Recently, Stella had a bit of a breakthrough when she was able to formulate a sentence, respond to one of Hunger's questions, and reconfirm what she needed-all in one go: Each button has a fixed spot on the board that corresponds to a word or short phrase, like "beach" and "all done." Hunger says Stella has memorized where each word is and moves to tap the buttons depending on what she needs. So how does Stella communicate? She uses a soundboard that Hunger created with buttons she ordered off of Amazon. She's even able to express when she's feeling affectionate with a "love you." Stella currently knows 29 words and is able to tell her parents when she wants to play, go outside, and drink water. Stella proved she was a quick learner when she used her very first word the next month. Hunger began working on Stella's communication when the dog was just two months old. "This has definitely surpassed my expectations," Hunger tells Popular Mechanics.
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