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00:00 It mainly started, I've had ducks before,
00:02 but four and a half years ago,
00:03 I put loads of eggs in the incubator,
00:06 and 12 hatched out that day,
00:08 but one hatched out and it followed me everywhere
00:11 like a little dog, hence his name, Dog.
00:14 So I decided to pet it and look after it
00:17 and take it back to my boat and cuddle it.
00:19 And nowadays, Dog and I have been together
00:21 for four and a half years,
00:23 and we go camping together.
00:25 He's just like a normal dog.
00:26 He follows me around all day long,
00:29 and then we do War of the Roses reenactment.
00:31 So during the battle, he has to stay in a cage.
00:34 But after the battle,
00:35 he comes around meeting and greeting people.
00:37 He's such a friendly duck.
00:38 He'll sit on my hand like this one,
00:40 or just walk beside me.
00:42 That's why I love ducks.
00:43 And now I need a replacement,
00:46 because next year we're getting a lot of bookings.
00:48 People say, "Oh, can you bring the duck to this event?"
00:51 I just don't want to let anyone down.
00:55 So I've got two ducks to take along with me now
00:58 instead of the one.
00:59 But Dog and Goldie are friends.
01:01 I got the egg from the local farm shop
01:03 at Grange Road in Raynham.
01:05 I put four eggs in the incubator,
01:08 and 28 days later, this one hatched out.
01:11 But Goldie loves a little routine every morning.
01:15 She has lettuce, melon, peas.
01:18 And then when we go for a swim,
01:19 dinner time, she'll have a little swim in the pond.
01:22 I'll put her down on the floor.
01:24 She'll shake herself down, flap her wings,
01:27 and then we'll walk from the pond
01:28 all the way back to the workshop.
01:30 And if I stop, she stops before, beside me,
01:33 just like Dog does.
01:34 I take Dog back to my boat most evenings,
01:37 and I sit there.
01:37 We do like watching Count Duckula.
01:39 Together, we've watched all episodes of Count Duckula.
01:42 And then some nights, I do take Goldie back.
01:45 And then at nighttime, when we've finished,
01:47 they go into the dog cage in the wheelhouse,
01:50 and they sleep in the wheelhouse.
01:52 And then in the morning, we have a little cuddle.
01:54 I have a cup of coffee before we walk all the way back
01:58 to my workshop.
01:59 They walk beside me.
02:00 It's lovely.
02:01 Jillingham Marina actually do pay me an allowance
02:03 every month for food for the ducks,
02:05 and we've got swans.
02:07 We just had a signet hatch out this year,
02:09 so they help provide finances for the signet,
02:12 for food, bedding.
02:14 It's a lovely little place.
02:16 We do go up the bar, the Waterfront Bar.
02:18 We go up there for a beer together.
02:20 Everyone knows the ducks, and they just love 'em.
02:22 They have photographs taken.
02:24 With Dog the duck, he's beautiful.
02:25 You can put him on your shoulder like a parrot,
02:28 and he'll sit there all day long.
02:29 He's just got no attempt to get off.
02:32 He'll just stay there.
02:33 With Dog, I like to take him out nearly every day,
02:37 just even when we have a quick stroll to the Strand and back.
02:39 This time of year, it's getting a bit dark after work.
02:42 It is very, very, and most people,
02:44 when they stroke Goldie or Dog, they go,
02:47 "Wow, I've never touched a duck before.
02:49 "They're so soft."
02:50 And the smile on their faces, you think, "Yeah, that's good."
02:53 But this City Wall Public House and the Queen Charlotte
02:56 do make us feel very, very welcome, very welcome.
02:59 But Dog, he's with us all evening.
03:03 He'll stand beside me, have a beer.
03:05 While I have a beer, he'll stand and follow,
03:08 meet with the other re-enactors.
03:09 He's like the mad duck man.
03:11 Everyone knows him as the mad duck man.
03:13 But it's just lovely when people meet and greet them,
03:17 the smiles on their face.