Are you kidding?!?!? I have invented a new language for the cats that only they and i understand. Ginky=treat. Gonkies=toe nails. Boodie Ball=nests i carve out of the comforter on cold days. Mind you these nests have to have a "wall" between them because someone doesnt want someone else looking at him while he tries to sleep because that someone bites him on his boodie when he isnt looking. Know what? These cats know the meaning of each and every made up word esp the ones for food.

That's just weird, M! Everybody knows the proper word for that affliction when talking to one's pet is "hick'em-ups!" And it is very important to ask them this repeatedly when they have them because someday they just might answer!

I love it when I know Steve is on his way home, especially from an out of town business trip. Five to ten minutes before his arrival I ask Izzy "Is your Daddy coming home? Where's your Daddy?" This froths her up into the funniest state and she barks and dances and spins and lies down in front of the door from the garage and stares at it while vigorously wagging her tail until it opens. She greets her with barks and kisses and it's become a ritual they both enjoy.

The other night Steve and I were both in the living room watching TV and I excitedly asked Izzy if her Daddy was coming home. She started her waggy happy dance, ran to the back door and then I saw the little light bulb go on above her fuzzy little brain and she barked accusingly at me, went over and nudged her Daddy on the couch and barked at me some more. I love to make dogs laugh and Izzy laughs easily.

Steve is guilty of much of our mutual baby talk to the animals. Every night he asks Izzy "Schtinkus! You want some foooods?" and should he invite any of them (Kitty included) to join him on his lap, he will almost certainly do so in some form of baby talk.

But we're not weird or anything. I mean we don't go around calling hick'em-ups hickey cups! Sheesh! ;o)

I've never had a pet who got hick'em-ups, although more than one has had the smarty farty's. I don't talk baby to them but they do have several names. Scoop is "Scooper Diver", "Scooper Boots", "Scooper Moray" "Scoopa Chocolate" and "The Diva". Rags is "Ragtime man", "Ragamoko", "Moko Man", Ragscallion" and they are both my "baby monkey pods". I break into song right before meals. Breakfast is: "You Are The Champions" and dinner is "Suppertime, Suppertime, Sup Sup Suppertime". I occasionally dance with them....I lead:)

I buy them a brand of dog biscuit called "Mr. Barky" and they spin with delight if I say the words "Who wants a Mr. Barky?"

Keep telling yourself "baby monkey pods" isn't baby talk, Sheila. We all know better. LOL Smarty farties are pooties by the way. Do you all realize if we got together and made a dictionary how huge it would be? Several pages for each word.

No, NO, NNNOOOOO!!!!

It really pains me deeply to realize y'all are teaching your fur-babies incorrect vocabulary.

Smartie farties and pooties are froggies..."I think someone ate a frog...I just heard a croak."

Baby talk??!!...you are selling my fur-babies and fids so short.
They are much too mature and intelligent for baby talk.

Of course I talk baby talk to Sassi, she's a baby.
A fart is a toot by the way.

OMG......now I'm worried. I sat here for awhile, trying to think of what baby-talk words I use with my pets, and came to the conclusion, since I can't think of any so far, that I DON'T! I talk to them like adults, mature fur people!!!!!!!!!!!! argh!!!!!!!!

The only thing I do is to make nonsense names for them. Hobbes is Hob-knob, part of a saying my mother used to use when I'd ask her what something was. She'd say a hob-knob for a goose's behind. LOL. Their names. That's the only thing I tinker with. Fritz is the Fritzmeister. Drifter Raye, is Drifter Raisin. They come no matter what I call them, so I guess they love me anyway.

Suzy, despite what Marda says I don't talk baby talk to my dogs:) I don't even talk baby talk to babies!

Stick with me:)

I'm with Suzy and Sheila...no baby talk here either when we had the kid or the pets But I really got a kick out of Sheila singing before breakfast...I don't even talk to DH before breakfast...josh

Do you want some tuppy" (supper)

Come to think of it, I do sing to the FIDS a lot.

When I bathe them, I have a couple of songs I sing.
I started this when I had a couple of FIDS that were afraid of bathing.
This really seemed to calm them and even though they are okay with bathing now, I still sing.

It's so funny when I start "This is the way we wash our wings," Maxie, the Blue and Gold Macaw, gets so excited she will automatically start lifting her wings and swooshing her tail around before I ever get to her with the sprayer.

Sorry, no baby talk here either. Tone is a different story. I can -and have- said "good morning, and how are you this sunny day?" with an intonation that would have done credit to cooing "ooooo, an' how's mama's sweet li'l baby binky..."

The closest I remember coming to any euphemisms, was when Trina was doing that gag-heave preliminary to presenting a hairball. I had just scrubbed the kitchen floor where she was standing, and I looked at her and said, "If you are planning to up-chuck, you had better do it outside." She looked immensely affronted and stalked out.

I tend to do what meldy does...a different tone.

I realized how obvious this is Saturday when I kept my 3-month-old grandson for the day.

Everytime I talked to him, Shyla would get all excited, want attention, brought me her toys, etc.

(I'm sure part of it was jealousy but I realized the tone with the baby-without-a-tail was the same tone I use with the babies-with-a-tail.)

It is not so much baby-talk as it is tone and twisted words and singing silly songs, and consistency in all that!
Of course, dinner is "yummers" to all four cats and two dogs, the morning feeding is not orchestrated, because I don't like to talk so early. I have called the dog-biscuits "cookies" and now I can't talk about the human cookies, because ears perk up, tails wag and it's not for them.
They do have names: Taschi-Washi - Gussie-Girl - Maximouse and Maximoose and Maxiwuss, he has quite a few names, Jasmyn is Gassy-Jassy, she farts a lot LOL

I had a lot of fun with my son using funny little words and singing songs when he was little,and I'm having fun doing it with my puppy,especially when he has the hickey cups. Digby,your flatulance is making me crazy. Don't think so. Digby,your pooties are driving me up the wall.Now that has a certain ring to it. LOL

Looks as though we have a lot of flatulent pets - wonder if it is something they eat?

dh makes up names for all the felines and the kids. I use the baby tone and talk with cats. But not with the kids because god forbid if they ended up talking that way (that was my mother coming out in me.) I felt horrible the time when dd was just a tiny thing and asked wistfully why I didn't talk that way to her and her brother. Stab me thru the heart.

With me it's mostly tone of voice and pet names: Darcy turns into "the darcer" or "look at you, Mary Lou" or "boo-boo kittie." Oliver is "the Ollie man" or "sweet thug." All spoken in a voice I would never want overheard by another adult except for DH.