Communication is Key

Horse can smell our fear and monkeys can use sign language. All animals have a unique way of understanding and communicating with people, whether it be through chemo-signaling, learned language, or squawking. Both skills are used by each animal as a means to communicate with people to develop a relationship with them, even though horses and monkeys may not be considered your typical house pets, like cats and dogs. 

Why do we considered other animals such as horses to be a simple farm animals, while dogs are considered a man's best friend? Why are some animals viewed as part of the family, while others are considered family dinner? Should we really consider animals as less than us, simply because they can’t use the same verbal language as people?  It is obvious that animals are different than people, yet  why are animals continuously depicted as helpless and stupid. Despite the differences, people can communicate with animals to develop relationships with them just as a person would do with their new neighbor. Relationships with animals are more than simply a dog as a pet, a goat on a farm, or beef on our plate. They can, and should be, deeper connections where both the animal and the person benefit from communicating and developing a bond with each other.  

A common anecdote told to any couple is that communication and work is the key to making a relationship last. Communication takes effort since it requires time to listen, talk, and learn about the other person. Building a relationship with someone does not occur overnight, and often builds upon nonverbal communication and actions. Spoken language is not the only form of communication. For instance, sign language is used widely around the world, with different locations having their own language. Like spoken language it must be learned and follows its own set of rules, similar spoken grammatical rules. However, it does also depend on facial expressions, and body language. The way in which a person, or animal, moves their body is telling  and a way to express a feeling, saying, or mood.
If actions speak louder than words in a meaningful relationship, why aren’t animals’ actions considered forms of communications to build relationships? Dogs come running straight to their owners, when they come home. The dogs may not be able to explicitly say “I’m excited to see you!” to their respective owners, but yet it is understood from their actions.  Jumping, running, barking, and spinning, are all actions that display a sense of excitement and joy. People are capable of interpreting facial expressions and body language for other people, therefore, they should be able to understand non-verbal forms of communication with animals to develop the relationships with animals.  

While some may think all animals are good for is a source of protein at dinnertime, people receive as much as they give to animals. Animals provide a source of comfort, a friend, and someone to talk to as discuss The Atlantic. The author states that people who talk to their pets do so as a means to build a meaningful relationship in their lives. Those who are lonely or have few other relationships in their lives with other people were found to talk to their pets, despite believing animals lack the ability to process language. While The Atlantic article cites studies utilizing dogs as the subject, people talk to all animals, not just their pets. Yelling a squirrel in the park to run away from you, is still a form of communication that the animals perceives as most often the squirrel will run in the opposite. Contrasting those that believe animals cannot process language, a dog will sit when told to sit, if trained to do so, which requires communication and effort. If one animal, like a dog, can understand language, shouldn’t it be safe to assume that all animals can understand language? Therefore, it the effort put into developing a relationship with a pet, should be given to all animals, as they can all give something back to people. 

Understanding language and utilizing various forms of communication such as moving the body, jumping, pointing, or making a noise, are the basis of building a relationship. Once that  understanding of each other actions is developed, a bond can be formed that allows animals to comfort people when they are upset or play with people to make them happy. This relationship fosters a dependence on one and another that proves the importance of animals as being more than simply serving a person’s needs. Animals and people are connected through the relationships built based on various forms of communication. Therefore the same respect and care given to other people when trying and communicating with each other, should be given to animals, since their relationships are equally as important in our lives.  



Image Taken From: horse-face.jpg, Overly-excited-dog.001.jpeg