She talks to her dog. Strange? She has a special voice for the dog and they have "intelligent" (meaning not baby talk, real talking) conversations for minutes, and sometimes in French. ("basset hounds are french dogs mom! so I might as well practice my french on her.") Would that be a "characteristic" of a gifted child or just an imaginative one. (I don't consider her too imaginative, though.) Shes 13, by the way, so I think shes a bit old for that.