How many of you have wished you could talk to your dog?

I know I’ve thought that to myself many times. I want to know why they’re barking at me, what game they want to play, what toys are their favorite and if they like their new food or not.

Well, there is good news for all of us dog lovers out there. Christina Hunger from Sand Diego, California recently taught her dog, Stella, how to talk using a custom-built soundboard. The Catahoula/blue heeler ix has used this device to learn 29 words and she can even combine up to five words to create simple phrases.

How did she learn?

Hunger is a speech pathologist specializing in 1-and-2-year old children. She began teaching Stella when she was just an eight-week-old puppy. When Stella reached 18 weeks of age, she advanced far beyond the original curriculum and started telling Hunger exactly what she wants.

“I’m in constant amazement and shock,” Hunger said in an interview with PEOPLE. “Every day she says something cooler than she said the day before.”

What kinds of things can she say?

Stella can actually string together some impressively coherent phrases. This was demonstrated for the first time when Hunger noticed her pacing by the front door. The speech pathologist assumed that Stella needed to go outside, but instead, the dog walked to her device and tapped out “Want,” “Jake,” “Come.”

Jake is Hunger’s fiance and was supposed to come home very soon. When he returned from work Stella used her device to say “Happy.” Then she rolled over for belly rubs from Jake.

“The way she uses words to communicate and the words she’s combining is similar to a 2-year-old child,” says Hunger.

Stella’s favorite words

The first word Stella used was “Walk.” According to her mom, she was so excited after learning it and used it repeatedly, like she had spent her entire life up to that point waiting to use it whenever she could.

Her other favorite words are “Beach” and “Ball.” That seems very in character for an energetic puppy. Who doesn’t love a tiring day at the beach and a nice game of fetch?

Hunger started a blog documenting Stella’s journey.

Hunger loves learning about Stella’s thought process and what she is feeling. Luckily, Stella is very talkative which allows Hunger to understand the wants and needs of her furry friend. She even started a blog about Hunger’s learning experience and the progress of learning speech on the board.

Stella has the unique ability to tell her parents when she’s tired or needs to go outside, or wants to play in the park. I wish my dog could tell me these things.

Stella is on Hunger’s Instagram and Facebook. A video of the talking dog is attached below.

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