Is it true that in England they shot a dog that is limited to imitation of its master?

On the Internet, a video about a dog, which goes next to his owner who broke his leg, became popular on the Internet and copies his lameness. We checked how true this story is.

In January 2021, social networks spread video, on which a man with a gypsum leg and his dog walk along the street. Internet users simultaneously surprised and amused that the dog was running out of his paw after the owner, imitating a gait of a person. The video quickly became popular, and large British tabloids wrote about an unusual dog Metro, The Sun And Daily Mail.

Last summer, the British Russell Jones seriously damaged the ankle and after the placement of the gypsum began to walk on crutches. Soon, Jones began to notice that his dog named Billy was walking after the household, squeezing his paw. Having worried about his pet, the Briton took him to the veterinarian and made an X -ray. To the surprise (and joy) of the owner, neither in this or another clinic Not found Any health problems.

Meanwhile, in social networks and on YouTube, a video in which Jones along with Billy walk along the street, and then turn home, Sicked Millions of views. At the same time, both the owner and the pet are lame. The video became so popular that Jones and his wife were invited to the morning show on the British ITV television channel. They said that Billy behaves strange only in the presence of Russell. When it is not nearby, the dog, without any signs of pain in the paw, runs along the lawn and jumps after the ball into the water. To finally convince the presenters, the spouses showed the videos filmed in the summer with the playing dog.

Although this dog’s behavior surprised many people, for experts it did not become something extraordinary. In 2017, a group of French scientists Published A study on interspecific behavioral synchronization. They found that dogs often repeat the actions of their master, move or look in the same direction. In 2011 to similar conclusions They came Scientists from the University of Vienna. They invited the owners to show their dogs how to open the door: with their heads or paw. According to the results of the study, animals were inclined to copy the behavior of people. Moreover, the case of Russell Jones and the dog Billy Not the only oneWhen dogs imitate the gait of the lame hosts.

Is it true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. https://youtu.be/ekk02pid1xm
2. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-12577-Z
3. https://royalsocietypubling.org/doi/10.1098/rspb 2010.1142
4. https://youtu.be/r6vrteaxb4u