A recent study . . . found that dogs actually respond well to baby talk.

-American Kennel Club online

Outside the oxytocin-fueled bond
between mother and baby,  
burbles and giggles sent back triple-fold
can mystify, I suppose,
and everted lips, wet with spit,
miming raspberries, or high-pitched squeaks
gleefully repeating baba, gaga, ooh, aah
can simply repel. Oh, don’t indulge
those kids in silliness!

Some folks abhor sing-song crooning
even more when it’s addressed
to pooches. Make them heel!

My own husband raised his eyebrows,
and curled his lip a bit, when I patted and praised
our new poodle-mixes in falsetto
(our own babies middle-aged, and far away).

But now that the mutts are totally bonded
to me, and he’s read the scientific news,
it seems he barely disapproves, and I
can cutie-patootie and fluffy-wuffle
when  I please (as long as he’s
out of hearing).