Though dogs can’t speak in the traditional sense, that doesn’t mean they don’t speak to us using the tools they have. Anyone who has spent quality time with a dog knows that they communicate to us all the time without words. You start to pick up on their language and can tell the difference between an excited bark and an angry bark. You know when they want to be let outside for a walk and you know when they’re bored on the walk and just want to go home. 

In some ways, they’re like children. They’re pre-verbal (or I guess never-verbal) but they’ve absorbed the codes and signals of our world and they know how to use them to communicate with us. They know that a certain kind of cute look will get them an extra treat if it’s timed well. They know that enough barking will eventually yield to a walk, even if they annoy the heck out of you while doing so.