Yes, it’s completely natural that we talk to our dogs: Wednesday Wag

It may seem silly, but we’re all guilty of it: We all talk to our dogs. Now, people are even starting to talk to their dogs in Yiddish.

We all do it. Logically, we know out dogs don’t understand everything we’re saying. But we all talk to our dogs.

And it’s the most natural thing in the world. As anthrozoologist and professor of psychology at Western Carolina University Hal Herzog told The Atlantic, people are “natural anthropomorphizers” which means we tend to give other things human qualities.

This is even more true for our dogs. We form such strong bonds with them that they become almost like family. Plus, they are great listeners. Talking to them can be therapeutic. So of course we want to tell them we love them and talk to them.

In fact, behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley says that talking to a pet is a sign of intelligence because it uses the same psychological process as recognizing consciousness in other people.

And dogs do understand a great deal of what we’re saying. Dogs do understand some words along with tone, emotion and context.

Now people are taking this connection to a whole new level and are teaching their dogs a second language. Just this weekend, I took my dog to a Yiddish For Dogs training class by The Workmen’s Circle in Central Park.

Let’s just say, Ruby wasn’t the best student. Still, it was fun telling my dog to Sit, Down, Stay, and Come in Yiddish: Zits, Arop, Shtai, and Kum.

The whole point was to keep the Yiddish language alive and learn more about it by doing it in a fun, unique way. And what better way than by practicing with your dogs, who you’re already talking to anyway?

Next: Wednesday Wag: There's a scientific reason why dogs can be aggressive

“By involving people with their animals, who they seem to talk to all the time, in Yiddish – it’s just breathing a new gasp of life into a culture that flourished for thousands of years,” Adrian Guo Silver, a Yiddishist at The Workmen’s Circle explained to NBC.