A happy puppy has been compared to a hopping bunny rabbit after a video of his unusual walking habit went viral.
One-year-old Rupert gets so excited to be on a walk, he bounces instead of walks when outside on his lead.
The hilarious antics have gained over 1.6 million views, with TikTok users asking for more Rupert content.
His owner, Molly Lethbridge, from Exeter in Devon, says from the moment his lead goes on to the moment he’s allowed to run free, the pup will jump for joy, making him look like anything but a dog.
From behind, he looks more like a rabbit leaping on a lead.
The leaping dog doesn’t do one or two leaps, but he replaces his ‘four paw walk’ with powerful consecutive springs into the air. And it has finally caught people’s attention.
Molly, 24, said: “He has lots of quirks that I’ve never known any other dog to have and this is one of many. I think he’s mistaken about what animal he is.
“I’ve only just cottoned on to the fact other people notice and find it funny.”
Rupert has been bunny hopping ever since his first walk, so for Molly and her fiancé Joe Wilson, also 24, it became the norm for their daily walks. They didn’t quite realise how unusual it was until people started to notice.
Molly caught the behaviour on video and uploaded it onto TikTok labelled ‘someone’s got the Christmas spirit.’
One user of the platform said, “When you order a kangaroo off Wish,” while someone else said, “The floor is lava.”
Another joked, “I’ll have what he’s having,” while someone said, “Past life grasshopper.”
He was also compared to a kangaroo, Prancer and Dasher the reindeer, Bambi and Mario.
Others claimed that it was so good it was ‘the best thing they have ever seen’ and made their day much brighter.
The comments were flooded with compliments on how funny it was, with Joe giving people an extra laugh.
He is seen walking Rupert in the video while shaking his head as if to say ‘not this again’.
Their favourite place to walk is Budleigh Salterton, but it’s during any walk that Rupert jumps for joy.
Molly said: “Rupert is everything we wanted in a dog and more. He makes us smile so much and it’s lovely to see him make other people smile.”
