I have made friends with the husky we pass by on our walks. I've not pet it yet. It would bark at us, so I started to bark back. It seemed miffed, so it'd huff at me. I'd huff back. Now when it knows we're coming it does the friendly barks and huffs as we go past. I still bark back. I respond in kind.
I'm sure anyone witnessing it thinks I'm utterly mad.
@Agatha: LOL. I do the same, and I am incorrigible about it.
I also do that with babies and young children. I don't mean bark, but I talk to them like I understand what they're saying.
Ooooooohhhh kids are yikes. Like, I don't know what to do with them. That's a superpower I do not possess.
@Agatha: I enjoy kids. They are fun, and even if they aren't fun, they're not usually difficult to short-circuit to get them to be easier to deal with.
I just don't know how to communicate with them. I even had one but still never figured it out. Now once they get to early teens I can handle them. π
@Agatha: Smol humans, from infancy up to around three, are just little primates. They react to eye contact, facial expressions, body language, and vocal tone/cadence, and I match, follow, and/or then guide their expressions while gleaning their interests and cues. I do the same with doggos and kittehs and other animals.
Yeah... All those things I, ya know, have trouble with... (Eye contact? Facial expressions? Body language?? Are you MAD? π)
@Agatha: I find that with kids it's a LOT easier than with humans over the age of 18. Between my age and experience and their being noobs, I do well, seeing as how the younger they are, the less the dishonesty and ego. Id, yeah, and plenty of it, but it's honest. Children are easier to read and communicate with, IMO.