I can definitely imagine some Stardwellers saying "Hey, it would be great if I could talk with my dog!" and then going and doing it. It is a bit of a minefield, but I don't think it's worse than programming a digital intelligence.
Let's call it Biotech 3, Cognitech 2 for a civilization to figure out other species' genomes to the level where they can create new variants with human-level intelligence and language centers. Creating a template for a new uplift species would be a major project with those Capability requirements and Biotech Engineer as the appropriate Profession.
Might make an interesting supplement someday, though having never read Brin's series I'm not sure I'm the guy to write it.
