Alexis Devine is not a scientist or expert in animal behavior, but through patient trial and error she teaches her dog to talk in the fascinating true story I Am Bunny: How a "Talking" Dog Taught Me Everything I Need to Know About Being Human.
When a breeder of sheepadoodles (three quarters poodle and one quarter Old English sheepdog) advertises an impending litter of puppies, Devine quickly adds her name to the wait list. Soon after, Bunny joins the Devine household. The author initially envisions Bunny as a companion to help address some past trauma, but Bunny soon becomes more like a therapist who happens to be a dog.
Teaching Bunny to communicate starts out simply enough. Devine sees a video of a pet being taught to press a button that plays a prerecorded message. So every time she takes Bunny for a walk, she says, "outside," grabs a leash by the door, presses a button near the exit that plays a recording of the same word, and takes Bunny out. Further inspired by an article about a speech language pathologist who taught her dog multiple commands this way, Devine adds more buttons for words such as sit, come, focus, down, touch. When the button count expands significantly, the dog begins to put rudimentary sentences together. In communicating with Bunny, who can share her feelings and even describe her dreams to her human, Devine learns how to better stand up for herself, providing herself and readers with a deeper sense of empathy and patience. --Paul Dinh-McCrillis, freelance reviewer