Incredible "Therapy Duck" Story Behind Private Number Plate
"King John" brings Duck named Dog to medieval reenactments and nursing homes! He comments on his new private number plate AD06DUK
04/07/2024Blog
Number Plate Story - AD06 DUK
This story starts with a Duck.
This duck belongs to Mark Colyer, a gardener from Kent who gets involved in historical reenactments. We first learned about this (adorable!) duck when
Mr. Colyer bought his fantastic number plate through us and during the call he told us what led him to his decision.
In Mark’s own words, this is a “meet-and-greet therapy duck, called Dog.”
His choice of registration AD06 DUK (A dog duck) is probably starting to make sense now.
But the question still remains - why call your duck ‘Dog’? Well, it’s all down to this duck’s particular habit of following Mark around like a
puppy. Dog the duck can often be found at Mark’s heels. As Mark says, “If I stop, he stops.” but the dog-like behaviour doesn’t stop there.
“If I call him: ‘Dog, Dog, Come on!’ he comes running over.” Mark said.”He knows his name.”
As mentioned above, Dog is a therapy duck. Mark takes Dog to events, care homes and hospices in England, helping to make people smile. Spreading
happiness is a worthy cause, and we’re glad to play even a small part in it.
We love the genuine joy that Mark and his Duck bring, and we can’t think of a more fitting plate than AD06 DUK. However, when we asked him about it,
Mark told us that he had never actually planned to get a private plate before.
Mark’s Number Plate Journey
Mark’s colleague Kevin recently got a plate from us, and found this one for Mark using our number plate search. According to Mark, Kevin said “You
have to buy this plate” and when Mark saw it, he agreed.
I got it for like, in total £302 pounds, I would have paid over £1000 pounds for that plate.
Mark Colyer
I’m sure you can imagine how thrilled we were to hear that. You see at Plates4Less, we work hard to provide reasonable prices and excellent customer
service. The number plate search on our website is one of the most comprehensive in the business, designed to make it as easy as possible to find
whichever plate would be most perfect for you, at whatever price. We have cheap number plates available and we can do the transfer for you!
You’d probably be surprised how many people have a similar story to Mark, thinking that they would never get a private plate before finding the
perfect one. But whether someone is looking for their own name, or their pet’s name, or just having a nose around our website, we’re always happy to
help! Many people automatically think of private plates that show your name, but there are many other plates that are fun without being too personal.
For example, people get plates inspired by their vehicle model.
A Dog Duck Car
This is just one reason why we’re so invested in Mark’s story, as we love it when registrations are united with the right vehicle like this (The other
reason is that we love his cute duck.) Mark even told us how he’s decorated his car in other ways.
“Each side of the rear registration is a cut-out of Dog the duck” Mark explained, and sent us the picture of Dog next to these cut-outs.
We love how Dog is posed here exactly how he is in the cut-outs - this picture brought us a lot of joy in the office. This is the sort of happiness
Dog spreads!
“I’m well pleased with the plate.”
Dog's car with his new private number plate
What do people think of Mark’s Private Plate?
We were curious to know if Mark has had much of a response to his number plate, so we asked about people’s reactions. I’ve had “Hundreds of comments”
on my new plate, Mark said, and whilst he might be exaggerating slightly, there’s no doubt this is an eye-catching registration.
Speaking of reenactments…
“I do King John, at Rochester castle,” Mark explained to us. He actually attends multiple reenactments - you may have even spotted him and Dog at
events like this throughout England. “Coming up in May is the reenactment of the battle of Lewis, - Dog the Duck and I are special guest stars!”
He often brings Dog along, but Dog isn’t his only duck.
“I’ve got goldie and pinkie - the other two ducks,” Mark told us. In this
Kent Online article from last year, Mark
explained that he originally got Goldie because there was so much demand, with many people wanting to meet a duck. He decided to hatch another one, so
that he would have two ducks to bring instead of one, to avoid letting people down. He’s also just hatched three Geese from rescued eggs. It looks
like King John’s bird army is expanding!
We love it when client’s tell us about their fun choices. Just recently we had FR06 CAT for someone who has a cat which brings them unscathed frogs as
gifts.
There are lot of toilet-humour based plates for waste management companies and MOO plates for farmers.
Plates4less
Mark also told us about his upcoming Hatch Day party to celebrate Dog the Duck! “It’s his fifth Hatch Day this year on the 25th of April.” For those
of you without ducks, a Hatch Day is like a Birthday, but for our feathered friends! Isn’t that sweet?
“We have one every year!”
It’s lovely to know that Dog gets to celebrate his Hatch Day, given how many people Dog helps throughout the year. He makes a real difference so he
definitely deserves a party! Especially at this busy time of year. Since birds are associated with Easter, Mark told us he’s “booked up quite a lot
over Easter with different ducks.”
To Conclude…
So what’s it all for? Why dress up and carry around a duck? Why decorate your car with duck pictures, and a duck-themed plate? Mark summed it all up
with this joyful message:
I'm here to make people smile.
Mark Colyer, AKA King John
Plates4Less says… If you have a plate inspired by a fun story like this, let us know at feedback@plates4less.co.uk
