The owners of a ‘con artist dog’ have revealed how their pet fooled them into believing he was ill as he mimicked his owner.
Billy the dog captured the hearts of the nation after a video showing him limping alongside his owner amassed millions of views across social media.
The eight-year-old lurcher was seen hopping beside Russell Jones, who was using crutches after breaking his ankle.
Mr Jones spent some £300 in vet fees and X-rays for his limping canine – only to discover the dog was copying him out of sympathy.
Appearing on This Morning today, Mr Jones and his wife Michelle revealed how Billy started limping after Russell snapped his ankle.
Window cleaner Mr Jones laughed as he recalled how Billy was caught out by Michelle when she noticed he only limped when her husband was in the room.
Bill the lurcher lifts his paw above the ground and imitates his owner Russell Jones, whose leg is in a plaster cast, out of sympathy
The con artist dog: Appearing on This Morning today, Mr Jones and his wife Michelle revealed how he snapped his ankle after jumping off a wall, before Billy started limping the next day
Mr Jones found out that the limping lurcher did not have any physical ailments and was simply replicating his behaviour
Mr Jones, who is thought to be from London, took to social media to share footage of his beloved lurcher hopping along the street with his paw raised above the ground in an effort to mimic his owner’s movements.
The video has since received more than two million views on social media, and Mr Jones later took to Facebook to write: ‘Cost me £300 in vet fees and X-rays, nothing wrong just sympathy. Love him.’
He told Holly and Phil on This Morning how he snapped his ankle in June last year, and people across the world sent him advice on how to treat his supposedly injured dog.
He said: ‘The next day as I was limping around the house, Michelle noticed that he was sort of copying me. We were concerned that something was wrong with his foot so the next day we went to the vets.
‘They found nothing. Because of social distancing, he walked in – normally, believe it or not.
‘Then when he came out they said they couldn’t find anything with him. When we got home he started limping again.
‘Michelle got suspicious when he ran around the garden. So Michelle recorded it and we sent a video to my mum.’
Phil dubbed the dog the ‘biggest con artist they’d ever had on the show.’
Mr Jones said people had voiced so much concern for his pet, he, ‘had to do another post of him swimming and jumping around in the river.’
He added: ‘I borrowed my dad’s mobility scooter to take him for a walk while I had plaster on and he was walking fine – because I wasn’t limping.’
Mrs Jones added: ‘He’s a very caring dog.’
The canine copies his injured owner out of sympathy as he walks beside him along the street
The dog continues to keep a watchful eye over his owner as he makes his way to his home
After it was shared online, social media users rushed to Facebook to share their praise for the dog
During the clip, Billy the lurcher is seen limping next to his owner as he hops along the street with his leg in a cast.
The dog continues to keep a watchful eye over his owner as he limps towards his house and enters his front garden.
Following the touching scenes, social media users shared their praise for the canine, with one calling it ‘pure love’.
One wrote: ‘He’s copying you. That’s brilliant! Though you have my sympathy for the vets bill.’
Another person added: ‘You mean he’s hopping because you are? That’s fantastic!’
In 2011, scientists at the University of Vienna provided the first evidence of ‘automatic imitation’ in dogs and found that canines will imitate their owners even when it is not in their best interest to do so.
During the study, half of the dogs watched their human ‘pack leader’ slide open a door with their hand while the other half watched their leader use their head.
Researchers found that the dogs were more inclined to imitate whatever their pack leader displayed – with or without the prospect of a reward.
Lead author Friederike Range said: ‘This suggests that, like humans, dogs are subject to ”automatic imitation”; they cannot inhibit online, the tendency to imitate head use and/or paw use.’