How to actually talk to your dogs so they can understand.

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I posted this as a reply to one post, and I wanted to share it and add onto it: They say dogs have the mentality of a five year old (I believe about 2 or 3) and it is proven that dogs and cats both learn MANY words. Just because they cannot make the sounds themselves, does not mean they are not learning just like a young infant would. For example I have four dogs. The mother, Sugar, the daddy, Tyson, and their baby Carmel. My fourth dog Bella just got pregnant and seems confused but aparently emotional. So, in order to compare and explain to her what was going to happen, this is what I said: "Sugar mommy, Bella mommy! Carmel Baby, Sugar mommy, Tyson daddy, Bella mommy! Sugar and Tyson, mommy and daddy, had puppies, and baby carmel! Now your gonna be a Mommy! Bella's gonna have puppies! Your gonna have babies!" Now repeating words she hears often and comparing to what she probably already knows, should give her an idea of what I'm saying. Especially when I continue to always say to her "Bella mommy's gonna have puppies!" and she has learned that phrase. Their reactions and facial expressions, and how excited they get, shows me they understood. Of course, your tone has 70% if not more to do with how they react, but using common words over and over again in exagerated tones, just like with a baby, can get the message across. So I talk like this to them sometimes and they have learned to respond. I have actually learned how to tell what they are saying. My oldest and wisest, Sugar, constantly tells us what she wants. She paws at the cans of food, and when we look at her and speak, she gives a little "rrrr" sound in a specific tone that means "You know I'm hungry! I can see you know! Come on!". Know what I mean? And when my mom is cleaning the house sometimes when things are out of place, she pushes them with her nose back in place. If she doesn't like where something is, she makes noise while poking it. Another example, is Carmel, the baby (but not pregnant one) stands on two legs and stretches right up really tall. She does this and stretches her neck out like a princess, telling me to scratch her favorite spot, above her tail. If I don't pay attention, she wacks me sometimes. So yes, they are spoiled, but these are ways we communicate. I wanted to share this to see if you have other examples? I have millions more but I want to get to the point. Maybe after reading this you can be inspired on how you can create a communicating relationship with your pets! They really can learn up to hundreds of words, remember.