Everybody knows the saying that a dog is a man’s best friend, but they’re actually really great buddies with newborns and younger children too. We often see that four-footers will take responsibility and act as a sort of older sibling, which is exactly what we see here. Some dogs also want to teach babies and infants about the world and their environment, and even share a couple of skills they picked up.

Animal experts even have a name for this kind of brotherly and protective behavior: dogs apparently have a “pack drive”.

This pack drive means that canines naturally want to protect their fellow loved ones, including sibling four-footers, but also new human family members. And this pack mentality actually is greatly beneficial for our littles ones as well! Numerous research papers indicate that babies who grow in a household with one or more dogs are happier. Their serotonin and dopamine levels, both chemicals associated with happiness and overall positive feelings, were raised when they had animals around them.

The adorable baby Alexis has definitely found herself a best friend in the four-footer who listens to the name Day.

A couple of years ago, mommy Sabrina captured some absolutely amazing and cute footage of the two friends spending some time together. Alexis, or Ally for short, was still figuring out how to use the jolly jumper that she just got.

Of course, the four-footer in the home was definitely intrigued by the sight of the jolly jumper, to say the least. The little baby tried to move around in the jumper, and Day seemed to notice that the shadows started moving.

“Alexis is learning the jolly jumper. Day(kota) has a love for shadows. Put these two together and what do you get…” mom wrote in the video caption.

We can see that Day is constantly trying to follow the baby’s shadows but after a while, Alexis starts to mimic the jumps of the dog!

Alexis clearly noticed that the pup was jumping around, and she figured that she would try to do the same. After all, she was firmly installed in her jumper and it was the ideal moment to learn to jump on her own by following her dog’s example! You can just tell that these two love spending time together and have already built a connection that doesn’t need words.

The whole thing is just as hilarious as it is sweet.

It definitely isn’t the first time that four-footers have been trying to teach younger children some skills, but this is definitely one of the coolest ones. A lot of babies have learned to crawl thanks to their pup, for example. Jumping in a jolly jumper definitely sounds like a lot more fun.

Mom Sabrina posted the video on YouTube a couple of years ago, and it only makes us wonder what kind of adventures that Ally and Day have been through together since. With over 10 million views on the video platform, these canine jumping lessons have also gone viral!

Be sure to check out the adorable video below.

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Source: Sabrina Sauve (YouTube)