Christina Lee, a software engineer from San Francisco, felt helpless when she brought her dog Cache home in May 2021 because he was terrified of the world as a puppy and having panic attacks almost daily. However, teaching him how to talk and communicate with buttons has allowed them to interact with each other, and now the dog is more confident and happier than ever. After much patience, positive reinforcement, and repetition, Cache started to learn that certain words would result in a specific action, and now he can communicate with over 130 words and is learning more every day. Beginning with teaching her dog to press the button labeled “outside,” Lee has made communicating a simple task for her pooch. Buttons contain words like cuddles, outside, food, pet, walk, etc. "When you have to work diligently at something, I think you can end up with phenomenal results,” said Christina. She is now posting regularly on social media to help others who have dogs who are shy or frightened to communicate effectively with their owners.
