West Lothian golden retriever goes viral for 'mooing' instead of barking
Owner shares joy as 'mooing' golden retriever amasses 200,000 followers
A golden retriever has gone viral for “mooing” instead of barking – and even communicates with cows during walks.
Lucie, nine, has made the distinctive noise since she was a puppy, according to her owner Cara Ovens, 36, from West Lothian, who has started sharing clips on social media.
In one clip, the dog can be seen "mooing" at a group of cows - who moo back in surprise.
"I've had Lucie since she was a puppy," said Cara. "It started very early, and it was a bit of a shock - she was about ten weeks old when she first did it.
"It just got more enthusiastic as the years went on, and here we are, nine years later, and she's louder than ever.''
Lucie, who is in perfect health, can also make a more typical barking sound, but Cara believes she enjoys the reaction she gets from people with her unique noise.
While the noise sometimes reminds Cara of a cow, she says more often, it sounds like a human saying "woo."
"I think she learnt that it gets a reaction," Cara said. "She does many different tones, different volumes, different strengths - I do think it's a communication method above all else.
"There have been a couple she's done in the past which sound very close to a human saying 'woo' but I can appreciate when surrounded by cows, it sounds very like a 'moo'.”
Cara began sharing clips of Lucie on her Instagram, @luciewoos, back in 2020, but last spring, Lucie went viral for the first time.
Commenters have been amused and bemused by Lucie's bark - even suggesting that Cara sees a pet psychic to find out the reasons behind it.
"I started sharing videos during lockdown, but our videos didn't really get a huge amount of traction," she said.
"In April last year, I posted a really short video of her running down the stairs - she "woos" while going down the stairs so it sounds incredibly daft.
"That video went way more viral than I could ever have thought.
"A lot of her followers on Instagram have suggested I speak to one of those pet psychics who tell you what your pet is thinking.
"Most of the comments we get ask "does she bark as well" - and yes, she does, it can be quite noisy.”
Lucie has amassed nearly 200k followers on Instagram, and owner Cara says she enjoys seeing the humour people find in her videos.
"Most of the time we get comments of people saying how much joy it brings them - which is the reason I decided to start sharing in the first place," she said.
"She makes me laugh out loud, without fail, every single day. If we can spread that joy a little bit further, that's the goal."