Dog owner discovered his lurcher Bill was limping out of SYMPATHY

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Footage captured the moment a ‘con-artist’ dog that copied its owner’s limp was caught out as it sprinted around the garden when he left the house. 

Billy the eight-year-old lurcher captured the hearts of millions after a video showed him hopping alongside his owner 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

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 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 dog follows his owner along the street

The canine copies his owner

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

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

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.’     

Why dogs DO imitate their owners – even when it is not in their best interests 

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.

All of the dogs had received training to open a sliding door using their head or their paw prior to watching their leader.  

Researchers found that the dogs were more inclined to imitate their pack leader – 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.’

In their report the scientists went on to conclude that due to both their evolutionary history of domestication and their developmental training by humans, dogs will mimic behaviours they are shown.  

In 2017, a study by Dr Iris Schoberl, at the University of Vienna, found that both owners and dogs influenced each other’s coping mechanisms.

An experiment involving 132 owners and their pets found that dogs belonging to neurotic owners were less able to cope with stress, while relaxed people had more relaxed and friendly pets.

The research paper also found that dogs were sensitive to their owners’ emotional states, with women in particular having stronger relationships with companion animals. 

Dr Schoberl, lead author of the study published in the journal PLOS One, said: ‘Owners behave differently because they are pessimistic or neurotic, and perhaps dogs read the emotions of their owners and think the world is more dangerous, so are more reactive to it.

‘It looks like people who are pessimistic have dogs which are worse at coping with stress than others.’  

The studies may help explain why the lurcher in the video replicates their owner’s movements.

But not all experts are convinced the dog’s behaviour is brought about by sympathy. 

Rosie Bescoby, who is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, told MailOnline: ‘Dogs have to be trained to imitate people. Animals won’t ever do it out of sympathy. I would 110 per cent state that this dog is actually in pain and non-weight bearing for a physical reason. 

‘I would have suggested the owner seek a second opinion from another vet and there are plenty of things that would not show up on an X-ray that can cause this (even as small as a thorn in the foot). 

‘It would be complete coincidence that the dog has shown this behaviour at the same time the owner is in a cast. 

‘Lurchers are not known for their bravery when it comes to pain so it may be that something fairly minor was causing the issue but I am afraid myself and my colleagues will categorically state that this is not a happy dog. 

‘Anyone whose dog is showing signs of lameness should see their vet and if no diagnosis is made request referral or seek a second opinion.’