My "Talking" Newf
April 2006

Orion "talks" when he first gets up in the morning and we come down stairs. I first feed the bird, then make coffee, and then call him over for his morning attention (he will follow me at a distance until I call him over). Then he gets a big hug, lots of kisses, and then ear scratching to which he will moan and moo. He flops himself down for a belly rub, and if he thinks he ought to have more, he will "give me a talking to". This he does every day as part of his "routine". When Hubber is giving one of the kids a talking to, Orion will come over and first stand by Hubber and "talk" then move over to the kid being scolded and "talk" back to Hubber. This makes everyone start laughing but, needless to say, drives poor Hub crazy. Throughout the day he will occasionally talk, first by looking at the person he's talking to, then he starts "raawWooWoorawwoo" and if we mimick him, he will get louder and eventually start barking, to which we bark along with him. When he finishes, he will always try to get the last word in, with a "RawRawRaw" which sounds like he's muttering under his breath. It is hilarious, though I don't know what he's saying or even whether or not he thinks it's funny. Knowing him and his sense of humor, he probably does.