Man Spends $360 at the Vet to Treat His Limping Dog, Finds Out He Was Simply Copying His Human

People who own pets understand that their pets will sometimes do absolutely absurd things out of love for them. Billy, an adorable dog from London, exemplifies this point. Billy's owner, Russell Jones, was wearing a plaster cast due to an injury. Soon, he noticed his dog limping and thought something was wrong with him.

Worried, he took the dog to the vet, who ran a few tests on him. The owner learned that his dog was in perfect health after spending nearly $400 on X-rays and vet bills. He was simply imitating him! Jones shared a touching yet humorous video of his dog mirroring his behavior while walking beside him on Facebook in January 2021.

Jones, whose leg was in a plaster cast at the time, is seen walking down the street with his dog Billy in the short video. The lurcher is seen imitating his owner's limp by walking with one paw elevated above the ground. "Cost me £300 in vet fees and X-rays, nothing wrong, just sympathy. Love him," Russell shared in the post's caption.

While Billy's phony limp cost the family a lot of money in vet bills, the dog's Oscar-worthy performance still makes them laugh. The post received over 42,000 likes and 58,000 shares, with many viewers leaving comments about dogs and their loyalty. "Pupper has empathy and loves his person. Doesn't want him to suffer alone!" commented Nonchalant Nancy Thomas. "That's what unconditional love looks like!!!!" concluded Elsa Blue.

On one of Billy's Instagram posts, jenmickey99 shared something similar that happened to him. "Mine only cost $96 for a dog that walked on 3 legs for 4 days. I could not detect any reason, so I finally [took him] to the vet. He could not find any cause and said he probably just had a mild sprain. Was going to give him some mild meds. Until he looked at the dog, started laughing, and said: 'Those won’t be needed.' I was confused at the quick change until I also saw it. After three days of no weight on the left front leg. He had gotten confused and now it was the right front leg off the ground. He has pulled [many] things like that in 12 years. Scared I will miss something real one day!!! Vets diagnoses on his charts."

Woefully, Billy died in March 2022 after a battle with lung cancer. Russell shared the news on Facebook, along with a message about how much he adored the dog. "Hi everyone, wanted to tell you on here that my Billy ran over the [rainbow] today. He’s had lung cancer and was time to say goodbye. I wanted to tell you on here because this is where our 5 mins of fame began. Love you Billy and you’ll never be forgotten, heartbroken. "

Many Facebook users expressed their grief at the news. After all, Billy had become a star. "Really sorry to hear that. He was a little star and obviously bonded really closely with you," one commented.

Russell, on the other hand, claims that his journey with Billy is far from over. Russell received a phone call in July informing him that Billy had won the PEOPLE's Pet Award. Russell updated the page, informing everyone that Billy's memory lives on. "Just to let you all know that my journey with Bill is still not over. Got a call on Friday to tell me that he’s won the PEOPLE's pet awards. I’d just like to thank this page and everyone’s support in this amazing experience and since Bill has sadly got his wings and gone over the rainbow he’s memory will live on Thank you all Russ," he wrote.