Friday, March 22, 2024

I am Bunny: How a "Talking" Dog Taught Me Everything I Need to Know About Being Human

 


“Trust creates peace.” (Anonymous quote).

 Trust is the foundation of every healthy relationship. Relationships with dogs are not the exception to this rule. Genuine friendships with dogs are based on trust and communication.

 Alexis Devine has always been eager to do her best to optimize communication with her adopted dogs. In a delightful friendly style, Alexis shares her personal journey with Bunny, a dog she adopted three years before publishing her book. Alexis’s curiosity, kindness and sense of wonder led her to seek new ways of understanding Bunny. For this reason, she resorted to the use of buttons that her furry friend accepted with enthusiasm; Bunny uses them to express herself. These buttons play recorded words when pressed.

 Alexis Devine’s exploration eventually led her to connect with researchers who study dog behavior, and now she is collaborating with their work. Interestingly, the choice of buttons kindles conversations with her dog, interactions that reveal fascinating insights into Bunny’s thoughts, emotions and feelings. This kind of communication shines a light on the ways Bunny perceives the world around her. If you’ve ever wondered whether dogs have night dreams, you will learn about this topic in her book…



  In addition to the anecdotes and dialogues she shares, there are relevant snippets of Alexis’s life intertwined with Bunny’s experiences. Alexis shares aspects about herself, vulnerabilities and challenges she had to contend with, and a personal adventure of self-discovery, growth and transformation. She also carves out interesting reflections about life in general, inviting the readers to appreciate situations from refreshing perspectives.

 There are a few chapters about research on animal communication interspersed throughout her book. I chose to read these chapters separately because I did not like to be distracted from the story of Alexis and Bunny.

 Alexis Devine is an artist and entrepreneur from Seattle, Washington. She is also part of an ongoing canine cognition research study at the Comparative Cognition Lab at UCSD. “Her goal is to further our understanding of the power of connection and importance of empathy, meeting her dogs where they are and understanding them on their terms to facilitate trust and promote an environment that supports them as the incredible creatures they are.”

 You can learn more about Alexis Devine and her experiences with Bunny by listening to this brief interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id6jvQPzEQo

 

 There are various photographs of Bunny and Alexis in this book, but they don’t reveal the essence of their unique connection. Most pictures showcase Alexis’s unconventional clothing style and makeup. There is nothing wrong about an artist marketing her art, but we somehow miss out the energy of the bond between Alexis and Bunny in those images. On the other hand, the heartwarming photos of her parents spending time with Bunny truly reveal the spirit of their relationship:

 


  Books that focus on communication with dogs are of special interest to me. I experience a deep connection with my own furry friends. Words can hardly describe the bond that blooms when we care deeply for them. Every moment with them is a precious gift that I don’t take for granted.

 You can also check my review on Canine Confidential.by Marc Bekoff.


Have fun with these supplementary links!

 

https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/dogs-that-saved-lives

 

https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/13/health/playing-with-dogs-affects-brain-waves-study-wellness/index.html

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9534402/