Doesn't apply to us yet, but I would think that they would count. We were at the pedi yesterday for our 15 mo check up and on his little developmental survey it defined a "word" as anything that the baby says that consistently had the same meaning. I.E. "baba" might not be a real word, but if the baby uses it to mean "bottle" then it counts. So I think animal sounds fit right into that.
Re: Word coubt