they rlly understand english. give treats pressing depressing sounding buttons and film everytime.
@@caro12347 obviously they aren’t going to understand because I haven’t bothered to teach them much except lay down, sit, up and wait. If you read my earlier comment I said 'they can learn English' (or any other language). You just gotta keep teaching them. How does anyone learn a new language? It’s all about training and consistency.
but dogs can't actually learn language, they memorize sounds and gestures. which can seem very similar but is wholly different. language is much more complex than "this word = this thing", there is no way to teach a dog abstract words like "why" for example.
it's very similar to the case of koko the gorilla, who, turns out, never learned language. there are some great videos and articles on it, it's fascinating
@@m_n_m7 as I’ve said it depends on the dog. Some dogs use body language and tone to understand their owners, others can understand sentences (although limited) and distinguish languages. I understand some dogs aren’t built for learning much except commands however some dogs are. It’s scientifically proven. I’m not saying I’m right or you’re wrong I’m just saying it honestly depends on the dog and their training.
@@oatraa my family cat can say no. She usually does it when we try to kiss or hug her 😅
I respectfully disagree about this. There is some evidence that suggests dogs understand sound, pitch/intonation, and gestures more than language. But there is also a growing body of evidence that suggests they do have a capacity for language. Also, Bunny is part of one of these long term studies, as I understand it, to determine just that. There are several other dogs I follow that also are using these buttons. I have seen them use them to communicate different needs/wants to their owners, so I don't think it can be easily dismissed as them just doing the behaviour to get attention. Also, I think if it were that, couldn't they just hit random buttons? These utterances are coherent and communicate meaning so I don't think it's as simple as the dog just wanting attention. Also, this sampling is negative like meaning shows what could be negative experiences/feelings for Bunny. I have seen others that are more positive so I don't think we should throw the whole concept away based on some clips.
Very good comment. I have had conversations with bunnies owner because for a while I wanted to train my service dog to use buttons to speak. I decided against it in the end because I still had more SD training to do. Maybe my next service dog I will start them off right away with the buttons.
She does use a doorbell button to go outside and one to come back in. As well as the handicap button to open the door.
Dogs can understand up to hundreds of words I believe? I also think it's so interesting because we don't really know if they understand us. I'm not saying my dog can understand some philosophical debate 😅 but he knows when I'm upset based on my tone *and* the words I'm using, same when I'm happy, scared, etc.
He seems to understand me when I just rant to him like sometimes the way he responds has me like 😳
But I know it's probably just in my head but then I'm like...what if 👀👀
There was a study about a monkey who used buttons too. But as soon as the owner left and the monkey was with unknown people, it was unable to communicate, just pressing random buttons
It's confirmation bias. We are incredibly good at stringing together these words and creating our own meaning for them. "Why Dog" for example, what is that supposed to mean? Why am I a dog? We had to add in words and context to get that meaning. Dogs are great at nonverbal communication but there is no evidence they can truly understand language to that degree. I'm sure they could be self aware and have complex thoughts but that doesn't mean they can communicate those through language.
Edit: Keep in mind as well, these are all edited videos when the owner gets a reaction they like and perceive as intelligent conversation.
Your not paying close enough attention. It's all there dude. If it wasn't then they wouldn't be doing this right now.
There was a dog on "how to train your dog" show a few years ago who had issues with looking in the mirror and depressed behaviour. They found that the dog was getting attention from whenever they looked in the mirror because the owners were worried about it. The dog would repeat the behaviour over and over to get more attention. When they stopped giving it attention after looking in the mirror and only attention when doing positive behaviour the dogs temperament changed. It's likely that bunny's owner gives here more attention when she presses more problematic buttons
I'm confident a lot of these dogs do this - they press random buttons and figure out that certain ones get more attention/praise when put in certain combinations. Like any time Bunny uses her own name or a question word she gets positive reinforcement so she keeps doing it!
Sometimes they show some discomfort after that interaction, when they start wandering aimlessly and stare at something else, and I wonder if that's because the owner is just staring at them expectantly which can be intimidating and makes them need to disengage. Then go back to the buttons to get the positive reinforcement again...
Yes that's a good point.
I definitely think dogs can understand more English (or other given household language) more than people give them credit for, esp smarter breeds like poodles. So I don't necessarily think its that wild to imagine the dog understands a couple hundred words, but I'm also not sure I buy that she's asking when she'll die lol
That’s what I think. Most pets have spent their whole lives with humans and listened to them talk be be talked to. So I think they understand allot of what we say
Dogs have a decent amount of understanding when exposed to it all the time. But dogs kinda don't get language beyond the context of their interpretation of meaning.
For example we all know that outside means "the place that isn't inside" and many dogs know outside means they'll be going to the place that is not inside the house. That is normal context and normal understanding.
My parents had an aussie shepherd lab mix, named Samantha Carter, we just called her Carter. When the dogs bothered my mom she'd yell to my brother to "call the dogs" and my brother would call them down and let them out. Over time our dogs learned "call the dogs" meant "the place that is not inside".
So they understand via context but it's not like they know the meaning of words, but rather the contextual meaning of the word. And I think that is what makes people confused about how dogs aquire language... A lot like kids aquire language... Only dogs cannot develop a deeper understanding beyond context. So when dogs don't use words the way we might use them we feel doubtful of their true understanding.
They expect close to perfect understanding of the language rather than specific contextual understanding.
My own beautifully stupid dog, rip, would only know it was food time because I'd stand up and say "welp it's five o'clock" before making her dinner and not "dinnertime" to her "welp it's five o'clock" meant the same thing as "dinnertime"
Bunny and her buttons were cute in the beginning when she had just those few, but then it felt like it turned into family vlogger vibes 😥
I agree! I used to enjoy her content until it became more about what Alexis thought Bunny was saying.
Like bunny will hit a random mix of buttons and Alexis is like oh my god I can’t believe you just told me where the buried treasure is 😵💫😵💫😵💫
this is quite literally science and dogs evolving before our very eyes. This dog is better treated and understood than any of those children. it's so ridiculous to compare the two
I mean...no because the dog can't understand and will never understand being on social media and the owner is a speech pathologist I'm p sure. It's literally her job so it makes sense that she'd want to work on this with her dog. It's fascinating and the dog is involved in studies so idk
Very different vibes imo 🤷🏽♀️
Omg i remember this dog! I didnt know bro was struggling 😭😭😭
its so sad 😭
honestly i was skeptical of bunny before and am even more now. i'm sure she's a very smart dog, but i feel like people don't understand how abstract a lot of these concepts are. not to mention how many things come down to interpretation. it reminds me of Koko, a "talking" gorilla, whose story is slowly getting debunked as well. there are also examples of animals reacting to the smallest subconscious cues from their owners and getting to the right answer that way without truly understanding what they are doing
i love dogs and i don't doubt their intelligence but i think we need to stop imposing our standarts of intelligence and comprehension onto them, they already can communicate quite effectively
Completely agree especially with grammar lol i tried learning german and the grammar was so intense and difficult to grasp… imagine being a dog and learning grammar lmao?? Like sure her grammar isnt perfect but come on building a whole sentence “who dog is” is still EXTREME for a dog.
Moreover poodles are extremely smart but 🥱 ur telling me all the research on dogs that has existed for like ever never managed to come across this but a tiktoker has??!! Smells fishy
Couldn't agree more!! I wish your comment was pinned. :D
Yea! A lot of this is operant conditioning, perhaps unintentional but nevertheless conditioning. And the owner infers so much from the dog’s button presses. They play off each other’s cues.
Agreed. I don't think I even WANT dogs to be our level cuz part of their charm is their simplicity.
Yes. I took a philosophy of animals course for my bachelor's. All about how humans anthropomorphisize dogs. We interpret wrong sometimes because we are not a dog.
If they don’t put that stupid phone down and spend quality time of that pup… ong
Exactly!!
She does 😐
Like you said, we already have a way to communicate with pets. And it feels really weird to force human communication as a trick on a dog. I generally don't believe she understand complex concepts such as time and death. I think she understand some words (food / walk, the basics) and understands that if she puts the random other words (when / why) in there, she gets more attention or treats. And perhaps certain combos even more.
To the which button is what thing; I think it's just memory, which they trained her well in.
I disagree with the time comment. I honestly believe dogs have a better sense of time than humans do. My dogs will for my partner to come home around 3:10 everyday, the both will sit at the door and he’s usually home within five minutes of them waiting. They both do the same for me around 5:15 & greet me at the door when I get home. we feed them at certain points through the day and they’re figured it out so they’ll sook and whine before it’s time to feed them.
Animals don’t rely on clocks and phones like we do. They rely on light, other environmental factors & their own circadian rhythm to determine time.
Dogs are extremely intelligent animals and we don’t give them enough credit for how adaptable they really are. if given the opportunity (not that I think dogs need to worry about it) & enough research is put towards it, I absolutely do believe dogs and other animals could comprehend death too.
This whole situation gives me the massive ick and I can’t fully articulate why
My poodle understands two languages and ASL. She's learned that "oh shit" means "I have dropped food in the kitchen." My puddle is clever but when she gets a thorough groom I still have to spend a day or two pointing out reflections of the two of us.
It must be very tempting to show the world Bunny's ability to grasp complex emotions and questions. Something feels suss when the owner repeats the dog's questions.
On behalf of Americans, I apologize.
In this case, the American is a licensed dog mediator and Angelika is making a mountain of a molehill
@@dotcom3015 look everybody... I found a toxic patriot defending MERICA.🤣🤣 Chill out, pal. It's not that deep.
I've followed bunny for awhile and as many people have said, the buttons were introduced to her in small batches. Dog can definitely learn language and i think they deserve a bit more credit than given.
That said, i do not like/agree with giving any dog this much intelligence. If these arent staged videos of bunny those are really concerning things for her to be thinking about. Shes probably stressed to the max and she shouldnt have to worry about those things. At this point it also wouldnt be fair to take the buttons away from her because she already understands so much and taking them away isnt going to do anything but leave her with her thoughts with no way to get comfort from her parents when having them.
I hope for the best for her and her parents but its just a sad situation for them to be in ☹️
Lol I’m currently in hospital seeing this and I feel this dogs energy on a deep level
Hey get better. Was just in the Emergency Room earlier. ❤
@@CaseyAvalon aww thankyou so much! I’m in overnight again but here’s to going home tomorrow 🤞🏼
I think there's a huge difference between exploiting a dog for money and slowly teaching your dog to communicate basically the same way we teach babies to. Eventually were gonna want answers as to how smart these dogs really are, of course I'm not sure how ethical the process is but there has to be a first for every experiment and that just happens to be bunny. Her owners really love her and i think in the long run she's gonna be okay. Something this cool (if its real) deserves to be shared with others.
💯💯💯💯
It’s so crazy that now even dogs are getting exploited online like kids are it’s truly wild…
It’s insane 💀😭
Y’all do know bunny is part of a study. Angelika has even liked comments stating this
I have no idea about the button thing but dogs can and do understand humans words (depending on the language the owner’s speak). The reason why dogs can’t be considered to understand language is because they don’t understand syntax. Words they absolutely do understand though. If you say in the same tone to your dog “no” and “go” if you’re dog is paying attention they can tell what you mean even though the words sound very similar.
They can differentiate stimuli, but that doesn't mean they understand words. You could replace no/go with hand signals or random noises that are similar and they'd learn the association in the same way
Yeah but that's just how language works. If you teach a child that no means yes and yes means so they're gonna react to that the same way as if you teach a god to sit to the command 'stand'
that poor dog, maybe bunny needs a break ☹️
Bunny definitely needs a break!
@@AngelikaOlesbut like… imagine the anxiety of taking all of her words away? Idk there’s not a good solution here
@@jordanstorrer stopping the videos and talking to her just for other people’s reactions might
The dog is sentient now like a person, if it can understand that they exist.
I think bunny made associations. Just like when you say “sit” “outside” “treats” etc and that’s the buttons. And she’s slowly building words with association. And is now given a way to use the associations she learned but I don’t know anything really
That's exactly it! People jump too quickly to conclusions about how 'intelligent' dogs 'really are' while ignoring the actual intelligence they're showing in making these associations. Like learning that adding 'why' sound at the end gets a positive response, and then looking at the mirror gets the owner to come over and give attention. People have always said cats train us and now dogs are doing it too 😂
Fun fact: parrots can recognise each other over facetime and can tell the difference between that and a mirror. Also, they really enjoy it!
That doesn't have anything to do with dogs. It's just a nice fact that my researcher flatmate's colleague studies 😅
I think its human nature to try and personify other living things. It's scary that it could lead to a whole bunch of pets being unnecessarily stressed and medicated because we project human thoughts onto their actions.
I remember seeing the video of her repeatedly pressing the human button and staring at herself and feeling absolutely terrified. Dogs are intelligent I will give people that but seeing an animal that we dismiss as a pet that’s just a bit smarter then average actually having an existential crisis over if it’s a person deeply disturbed me
I know of service dogs that learn many things, use buttons to ask for help and all that. But I've seen them using 3 buttons at most in order to help their owners or even soothe a child but I would be overwhelmed with all that information, like, come on, poor baby.
Angelika this is probably the only video I’ve entirely disagreed with you on. If bunny has the capability to learn this much then another dog has before. This wouldn’t and shouldn’t actually be considered a new phenomenon.
The only reason why this makes you uncomfortable is because you see bunny as just a pet…
And being able to communicate better with your dog is always a good thing. Bunny will always be able to express discomfort rather than suffering in silence like some poor pets
As a Vet Tech and trainer, I think the owner is going too far, and I feel for the pup. Yes, dogs can understand English when trained, but only to an extent, and they understand tone more, in my opinion. That poor dog has anxiety from the owner pushing too many words on her. I'm sure it's confusing, and lord only knows how many videos a day Bunny has to make. Bunny pulls more sheepdog than poodle, too she just keeps her groomed short.
Dogs don’t understand what mirrors are or what they do. they just know they see another dog and why is it in my house
It’s sad cause i started following bunny when she started but how’d it get this far
WOW I last saw Bunny 3 years ago and she has so many more buttons now. That is amazing and super cool that this woman has basically started a very interesting research study.
*In my opinion I don't think you're giving the dog or her owner enough credit! Dogs are crazy smart. I'm not sure if you've ever had a dog for over a decade, but they definitely know what you're saying. They can learn their names, the names of different toys, and other simple words such as "food," "water," "walk," and so much more. It's not *solely* tone of voice. Their intelligence is already known to be about that of a toddler or preschooler. And children of that age can definitely put sentences together and understand simple concepts.
She's a part of a study
no girl i have literally all the same questions and i always felt weird about bunny's owners bc if my dog did that i would probably freak out a looooot more than they did about it like what
She’s also been learning these buttons for a very very long time. It’s really interesting how this has come to be and it’s unfortunate that what we’re learning is that maybe learning this much communication is harming the dogs mental health?
I like the button things. I think it’s insanely interesting how Bunny was able to come this far.
As an American, of course it's Seattle 🤦 either that or Portland.
I believe bunny is actually part of a research study, there have been several dogs doing this on Instagram but it was starting to be more studied by a speech pathologist under the username “hungry for words”. It’s actually kind of interesting! I’ve followed bunny for a long time. I think her mom has always joked about her “thoughts”. I really don’t think she’s exploiting her… I’m a pretty frequent watcher and I’m a little disappointed by the lack of research Into bunny’s story….
Exactly!
The dog isn’t learning the language but can definitely learn words. You can see this in your own dog I am sure (words like walk, ride, potty, etc). Think of little kids learning another language. It is teaching another language word by word. The most famous example would be Coco the ape. They taught coco how to communicate through sign language but the idea that Coco learned a human language is a flawed interpretation of what actually happened. Often Coco would spout nonsense through signs. Coco knew certain words triggered certain things to happen or certain reactions (ie. Sign banana and receive a banana) but didn’t know the language.
As for the antidepressants… doodles tend to be a bit neurotic and are prone to mental health issues. I’m considering them for my poodle mix because his separation anxiety is extreme (he will bark for hours and refuses to eat or drink anything until I am home). I have legit worried if he will end up having physical health issues because he is so anxious. Before anyone judges me he is very new to the family and is a rescue. He has had a lot of upheaval in his life. We are doing our best to work through it without meds, but if he needs meds then I will give them to him. I don’t think Bunny’s anxiety was caused by the buttons but rather the other things going on in her life. There is another dog in the house now and they have moved. Both of those things can trigger anxiety and depression in dogs. I doubt a vet prescribed anxiety meds because Bunny is “asking” about life and death. They were most likely prescribed for things we don’t see behind the scenes.
i think bunny is the koko the gorilla of today where everyone thought she could do sign language when in reality her keeper was "interpreting" her signs. like yeah dogs and gorillas are highly intelligent and comminicative but not like this
Dogs do understand some speech, I think studies suggest that a dog can learn around 200 words.
I can’t say things like “stick” and “walk” around my dog, and now when I say “W-A-L-K” to my partner he started understanding that as well. If i say stick he immediately goes over to the snack drawer and waits for his dental stick and if I say wee-wees he knows we are just going for a quick pee in the garden and leads me there instead of the gate. When I ask him “where is (husband’s name)” he will lead me to my husband.
Edit: regarding the meds, loads of dogs with e.g. depravation syndrome get prescribed different medications from CBD oil to SSRIs. Depravation syndrome is super debilitating and can’t always be fixed by just moving to the country side.
Yepp I did say that but they don’t understand English, they remember sounds and associate them with an action which is slightly different to understanding English (grammar, sentences, context etc)
@@AngelikaOles Ah I see that now, I think it got a bit lost on me. Either way, I totally agree with the fact that the buttons are getting out of hand and I often don’t think that Bunny’s choices are as conscious as the owner might thinks it…
I’ve long suspected the bunny videos to be fake. It was like “toilet” “treat” “dad” that sort of made sense to me but I don’t believe that the dog can navigate conversations like that. Dogs have pretty good word recognition and vocabulary but vocabulary of physical items or activities “chicken” “walk” is so different than learning to ask questions. Dogs are smart, but they’re smart in dog ways.
I feel like you might be onto something with her getting attention for the buttons. Not a dog behaviourist, but it set off some memories about how some scientists tried to teach a chimpanzee to use sign language in the 1970s (I believe its name was Nim?), but it ended up being the chimp just mimicking signs without understanding what it said. There are videos on CZcams about it. Whether or not Bunny understands the tone of different words is hard to say, though. Would love to see someone with an understanding of dog brains weigh in on it.
wow what a time to be alive 💀💀i kinda love this
Animals can just be smart with communication without necessarily fully understanding human words I think. My cat knows how to let me know he wants out of a room; he literally jumps at the door. When I’m giving him treats, I use a specific tone of voice and he reacts, same as when I ask him if he’s ready to go up or downstairs (he’s my shadow, yes lol) and he’ll perk his ears up and look at me, run to the stairs and often waits for me. He’ll even come back to fetch me if I don’t get up quick enough for his liking. He will also show signs he’s unhappy; we keep the living room door shut when no one is in there so he doesn’t get up to naughty business. If we don’t go to the living room, sometimes he’ll seem depressed so we go in there just for him, play with him and then he’s happy again. We have this thing literally called "window ledge time"; he hears the curtain/window open and he’ll come running to the window bc apparently he’s a big fan of PDA and wants everyone on the outside to see him getting all the fuss on the window ledge. 😂 I don’t need buttons to understand my cat’s cues, moods and behaviours and he knows how to communicate what he wants too. Animals are super smart in their own right, they have feelings and they can be depressed etc. It can just display differently than it does to humans. Perhaps adding so many buttons has complicated things and ultimately confused the dog’s communication/moods… the set up and constant recording just makes me uncomfortable… would this dog be this potentially depressed if she were treated like a normal loved dog without all the performing? Because it seems that’s what her life is - performing? Idrk, this situation just bothers me.
For as long as I can remember people have talked about the tone of your voice with dogs of course they can learn certain things but if I say wanna go bye bye in a higher pitch my dog gets excited I could say wanna to a party in the same pitch and I’ll get the same excitement. This dog isn’t having any kind of crisis other than the owner making something out of nothing for views
I have 2 dogs a german shepherd lab mix and a catahoula. They can understand quite a bit of english. My dogs know probably a couple 100 words and I can most definitely add to that. They know locations, tasks, each individual toy, all people that are pretty close to us, each others names, and some different animal types. For example a duck vs a rabbit. I can say the words they know in any tone and they will first react to the tone but will focus and disregard my tone if its words they know and they can act on them. They know many commands and even will jump in the tub when i say under my breath you need a bath. I have also expressed I should go for a run to my roommate and my shep brought me my running shoes as they associate my shoes on what type of exercise or the liklihood of them even going with me. They even figure out what phrases mean without me really training them if they find consistency in the phrase or words with the actions associated with them. I love to say wait 5 minutes and they will leave me alone and be back in 5 minutes. I dont know if it is a coincidence but they almost always come back at the 5 min mark. They are most likely waiting for my subtle cue of me subconsiously measuring 5 min and realizing i should get up now but they know to wait and they know when to get in my face when I am being lazy after the 5 min is up.
What amazes me is putting simple sentences together or them being able to associate feelings with the word. But she is a speech pathologist so there maybe a type of training to get the dog to pick up on it. All I know is that dogs are extremely smart and they work really hard to try to understand and figure out what is being asked from them. To me this could be an amazing breakthough into a dogs mind a capability of understanding or it can be a mix of using most of the words to communicate like walk outside, beach etc and then also being trained to push certain buttons and look at the mirror to make it appear she is thinking of her existence and trting to make sense of it all.
I think it is the latter but this experiment needs to be repeated many more times with different researchers and dogs for a more diffinitative answer.
I have grown up with dogs my whole entire life, and we have had about 20 different dogs throughout my 21 years of life, the most amount of dogs we've had at once was 14. My mom works fulltime as a dog trainer and has since I was born. Now, most dogs aren't that smart beyond "If I'm good, I get treat" but we have had a couple of dogs that was incredibly smart that instead of feeling like a pet, we all felt they were like a younger sibling. these dogs knew exactly what some words meant, example; if i was talking to my mom and said "I'm going out to the car" they would run out before us and wait at the car, same with if we mentioned the words beach or park. it got to the point with one of them that we had to spell out words instead of saying them cause our dog would get way to excited if we said the word, even if not talking to him, he did however eventually learn the spelling of that word so we had to switch the words we used in everyday talk.
Now, the bunny situation is clearly staged and edited, sometimes the dog presses fewer buttons than the words we hear, sometimes it presses different buttons. its not very noticeable when watching it on the phone, but they are edited. Most dogs have the mental capacity of a 2 - 2.5 year old toddler, some smarter breeds like Labrador, poodle and husky might have a bit higher, like a 3 year old, and like humans, some have a higher IQ and some have a lower. most dogs might learn a couple of words but as you say, go more of tone of voice, but some dogs like the two I had do understand the meaning of some words, the same as a human kid.
My dog has separation anxiety so he is one of those dogs that needs anxiety medications if I'm going to be away from him for too long. I feel so guilty for causing his anxiety that anyway someone else causes a dog anxiety I just get so heartbroken like we're giving them the curse of humanity
You already understand positive reinforcement, that’s a concept from the Pavlovian learning model, which is used in psychology. /Human/ psychology. When you explained a dog associating a sound (a word) with an object or action, that is learning a language. Also dogs can get depression and can understand death to a degree (that might be more of an instinctive thing than learned)
I have been watching Bunny all through Covid. Her anxiety seems tied to living right next to the ocean which seems to have waves sounding right under the house. She calls it big water. Says she is concerned. She has sense of humor. After a bath she said she was MAD emphasizing the word by walking in a circle before hitting the button...her own invention. She also claimed to be human but her companion dog she quickly said was a dog. She reminds her mom about her medication.
Bunny definitely asks questions in a coherent matter and responds when owner says something back. Its wild but its defintely not just random buttons for attention. The talking dog movement has gotten really big lately. Cache is another one that forms some complex sentences for a dog
yes it’s tone too, but dogs truly can understand and remember plenty of words no matter the tone. I’m surprised people who own dogs don’t know this…
also plenty of dogs show signs of confusion or interest when seeing themselves in the mirror.. no buttons involved lol.
Just because she can communicate nuanced terms doesn’t mean she’s the only dog that has stuff going on in her head.
I love how we are still washing this when it came out 5 months ago
KPassionate did an exceptional video on this topic. Bunny only pressed one button and not both. it looks as though they edit most of their videos to make it seem like Bunny said things but she never did!
it’s giving… koko the gorilla being touted as “speaking” when the formulated language was not similar to any kind of language acquisition and more of a simple call and response
Bunny is part of a study being directed by UCSD, or at least was, been following them for a while, it would probably hinder the study to take away buttons or interrupt her self awareness building. I also wouldn’t call it exploitation more of an educational account imo. Plus they barely post lately since Bunny has gained two dog siblings in the past couple of years. They both have buttons as well.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss! 😭 we shouldn't be teaching dogs everything, just let them remain unaware😭
I'm pretty sure Bunny wouldn't be ears-deep in an existential crisis if her owners had left her alone!
Dogs do understand and recognise words, depending on the breed they can learn hundreds of words. But the buttons are an odd one - like everything else online it's hard to know how much is real...
This reminds me of the people who tried to teach apes sign language to talk. They didn’t actually learn to talk with sign language, they were just trained certain signs to repeat and there’s a great video about it. While dogs do learn certain words, it’s the sound associated with an action they learn. It doesn’t mean they are actually learning a language. Bunny is %100 just pushing buttons because she got attention and treats using them and that’s why she presses them.
the last part of your video, where you explain dogs perceives certain sounds with certain actions --- THAT'S THE SAME THING humans do. The sound of a specific word has a meaning, whether it be an action or an item, etc. That's what language is. Dogs, when taught words outside of tone, can recognize the word and its related meaning in any tone.
That's not true at all. Tone works differently across human languages, but in addition, sometimes words change meaning *entirely* because of tone - consider how you could "I don't believe you did that!" can mean "your behaviour was inappropriate", "your behaviour was unexpected", or "you did not, in fact, behave this way".
Actual humans can barely understand what other people mean at times. How can you expect a dog to know better?
My sweet puppy baby Max (rest in peace my angel) grieved my dad’s passing so severely that he couldn’t sleep and would cry and roam around all night for weeks. It was unbearable watching him suffer. The vet put him on the same medication as Bunny. However I didn’t do that to him,but what happened to Bunny was her owner’s fault. I agree with you that she shouldn’t have been pushed to be on medication, it shouldn’t have gotten this far.
However now that I’m thinking about it would it make her more depressed to take the buttons away? I am extremely concerned for her and her health. This whole situation is extremely hard to understand honestly.
You've not been around many dogs? Even the lower end of the intelligence scale do know certain words: walk vs. outside, leash, etc. On the upper end of the intelligence scale, border collies easily learn 200+ words, with the top of their breed nearing 400 words. They can easily learn words and even simple phrases. What blew me away was a dog having existential thought patterns. Not sure about it but sure as hell not ruling it out either.
They not called mama best friend for a reason.
The owner has been working with Bunny for years. None of this happened quickly. Bunny is extremely smart and she and her mom are part of a study being done at a university. I think it is very positive.
Dogs CAN understand, just like we can eventually learn words in another language. If someone kept pointing at a house and saying, "casa!" I could eventually figure out that casa meant home, even if I knew nothing else in Spanish.
They don't, to our knowledge, have the capability to learn LOADS of words like us- but they can learn words. There was a guiness record holding dog who knew over a hundred toys by name- if that dog can understand the word associated with a specific toy on over a hundred unique applications- why can't a dog learn that the sounds that create the word "dad" or their name, or any other concept? They can even learn what time of day someone comes home, they can learn people by name, they can learn what time food comes.
I DO think the owner is looking too far into the words the dog is using in this case. I don't think she's having an existential crisis, but I don't doubt that the dog can understand a lot of words or the pictures on the top of each button.
Has anyone else seem the way the dog eyes change from the first few videos to the newest ones
The eyes at the start look at you and the newest ones look through you
I am not a dog person and never had dogs but my relatives had and so I have some experience with them but are not biased. Some dogs are really dumb and some are really bright. My aunts German sheperd did understand a few words, she had the habit of taking her bowl with her after eating and leave it somewhere around the house. If we asked her "where is your bowl?" she went looking for it and brought it back so we could put it back in its place. We are no native English speaker so she did pick up words in another language
Animals do understand. That humans were ignorant to it because there was no viable way for them to communicate with us is different. Whether Bunny has buttons to express herself or not, her thoughts remain the same.
Ok so my dog did this once where she was staring at herself in the mirror for WEEKS and it freaked me out. She stopped, but I can’t help but think she was wondering who it was and if she understood it was her reflection when I pointed at myself in the mirror. She does use the mirror to look at me now so I THINK she knows it’s a reflection…
But dammit, now I am _again_ scared she was having some kind of crisis 😂😂 THANKS BUNNY
Dogs understand us, they evolved along side us for thousands of years. I think she read a bit too much into the death thing and the buttons are a bit much… but I really believe that our dogs know much more than they can communicate.
Dogs do have a vocabulary of words they understand and what they are associated with. If you keep watching Bunny does actually build sentences on her own to express her thoughts and questions. Dogs have the intelligence of small children, and she asks a lot of the same questions a small child would.
I think someone who is in this field of study and knows the dog should make a thorough video on this. Because this dog clearly is different from other dogs and understands what we are saying and how to communicate.
Bunny I assume is a very smart breed of dog. Dogs on average have the intellect of a small child. Dogs learn many words during their lives, they just can’t speak because of the structure of their vocal cords. It’s not surprising that they can be trained in this way.
i’m pretty sure i saw a while ago when the account first started that the owner was a researcher with a university and got the dog as part of a research thing with a college, not 100% positive though
i think the dog learned teh buttons slowly, like my dog learned to go potty by a bell ringing on the door, like if you hit it = go outside, so im assuming shes able to over time/repetition show the dog what the button means. plus it helps that the dog's owner is a language/linguistic specialist or something right??
but uh..now we know, maybe dont teach the dog too much communication LOL
This is actually making me scared😂😂
I don't get your distinction between a dog just hearing sounds and connecting it to a certain behavior and actually understanding the word. After all, isn't the basis of human language learning to connect certain sounds with certain things, actions, concepts, etc?
The dog does know. It’s like a baby learning a language. Like you tell them to go & point they will finally understand your saying go & they go. That’s what my dog does
I would argue that dogs can figure out what words mean at least a little bit? I'm not sure if I believe dogs can have an existential crisis, but there have been studies before that say dogs can be about as intelligent as a human three year old.
Also some domesticated dogs DO smile, it is a learned behavior that they picked up from humans, we often smile when we talk nicely to dogs so they associate it with being happy and mimick it.
This entire thing made me very anxious
I have a question: my grandmas dog (a German shepherd, 8 years old) won’t eat as soon as meal time comes but eats it a few hours later. My grandma DID have a her one of her other dogs die. I’d my grandmas dog okay or not? The German shepherd is still energetic and loves to run and play a lot and she still had another dog fiend (yorki, 4 years old *i think*) I just wanna know because I’ve been worried for my grandmas dog.
To answer “How does she know what she’s saying?” I can only say “How do you know what you’re saying?”
i have read that dogs do understand a good number of words. I don't remember the exact number but it was surprisingly high. Also, I have seen that when we would talk about our dogs in their presence and they overheard their name in a sentence they'd look up. Dogs definitely do understand words but idk how these buttons work.
this is such a coincidence, i literally just unfollowed that account lol. no tea, just wasn’t interested anymore
I watched Bunny since the beginning of the button nonsense and I would say 99% of the things she says are complete nonsense and the other is her being delusional. The dog has no clue what's going on
It pisses me off that theres a whole reason we cant do this and yet here we are trynna force it
some border colli have been known to memoryze 150+ names for itens. so they can associate humans words wit things and gestures and reactions
dogs also really only know words based off sound. basically if we tell my dog “crate” he goes to his crate, but he will also go if we say great, rate, mate, fate, berate, etc. if that makes sense.
While i believe dogs esp poodles are highly intelligent animals i do not for a second think a dog has reached the capacity for existentialism lol 😆 i’ve read that really smart dogs like german shepherds are equivalent to a human toddler and child psychology has shown that toddlers havent even grasped the fact they’re a living being. The dog asked “who this” reminds me of those studies with young children who dont recognize themselves in the mirror. I think the extent of Bunny’s intelligence legitimately stops at this equivalence to a young human toddler
theres a cat that has buttons that reacted to a dog having a toilet mistake and asking to leave cuz it smells i do think they can comprihend what button gets them what tho how they keep track of so many i dont no
I am currently in college for a bachelor degree in animal behavior and health. And what I’ve learned is that animals are capable of complex thoughts and emotions, and that it is very likely that she does understand the buttons. The full extent of what they understand is still debated but they are far more intelligent than I think most people give them credit for.
I swear your confusion is sending me 😂
I see so many dogs in the world that look sad sometimes- it’s why we should love are dogs just as much - it’s amazing but learned how to say it-
I think you nailed it ❤
it’s scary and sad….but like should we silence them by way of not providing the buttons? or should we do more research into what these animals know and how they communicate…..
god this is terrifying what is even happening