Can a parrot really call a dog by name?
Yes, and that is the whole problem. African Grey parrots learn what a name does, and a trained dog comes when its name is called. In this episode of Talking With Pets, a parrot from a Hollywood-adjacent animal training facility explains the most reliable bit in history: he called a very famous dog, by name, and the dog came. Every time.
History remembers the famous. Their pets remember the person. On Talking With Pets, a brown tabby cat named Prince MoRee contacts the pets of history's greatest figures and lets them tell what they really saw. This is the Other One format: history remembers one name, and we found the other one. True, surprising, and great for curious kids and the grown-ups listening with them.
This episode is fully scripted and has passed the Talking With Pets accuracy review. The recording is in production. The audio player and the full transcript will appear right here the day the episode goes live. Join the founding list below and we will write to you when it does.
From the episode
[Somewhere in the distance, a dog barks. Confused. Then closer.]
Roxie: (very quietly) Are you doing the thing right now?
The Parrot: I'm being interviewed.
Roxie: You're doing the thing during the interview.
The Parrot: The interview happens to be occurring at a time when I am also doing the thing.
[Prince MoRee writes a note. The note has a name on it. He underlines it.]
What's true, what we filled in, what we imagined
Every episode of Talking With Pets is built in three honest layers. Here is how this one breaks down.
Documented in the historical record
African Grey parrots can learn hundreds of words, identify objects by name, count to small numbers, and use language functionally rather than just mimicking it. The most famous documentation is Dr. Irene Pepperberg's research with Alex the Grey (1977 to 2007), and the cognitive capacities are well documented independently. Mid-century Hollywood animal training facilities housed highly trained dog actors whose entire repertoire was built around correct response to cues, including their own names.
Grounded inference from the record
This is the show's most composite episode, and it says so out loud. A parrot housed near a famous trained dog would have had access to the bit, and the underlying behavior, a Grey parrot calling a name and watching what happens, is documented. The specific parrot, facility, and dog are a grounded composite rather than one documented case, which is why the episode never names the dog.
Story, voice, and feeling
The Parrot's voice, the interview, and the bark in the distance while the interview is happening are imagined. A parrot cannot really be reached by a cat medium. The turn at the end, that calling a name that always comes back is its own kind of love, is the storytelling.
Sources and further reading
- African Grey parrot cognition: functional language use, name recognition, learned associations. Irene M. Pepperberg, The Alex Studies (Harvard University Press, 1999); research record of Alex the Grey, 1977 to 2007. alexfoundation.org
- Grey parrots' documented capacities: hundreds of words and phrases, object identification by name, counting small numbers, basic color and shape concepts. Peer-reviewed avian cognition literature building on and independent of the Alex studies.
- Hollywood animal training facilities, 1940s to 1960s: professional trained animal actors, including dogs whose behavioral repertoire was built on correct response to cues and name-calls. Trainer and facility accounts; film and television animal unit history. americanhumane.org
All historical claims above were checked in the Talking With Pets accuracy review, most recently the full editorial pass of July 2026.
Can a parrot really call a dog by name?
Yes. African Grey parrots are among the most cognitively complex birds known to science. Research shows they can use words functionally, not just mimic them: they learn what a name is for and what happens when they say it. A trained dog, whose whole job is responding correctly to calls, comes every time. Source: the Alex studies of Dr. Irene Pepperberg.
Who was Alex the parrot?
Alex was an African Grey parrot studied by Dr. Irene Pepperberg from 1977 to 2007. He learned about a hundred words, identified objects by name, counted small numbers, and understood basic concepts of color and shape. His research record is the most famous documentation of functional language use in parrots. Source: The Alex Foundation; Pepperberg, The Alex Studies (1999).
Is this episode of Talking With Pets a true story?
It is a composite, and the episode says so. Both halves of the bit are documented: African Grey parrots really do learn names and use them functionally, and mid-century Hollywood facilities really did house trained dog actors built to respond to calls. The specific parrot, the specific facility, and the specific famous dog are a composite rather than one documented animal. The show tells you which is which.
Why does the episode never name the famous dog?
On purpose. Because the episode is a composite, naming a real famous dog would claim more than the record supports. The Parrot stays cagey, saying only that it was a very famous dog, possibly the most famous dog at the facility, and the comedy works better that way.
What is Talking With Pets, and is it good for kids?
Talking With Pets is an educational history podcast for curious kids ages 6 to 10 and the grown-ups listening with them. A brown tabby cat named Prince MoRee contacts the pets of history's greatest figures, who tell the true story of the person they knew. Every episode is sourced and divided into what is documented, what was filled in, and what was imagined, which makes it a quiet lesson in how to weigh sources. It is a Talking With Pets production.
Talking With Pets Ā· the true stories only the animals saw.
Chaco, Roxie, Moose, Prince MoRee, and Armando are getting the pilot ready. Join the founding list and we will write to you when the first episodes go live. Listen with someone you like.