If youโve ever broken a bone, you know how terrible it can be. This young man broke his leg and was left healing and learning how to re-walk with crutches. Not the best experience in the world.
It wasnโt the best circumstances, but he was staying in good spirits. And one of his furry family members wanted to make sure that he was okay.
Although most people had shown sympathy for the teenโs plight, one friend went above and beyond in expressing their solidarityโ and we have the video to prove it. In the short clip, you see the teen hobbling through a hallway on his crutches.
After a few seconds, however, you notice heโs being followed by his dog, Sawyer.
As the camera gets a clearer view of the sympathetic pup, the teenโs mother bursts into laughter. The sweet dog is following the teen and copying his broken leg โwalkโ.
The fuzzy canine fake limpsโ using the same leg and all!
Turns out these dog imitations are more common than I had thought.
One funny example shows a dog in the U.K. copying his dadโs limp. His worried dad brought him to the vet, and he spent 300 pounds to learn his dog was just pretending out of sympathy!
But why do dogs copy these random behaviors?
Well, firstly, theyโre pack animals, meaning they have a natural desire to want to fit into the group. However, recent studies show to what extent that also applies to their human โpackโ.
Scientists have found that dogs yawn when humans yawn, suggesting they can empathize with people. Dogs also develop a bark similar to an ownerโs regional accent. โSo canines in Liverpool communicate in a higher pitch, for example,โ the UK Daily Mail explains.
But, in what seems to be the most cited study describing the canine tendency to imitate humans, the authors suggest dogs exhibit signs of โautomatic imitationโ โ a process that is crucial in the way humans learn.
In the study, owners had to get down on all fours to open a door with either their hand or their head. Some dogs got treats if they imitated their owners while other dogs got treats for doing the opposite action of their owners. Remarkably, even with the bribe of treats, all of the dogs seemed determined to copy their ownerโs behavior.
The authors suggest these kinds of findings can be useful in dog training.
โIf a pet owner wants to shake hands with his dog, he might be more successful if he extends his own hand to demonstrate,โ PetMD explains.
โThen the dog, watching all this, would be more likely to stretch out a paw.โ
Since being uploaded, Sawyerโs hilarious act of sympathy has been viewed thousands of times.
Comments on the video read:
โToo funny. Think dog is in solidarity with his friend.โ
โNow thatโs one genius of a dog.โ
โThe dog loves the boy. And I think itโs showing the compassion it feels for him by walking with a limp. What a great pet.โ
Sawyer may not have known why his owner was suddenly hobbling around on metal sticks, but that didnโt stop him from showing sympathy. What a good boy!
Watch the cuteness in the video below. Too sweet!
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Source: Mfox/Rumble, DailyPicksandFlicks
