United Kingdom, March 17 -- Tim Burton told Helena Bonham Carter he "was a dog".

The 'Beetlejuice Beetlejuice' filmmaker has always felt an affinity to his canine companions and his former partner - with whom he has Billy, 21, and 17-year-old Nell - admitted that is reflected in his visual communication style.

Speaking in Tara Wood's new four-part untitled documentary series about the 66-year-old director, People magazine reports she said: "He loves dogs. Pepper was his childhood dog. He's always felt at ease with dogs. He said very early on in our relationship that he was a dog, so maybe that's where he came from - dog land."

And discussing his communication style, the 58-year-old actress - who was in a relationship with Tim from 2001...