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I talk to my dog a fair amount more than the other people I live with, and my dog seems to listen and trust me/do what I say more than for the others and their dogs.
So I was wondering, if talking to your pets builds some sort of relationship, whether it's trust, or the whole 'leader' thing, or something else entirely.
Does anyone else have any ideas from their experiences, or proof of one way or another?
Talking to your dog is a common practice in dog training to teach a dog to pay attention to you and your commands at any time. With the correct mix of normal talking and code words like his name and occasional commands, as well as showing him affection/giving treats when he pays attention and keeps focus on you. From what you're describing you naturally found the right way to communicate, since your dog seems to listen better than others.
However there's a fine line between training your dog to listen versus becoming a babbling background noice your dog tends to ignore. Besides training attention and focus, talking to your dog often helps to calm your dog down when facing stressful situations, since your voice became a well known, positively associated sound.
In terms of bonding, imitating the noises of your dog (works with cats too) is more recommended.
