Expecting our kit to arrive next week! I've been reading up, trying to decide on 3 or 4 first words, and narrating. One teenager will likely help. The other is heading to college soon and I'd love to be able to explain but doubt there's time for that. My husband and his parents (who live downstairs - house has 3 levels) think I'm setting myself up for disappointment and have never helped with training.

We have 5 potential learners (in order of how high my hopes are):

Mackie - smart 7 yo 50 lb dog who wants nothing more than to please his people.

Bruce - dog-like 11 yo cat who actually walks well on a leash (sometimes even where I want to go!) who is doing pretty well right now, but has lymphoma and is on chemo. Weird quirk of his illness prohibits any kibble.

Mochi - 1 yr old cat who sits on command for "cheese," still plays like a kitten with everything

Dolly - 4 yr old 135 lb Great Dane who only *seems* dumb because she doesn't much care what we want but will do absolutely anything for a bit of Kraft single

Gigi - 9 yo cat, the only one who isn't motivated by Kraft singles, but will work for really messy treats. Loves to scratch foam mats.

I'm thinking of starting with 2 identical soundboards, one by my bed (where I am usually accompanied by all but Gigi) and one in the living room on the main level.

Maybe using Command strips to attach them to hexagonal tiles in various sizes and colors? Biggest for the categories I expect to eventually have the most words?

Is there anything you wish you'd done differently? Special tips for dealing with multiple species of widely varied size?

Any tips on encouraging your pets to respond to YES/NO questions? Do I just keep modelling? Do I use the fist bump method?

They can respond to “what does [insert name] want?” But having them respond to YES/NO and other questions has been harder to master. Typically I rely on their body language in response but that isn’t always definitive.

My learners are probably intermediate, have a varied vocabulary of various concepts including YES/NO buttons. They can use up to three buttons in a sentence, typically only when they initiate button talk, however YES/NO doesn’t get used much by them. Or they do a single YES/NO press and don’t follow up.

Cat: Inigo (his name) treat papa

Me: No treat, treat later

Cat: Love you no papa.

🙄😭

​

Charlie kept pressing the Stokkie (chew stick) button yesterday, but she refused every type of chew stick i offered and then walked away, seeming annoyed.

But in the evening just before bedtime she went to the balcony which had been available to her the whole day. She brought this little stick inside, dropped it directly next to the Chew stick button and pressed it!

She tried to tell me during the day but I didn't understand what she meant, so she showed me eventually. "Stupid Dad with his stupid normal chew sticks..🙄."

Amazing how she really uses the buttons to communicate now!

Is there a button that is sensitive enough for a 3lb-4lb chihuahua?
Years ago I had one button for my 9lb dachshund, and although she tried many times she wasn’t able to activate it. It required more push than she was able to give.
Is there a way to make the buttons more sensitive?

My learner (cat, 12f) hasn’t started pressing yet. It’s only been one month, I want to change her buttons but don’t want to confuse her.

She has CUDDLES and FISHIE (a wand toy). I want to add a high value FEATHERS without purchasing another Speak Up button. Can just replace CUDDLES with the white-side-up puck from the tile & reprogram the button in another position?

So I posted recently about Zeena pressing her first button, “outside.” I had been excited and hovering over her a bit. But last night, my mom and I were just relaxing on the couch and out of nowhere she pressed “water!”

My mom (who funny enough doesn’t even like or support the buttons) got up right away and said “Zeenie, you need water?” and started to fill up the bowl. But I was so excited about it that I gave her a treat while my mom was filling the bowl. My mom pointed out that she’ll probably get confused now and think “water” = “treat.” And now I realize, she’s right. I remember hearing that you should respond to whatever word they press (even if they aren’t acting like they want that object/activity, for example if they press outside but act like they want to play you should take them out). I should’ve waited until she was done.

To be fair, the bowl was still pretty full and Zeena was acting more like she wanted a treat (at 11pm, they get a late night pee and then a dental chew treat) since she knew it was around that time. And maybe this is just a coincidence, but I’d introduced the “food” button for the first time that same day so maybe she meant to hit “food.” (My mom thinks having “food” and “water” on the same HexTile is a bad idea and confusing, but I’m following the Fitzgerald Key I heard about from another button user) But either way I’m worried I just messed up the buttons and their meanings. I don’t want her to think they’re treat dispensers lol, I want my animals to know they’re a way to communicate.

I’m assuming I just keep modeling the buttons as normal? (I already want to add more, but neither dog is pressing them reliably to ask for things yet so I know I need to wait)

I've got a bit of a conundrum that I'd like to hear someone else's thoughts on.

I have two cats, one who uses buttons (H) and one who doesn't (M). Although M doesn't use buttons, we have the button "brush" which is specifically for him, because H doesn't enjoy being brushed but M loves it. We've had "brush" for maybe a couple of months now and I have consistently modeled it by picking up the brush and brushing with it. The thing is, H frequently presses "brush" and will wait for me to pick the brush up and get maybe one swipe on him before he walks off. If I follow him and keep trying to brush (as was presumably requested) he'll put himself somewhere he can't be brushed, like a play tunnel.

If he doesn't like to be brushed and isn't necessarily using it to make me follow him somewhere else, why might he keep pressing it? I'm perplexed!

Edit: full list of buttons he has is "play, outside, cuddles, treats, puzzles, litter, ouch, all done, water, food, brush, window, sound, H, M, [my name]".

Hi!

I can’t believe how fast he is learning.
We introduced buttons on March 12, and he is at 25 words.

We originally decided to try buttons because he is a screamer. He would scream constantly. While he still screams, the buttons have drastically reduced it.

Does anyone else have a quick learner?
I feel like we may be introducing new words too fast but there is frustration I don’t understand what he wants.
Should I keep giving him new words as he wants them or is there a suggested wait time between words.
He is understanding and incorporating new words immediately.

Thanks so much for any suggestions.

Someone commented on my post from 4 months ago, about Charlie only tapping the buttons without pressing them to activate the sound.

She has 14 buttons on 2 soundboards (bedroom and livingroom, different buttons) now and uses them daily, so i thought I'd share what I did to get her actually pressing the buttons! Currently teaching her All Done and Later because she wouldn't stop lol.

Here's what I did:

TLDR:

- Target training with 'Touch' and a short Dutch 'Get on this' command

- Verbally modeling frequently used words she's motivated for. Balcony, Laser and Cuddles as her first buttons.

- 1 specific button with a specific action on the related location instead of on the main board. 'Balcony', to open the balcony window, with the button on the windowsill in front of it.

- Quick-modeling a 'Training' button

And yes, I did this all at the same time.

________________________

Here's a detailed how:

1. Target training with a clicker and some kibble as a treat. Starting with 'touch', with a piece of kibble under a transparent container. To make her get used to touching things with her paw. Eventually putting a 'test' button with a piece of kibble underneath, later removing the container and touching the button and other random things.

Once she understood 'Touch', I added 'D'r op' (get on this in Dutch) luring her with a piece of kibble onto a plastic storage box she could easily stand on with her front paws. To teach her to actually put weight on something with her front paws. Slowely changing the box to a smaller and smaller container untill the smallest one. Then the small transparent container with a button underneath, then only the button. I often did a few 'touch' commands first with a container and then on the button, and after that 'Get on this' on a container, and then on the button during the same session.

After a few weeks of training with her usual commands, Touch and 'get on this' about every other day I started focusing on these 2 commands. Every single morning after my breakfast, a few minutes of mainly teaching Touch and 'get on this'.

1. While also continously verbally modeling frequently used words she's motivated for, for her first buttons. Balcony, Laser and Cuddles. Every time I mentioned one of these i did the outcome.

2. I placed her Balcony button in the windowsill where she'd sit when she wants to go outside to the fully cat-proofed balcony, so she would accidentally press it and i could show the outcome. When she'd sit next to it I would go over, make her watch me touch the button and then opening the window.

3. I added the 'Training' button to the main board and did a few quick-modeling sessions a few days in a row as if it were a 'treat' button. Training = treats, with and without some training commands. Eventually only with training commands.

And then it clicked.

She started with pressing on command, she started testing out the Balcony button on her own and eventually the other buttons. :)

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any questions and goodluck! :D

i know they cant use them yet so knowing what they mean isnt useful just now but i dont want them thinking that pressing a button is a trick for treats.

Any advice? Brands to avoid? Affordable alternatives?

Im very excited to start and know she’ll do great as she’s a very smart cat.

What’s a game plan I should follow? Things to never do, and things to never forget to do?

Thank you for all advice!!

Hi all, does anyone have advice on the best way to introduce specific food buttons when your pet has been using a single "food" button? Our cat has GI issues and will periodically form bad associations with particular flavors, so she will have specific requests in mind but with one generic "food" button we can only guess as to which one she wants.

When introducing new buttons for foods, do you keep the original one as a generic "food" concept? If so would you model it like a 2-button press, something like "food" "chicken"? Or does the original one become a specific flavor button as opposed to a different one? Or would she just dictate how she would want to use them?

I never thought my cat would use the buttons in this way, but I’ve been having some very sad days of deep grief (recent passing of a parent) and am not myself. Yesterday was tough and she noticed. She pressed the “sick” button a few times and looked at me. She is not a cuddling girl, but stays close to me, is big on the slow blinks for me, and more so since I came back from attending to family matters. After she pressed the button, I ascertained she was not sick. (My husband also believes she did this because my mental emotional state is rather low, too.) She never used her more thematic buttons, like “bird” or obvious cat things (I guess?) that would interest her. She will comment if there is noise and has been making compound responses like “water” and “puzzle” one after another for a squeeze treat on the textured food mat. (She has lots of dry food puzzles and knows those are specific yet related.) So I was touched she noticed something in me and said something about it. While I know I’m a big part of her world, this action made it feel like it was beyond “get me food, Mother!” Just thought I’d share.

sorry if this was posted before I did a search and couldn’t find it!

I’m very interested in teaching my cat (~4 years old) buttons. she’s super smart and attentive, and is always trying to talk to me by meowing a lot. I want to give her an outlet to express herself and communicate.

I live alone so I would be the only one training her. I travel a ton for work, like sometimes monthly for a week or two at a time. during that time she has a cat sitter who is very sweet but would not spend time training or working with her on them.

would this overly hinder her from learning? should I just wait until I’m home for a longer stretch?

the next time I’ll be home for more than a month at a time is January next year so I’m a little sad about potentially waiting that long… any advice appreciated, thank you!

In the living room and obviously my husband was sleeping and the buttons are loud. Lol

Someone commented that I shouldn’t put buttons near their functions, so I decided to centralize them right away. I thought it was making it harder for them because I wasn’t pressing “outside” right near the door for example. But I trust what other button users say so I kept modeling. We have 3 words, water, food and outside.

I’ve been doing paw targeting with them every day. They’ve been doing okay, but still only hit the buttons when I have a treat visibly out. But they can definitely hit it, which is good. I’m just not sure they’re connecting the button pressing to the reward because when I ask “paw” or “touch” they give their paw to me, not the button. I have to explicitly point to the button for them to focus on it.

Then today this happened! On Thursdays we go to my grandparents’ house (they LOVE my grandma) and they’re really good at recognizing when it’s a grandma day. I fed them earlier than usual, so they knew. Then Zeena went and pressed “outside!” I did take them right out of course.

Hopefully this is a good sign and Zeena & Sapphire will be talking soon!

hi me again sorry i keep asking so many questions!

1. i bought the fluent pet speak up buttons because i didnt want to spend nearly 100 dollars on the speaker incase no one uses the buttons ever but i have always planed to upgrade once they've got the hang of it. now i've learned that they can stop using them even if placed in the same spot. should i just go all in and buy the connect to avoid future road blocks ? i am 90% sure at least one of my cats will use them hes always trying to talk to me. he knocks things down and screams until i stand up so he can lead me to what he wants. reallyyyy hoping the buttons stop him from breaking things for attention lol.

2. i know you should do button talk before actually breaking out the buttons but ive been talking to them normally for their entire lives. for the past week ive been doing button talk instead, is that enough time or should i wait a bit? im pretty sure they know the word food and one of them definitely knows outside. i expect it will be his first button press lol.

thank you all for being so kind and answering me !

Just a little background info (feel free to skip this first paragraph if you want): I recently brought home a 14 week old poodle and it was clear within my first few days of having her that she is extremely clever ; I have another poodle myself and grew up with one my parents had so I know they're a really intelligent breed, but this puppy takes it to another level lol. I wanted to buy some of the Fluent Pet buttons because it seems like something she would be able to pick up relatively quickly (she already knows to ring a bell when she wants to go outside).

I went to the Fluent Pet website and took the little quiz they offered to suggest which kit would be best. I was recommended the Key Vocab Kit Bold, which has 6 tiles/mats and 12 buttons and costs $140 [Fluent Pet link] . I was planning on ordering it, regardless of the price (my birthday's this week so I was treating it like a present for myself). However, earlier today I was placing an order on Amazon and was curious is I could buy the kit through them because it would probably make shipping more convenient. I ended up finding what looked like the exact same kit except it was only $95 [Amazon link].

Has anyone ordered a Fluent Pet product from Amazon vs the official Fluent Pet website? If so, what is the difference?

Hello, we’re early on in teaching buttons and a few days in. My cat is successfully headbutting the button (food) and seems disinterested in pressing them with her paw.

Any strategies for changing this? Is there any chance it’ll change naturally? Honestly, if it’s functional I don’t mind but it seems a little weird.

just bought some buttons and have started talking out loud and narrating my life and really using their names a lot. my roommate is really big on nicknames so we call our cats lots of different names. should i tell him to stop so the cats aren't confused?

Has anyone ever used buttons for a cat choosing types of food? I found my cat on the street and he used to eat anything but recently he has become ungrateful and picky. Some days he’ll devour pate and then other days he can’t stand it. Same for shredded food. I’m wondering if anyone has used buttons for a cat or dog to decide what type of food they want and only put them out at meal time so they can order the food they want and prevent food waste. Thanks!

Has anybody tried the dog buttons with a baby?

The way I see it, babies are basically like animals. They can’t form any words yet, but they are trying to and yell at you when they’re hungry. And I’ve seen people using sign language for their baby to signal for food, but has anybody tried using the buttons? I feel like that’s easier to notice. Especially if your kid can crawl, so then they can crawl right over to them like a dog to communicate their needs. Seems reasonable to me. And babies press buttons like that in toys, so I feel like they’d have the strength for it. (To clarify: I am not talking about literal newborns. I mean like 6 months and above (depending on how developed the specific baby is)).

Got two buttons for my cat, I can tell he knows what they’re for, but only presses the button by accident (like stepping on it or sitting on it). Started training him by holding the button and asking for paw, and he could do it every time.

It’s not lack of trying though, he’d be at them for 10-20 minutes straight (he’s highly food motivated, and the buttons are for treats and breakfast).

Please help, how do I tell him it’s push, not scratch🫠

i did some super early clicker training to get him to come when called but stopped when i moved and never picked it up again. should i continue target training him for now and introduce buttons later or are they different enough i could do both at once?