When Kenai was with me for two months before Christmas, I joked that my foster puppy was bilingual, because he was learning some words in Swedish and others in Spanish. I've done the same thing with Maiki: she knows Spanish words for some things and English words for others. The dogs are not really "bilingual." It's just that the one language they do know is made up of a mixture of words from different languages.
But this week, as Maiki turns 4½ months, we're beginning to notice evidence that she's becoming genuinely bilingual. Not with verbs or commands, which need to be super clear, but with her vocabulary and the names of things. You can ask her to find her hueso or find her bone, and she knows exactly what you mean. You can ask her if she wants water or if she wants agua, and she walks directly to the water bowl. If my neighbour says to her, "¿Te doy cariñitos?" she puts on the same soppy behaviour as when I say, "Come and give me cuddles."
It's quite fascinating. I've intentionally observed it for years in children and adults, but this is the first time I've been able to see it happening with an animal. Maybe I could write a PhD on language acquisition and bilingualism in dogs and cats!
