German Shepherd Howls With Toddler Like They're Speaking Their Own Little Language

Kids and pets can make a chaotically cute household, seemingly forming a united front when it comes to causing mischief. Despite that — or very well because of it — the two often have an unbreakable bond, with pets naturally gravitating to the children they love to cuddle and play with. Sometimes, they even seem to have their own secret language and rituals, which is fully on display in this endearing Instagram video of a German shepherd and a toddler howling together as if they're communing with each other on another level.

"Let's howl together again," states the video, which features the German shepherd named Kaos and his toddler sister Posie. In it, the large dog is seen pulling himself up onto the side of the toddler's crib and howling, with the little kid mimicking the sound and talking back to the dog. "The Best Bonding In The World ❤️," one person dropped in the comments, and they sure do have a deep connection — which is also on display in this related video of the same German shepherd teaching the same toddler how to play fetch!

All dogs howl at some point in their lives — out the front window, late at night, or even while talking to a toddler in a crib. It's a primal form of communication that has spilled over from their wolf ancestry, which evokes imagery of wild wolves howling at the moon. In domesticated dogs, humans sometimes equate it with dogs singing.

In reality, howling is often used as a way for dogs to inform other dogs of their location/territory and to express emotions like sadness, joy, or anxiety. It's also an instinctive echo of high-pitched sounds like sirens, musical instruments such as harmonicas, or even a shrieking toddler that is simply a way for the dog to acknowledge the noise and do their due diligence of joining in and letting others know they heard it.

Unless your dog howls excessively, there's usually no need to worry about the behavior, just crack it up to another way your dog is trying to communicate with you and the world around them.