Talking to our pets and other critters

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I wish my dog would understand that. She barks at people coming to the house, or passing by, to pretend she's some kind of guard dog, or to get attention, so she's got that bit. But when she wants something from me, she just stands there silently with a pathetic look on her face, which isn't helpful when I'm in a different room with the door shut, so can't see her .

That's funny...mine does this grumble sound like rawrrawrrawrrrr if she wants food or outside, and whines if she has a problem and needs help (toy is stuck where she can't reach, etc.

BUT if she gets shut in a room, she just waits quietly to be let out...we thought we lost her once at my MIL's house until we found her in a closet.

I heard dogs somehow understand tonal inflection and can face read/emotions

Naia and I have had many wonderful 'conversations', even though I usually don't know what she is 'saying'...

(Disclaimer: This image is not of Naia, but only of a cat that looks like her. -Fnord-)

^
What a beautiful cat How old is she?

I talk to my cat too - he looks at me very attentively and seems to enjoy it. And if he goes around meowing out of boredom he also shows interest if I start talking to him.

But I think it's very common for people (regardless of neurology) to talk to their pets or animals in general. Sometimes when I'm out and about dogs come to sniff me or play with me. I always talk to them while petting and the owner doesn't seem to find it strange or unusual.

I said hello to a fox who appeared out the undergrowth close to me recently. I think it was so confused that it took a few moments to decide that it was probably best to go back where it came from! My dog was busy sniffing around in a some other undergrowth at the time, and missed the excitement!

I may say words of greeting, but I don't expect animals to understand a large vocabulary any more than I expect to understand other languages myself. Humans chatter, and pets learn to understand tone of voice, etc the same as we do. (If someone asks how you are, and you reply "Fairly suicidal, thanks" in a happy, singsong voice, they won't notice the middle word.) We don't understand the things that cats, foxes, and ravens say to each other, although they have dozens of "words." We don't even know what they might want to say in most cases.
It makes me very sad when I meet a dog whose owner only talks but never listens, and has no other dogs to play with. They get so discouraged that they even loose their own body language. A dog's "follow me" signal is very clear, and has led to many rescues, but most people don't even see it.
When a dog jumps up at me, I think it is most interested in smelling my breath most of the time as part of a greeting, so I bend over and/or sit if I want to be polite. I'd like to have a pet, but I can't feed one without starving a wild animal at the other end of the supply chain, and I value nature more. I considered collecting road kill, but then I spotted a very rare wildcat subsisting on it.
My friend once had a dog who would chase deer into the water, so that they both could eat, and share. That dog knew darn well that he was a full member of the group. Once, when there was a mix-up, he even managed to hitch hike home. He snuck into the pub, and by the sixth round, was sitting up happily on a bench along the wall, surveying the scene. My friend asked the waiter if there was a problem, and was told the dog was the best behaved one of the group. Words were not needed.

I always talk to my dogs and cats, and even the fish. It's interesting because I have little "conversations" with them and I like doing it because it makes me feel less alone and it's like a way of bonding with them to me.