So I had a dream that my dog was speaking Hebrew?
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
Canada
July 20, 2016 1:45am CST
By reading this title, you are maybe thinking that no one can ever really guess what I will say?
Mmmm, that is probably true.
So, the dream begins thus...
I hear music, a low brooding minor chord...
And my dog is starring at me...and all of a sudden she sings in a mezzo soprano voice "Kodem kol...(first of all...
And as I am watching/listening to this, I am thrilled...because not only has my beloved Jersey begun speaking, she has begun speaking to me in HEBREW!
I immediately yell "Nes! (miracle!), Jersey this is so wonderful..."
And she interupts me and continues "Hageni al ha guf (protect yourself)..."
I try and interject that she is being rude, that we are having a profound moment, and all of a sudden she increases her pitch and holds an almost operatic note "be'kol kochech (with all your might)..."...I then become suspicious as to why my dog's first words ever appear to be an Efrat Gosh song...
And then I wake up to find that I had fallen asleep with my mp3 player on repeat.
Oh well.
For a moment it seemed nice that all those years of telling her to "speak" had resulted not only in her speaking, but in speaking Hebrew.
Whatever.
It was better then a nightmare.
I guess.
7 people like this
9 responses
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Jul 16
How I wish that my cat could speak English! Of course, he does really but it all comes out wrong. At least he gets the intonation right some of the time. He can ask me questions, tell me when he's hungry and tell me when he's sad or when he's really cross with me. He understands more than he will admit to, though. He clearly knows the words "food", "breakfast" and "eat" by the way he responds - and I've never set out to teach him those words - so I'm pretty sure that he understands a great deal more.
I sometimes go to sleep with the radio on. It's usually a radio drama of some kind and it's quite surprising how the situation or the dialog can subtly affect the dream I am having.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
20 Jul 16
@HebrewGreekStudies Both cats and dogs have very acute hearing and are probably better at distinguishing the pattern of a sound than we are. Nearly everyone is familiar with the experience of seeing a dog (and sometimes a cat) recognise the sound of a particular automobile engine or a familiar footstep. I see no reason, therefore, why they should not both recognise many words and know their meanings (at least, what that word is associated with in their world). I am certain that it's more than just the tone of voice they know, though that plays a part, too.
Dogs, of course, are much more responsive because they are programmed to listen to and obey the leader of their pack (their human, in this case, of course). It takes a lot more to train a domestic cat to respond to commands because cats don't normally have 'leaders' (except when they are very young and learn to obey their mothers), though they may accept 'companions' whom they regard more or less as equals.
I'm sure that after a few times, Jersey would have no trouble learning the Hebrew commands just as readily as the English commands, if you chose to teach her.
1 person likes this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
20 Jul 16
Animals and communication, in particular my dog and communication, was something I picked up on a while ago-clearly, they do understand a great deal, and do communicate. Although I have noticed, when I will accidently say a Hebrew word to her as opposed to English, she will not respond, she will just look at me confused (as I interpret it), or...annoyed. Mmmmm, to tell the truth, some of my Heb. students have done the same;).
1 person likes this
@akalinus (40432)
• United States
20 Jul 16
@HebrewGreekStudies I think they know. Rattle the can opener or a bag of something and they are all ears. Think about food and there they are looking at you with starving eyes.
1 person likes this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
20 Jul 16
@akalinus she is oddly starring at me as I type this right now;)
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
20 Jul 16
I sware that even if I think the word "food" she responds-she will start walking up the stairs from the basement!
1 person likes this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
20 Jul 16
I swear she understands 5...but she just pretends she doesn't, just to ignore us. Mmmmm, but I am going to randomly guess she understands the word "icecream!" in any language.
1 person likes this
@Tierkreisze (1609)
• Philippines
20 Jul 16
Waking up must have been a bummer. Haha. Still, do you talk to your dog in hebrew?
1 person likes this
@HebrewGreekStudies (1646)
• Canada
20 Jul 16
Only when I'm tired, then I just stop because she looks at me like "dude what are you talking now?";)
1 person likes this
@Tierkreisze (1609)
• Philippines
21 Jul 16
@HebrewGreekStudies I bet your dog was thinking that it was in english, then thought "hey, this is english?".
1 person likes this
@Drosophila (16573)
• Ireland
20 Jul 16
I have heard a dog say "bullocks" once! it was amazing
1 person likes this
