Studies have shown that puppies respond positively to "baby talk."
If you talk to your dog like a "baby" you're doing the right thing! From the website WideOpenPets.com,
Recently, researchers from the University of York carried out a series of experiments designed to shed light on why we speak to our dogs (of all ages) in such a manner, and whether or not the dogs somehow benefit from it, or if we do so simply because we've grown accustomed to treating our dogs as we do babies.
According to University of York psychologist Dr. Katie Slocombe, "A special speech register, known as infant-directed speech, is thought to aid language acquisition and improve the way a human baby bonds with an adult. This form of speech is known to share some similarities with the way in which humans talk to their pet dogs, known as dog-directed speech."
People living in Western cultures commonly speak to their dogs in this high-pitched, rhythmic manner, adds Dr. Slocombe, but little is known if "baby talk," or, when used with dogs, "dog speak," has the same benefits for dogs as it does for human babies. Answering that question was the primary driver behind this series of experiments.
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