A golden retriever and a herd of cows get the 'zoomies' — how unlikely friendships bloom across species

We often forget that animals, too, experience similar emotions to humans. While humans largely interact with each other through verbal communication, animals, on the other hand, use distinctive body language and vocalization. However, it's the social intelligence and understanding of every emotion that remain constant in both. Remember, this heartfelt exchange of mutual love and admiration isn't exclusively intraspecies; at times, animals from different species also communicate with each other, forming bonds that prove love truly knows no bounds. This profound truth was highlighted when a heartfelt video, shared on Winter Dog's (@winterpaw29) TikTok page, beautifully captured a golden retriever's priceless reaction on seeing a group of cows in an open field.

Though the dog and the herd of cows appeared to live on either side of a fence, their reaction on meeting each other screams pure friendship. In the now-viral video, the playful golden retriever came running towards the cows, as if excited to see his long-lost friends after years. Upon seeing this, the cows who were peacefully grazing in the meadow reciprocated the gesture, as they, too, came running near the fence to talk to their canine buddy. "Proof that animals love each other," read the overlay text, while the screen unveiled a heartwarming sight of animals acknowledging each other's presence.

While this remarkable instance unfolded, a lesser-known insight about different animals communicating with each other lets us dive into how these creatures interact with humans — Intuitive Interspecies Communication (IIC). As defined by the University of Saskatchewan, "IIC presents as a detailed, non-verbal and non-physical form of communication between humans and other animals." Further, the interesting report suggests that interspecies communication can occur, even when the animals aren't in direct physical proximity, without the need for "visual, auditory, olfactory, voice, or other cues that humans normally associate with direct interactive communication."

The adorable video received an overwhelming response on social media, with close to 2 million views online. Meanwhile, reacting to it, a user who goes by @thetorturedfloristdept on TikTok commented, "You have no idea how hard I would be sobbing. I love dogs and cows. We don't deserve them." Similarly, @rushi_rv shared, "Hey, so your golden retriever has successfully converted all your cows into golden retrievers." Another user, @tristaaaaapb, pointed out, "Cows are so fascinating! They are capable of friendships, love, fear; they even mourn. They recognize those who are both good and not so good to them. I love cows, lol!"

Someone else with the username, @kays4489, said, "If only the human species was this accepting of everyone, the world would be a beautiful place!" On the other hand, @dc29636 revealed, "Your yard looks like where I imagine my old man that passed went to in doggie heaven. Such a beautiful place and video!" @candoggy revealed, "Do all golden retrievers run like that lol? My neighbor's dog does the same thing. It’s so cute! He’s like a big toddler." @hannahzellman, who was clearly overwhelmed by the wholesome video, said, "Aww, this is why folks call cows grass puppies! Knowing that cows get zoomies makes me love them even more."

You can follow Winter Dog (@winterpaw29) on TikTok for more such animal-related content.