'Man's best friend' is actually a duck

Mark Colyer has raised his duck, called Dog, from a hatchling

They say a dog is man's best friend, but for one Kent man his best pal is a duck - called Dog.

Mark Colyer, from Gillingham, takes the duck everywhere with him and friends have started calling him 'mad duck man'.

He said: "It all started when my boss let me keep duck eggs and I put 12 in an incubator. They all hatched but one kept following me around like I was his mum.

"I tried to leave it but he started crying so I decided to take him home just for one night - but that was five years ago!"

Mark Colyer and Dog attend social events together

Mark said the pair have appeared on the BBC's 'Have I Got News For You' and people often don't believe that Dog is a real duck, thinking that he is a toy.

Mark often dresses up as Charles Dickens and people stop him for a photo - but he only charges them 'a smile'.

He also takes Dog to care homes as a therapy duck and takes time off from work to participate in meet and greets with his pet.

Mark said he once met a 14-year-old girl who had been blind from birth who began stroking Dog.

She then described what every one of Dog's feathers felt like and thanked Mark.

Mark said the encounter left him with a 'massive smile on his face'.