Everyone knows that Roy Keane is not someone to be trifled with.
You’d have to be pretty brave (Or unbelievably stupid) to purposely cross Keano and not expect a bit of trouble – unless of course you have four legs, a wagging tail and came with a moniker like Fido.
Roy may have a reputation as one of the hardest men in the history of football, but maybe it’s time we talk about how he’s a big softie at heart, especially when it comes to dogs!
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Given all the commotion surrounding his infamous Saipan exit, you’d imagine that football’s fiery super talent would rather have kept his head down when he arrived back to his Cheshire home.
However this wasn’t to be because his then best friend ‘Triggs’ was as camera friendly as her owner was shy and she lapped up this newfound attention from the world’s paparazzi.
Triggs, Roy’s beautiful Labrador Retriever, became a household name after the duo were seen out walking regularly following his return from Saipan, but of course this was nothing new. During Roy’s tenure at Manchester United it was joked that Triggs was the fittest dog in Cheshire given the midfielders tendencies to go for long walks in the wake of controversial incidents.
And let’s face it, there was no shortage of those!
You’d be forgiven for thinking that Triggs’ fame could have been a flash in the pan.
She’d be a fun topic that would have been mentioned to break up any uneasy conversation regarding Keane, McCarthy and the civil war the two effectively threw the nation into following the Saipan incident.
However, the devoted dog was no fifteen minutes of fame celeb – she went on to become arguably as big a star as Keano in her own right. Triggs published her autobiography in 2012, under the creative pen of Paul Howard, award-winning sports journalist and creator of the Ross O’Carroll-Kelly book series. In the book, the relationship between dog and owner is clearly set out.
“This is no ordinary football autobiography. And it’s not some saccharine-sweet love story about a man and his beloved pooch. I was no Marley. And, God knows, Roy was no John Grogan,” it sets out right from the beginning.
The success of the book highlighted the attitude that the Irish people had held since their first introduction to Triggs so many years back: “You can think what you like about Roy, but Triggs ought to be Taoiseach.”
Everyone adored her from the start. It was love at first sight and Triggs didn’t need to perform any tricks, just walk. “Unlike people, dogs don’t talk sh*t,” Roy says in the book.
“They won’t betray you or otherwise let you down.” Triggs certainly didn’t let her followers down – all three and a half thousand of them who followed her dedicated fan page on Twitter. Once Roy called time on his playing days, he was seen walking Triggs even more frequently.
The British media even started taking more notice of Triggs once she moved up and joined her owner when he became Sunderland manager. Within a few months as gaffer, Roy did the impossible and achieved an unlikely promotion with his new club.
It’s believed he learned of Sunderland’s return to the Premier League while out walking Triggs! The Corkman, named as Ireland’s greatest player of all time, left Sunderland in 2008, much to Triggs’ delight – having learned that Sunderland’s nickname was The Black Cats!
When he decided to return to management in 2009 at Ipswich Town, Roy quipped: “I decided that Triggs needed a break.”
His bond with his dogs, which he’s had in his life since growing up in Mayfield, is such that he claims that they would know based off of his behaviour and attitude how a match went that day. But no one was better than Triggs when it came to reading the green with Keane!
Triggs was subject to incorrect reports of her death in 2010 which shone more light on Ireland’s favourite pooch. Rumours began to spread on Twitter that the beloved Triggs had passed away, and given the pooch’s popularity, it spread like wildfire in the media. But Roy was quick to deny this untruth.
“What paper was that in?” he asked when pressed with the topic of Triggs’ potential death in the papers.
“Did you check the date on it? Lies, and lies and lies. Unbelievable! But nothing surprises me.”
Sadly, two years later, Triggs did pass away as a result of a tumour she had been struggling with for some time, and Roy was said to have been inconsolable.
Asked if it was hard to accept her death, Roy replied: “You can say that again. She was about 13 and unless you’ve had a dog you will never understand. She was a great dog and went through a lot with me, ups and downs. You will have me crying in a minute so be careful. But she had a good life. She had a good innings, as they say.”
Triggs has left behind an incredible legacy and fanbase made up of sports fans and their partners who may not be that into sport, but there was no way anyone could resist her canine charm.
As times have changed, so too has Roy Keane. During lockdown he joined Instagram and tellingly his first post was with one of his own dogs Jet, much to the internet’s delight.
“A man’s best friend” was the accompanying caption. We may have been surprised to see Roy Keane join Instagram, but when he did, there was nothing unexpected about his first post. Just like everything he touches, Roy’s relationship with his dogs is well thought out and executed.
Recently he outlined his criteria for how to appropriately look after a dog with love and affection to The Pulse magazine: “Routine, routine, routine is vital to my dog’s life in terms of walking times, feeding times and bedtime. Don’t go on the same walk every day,” he continued. “
A dog needs a change of scenery, as do their owners.” He stressed the importance of not walking your puppies too much when they’re young “but give them plenty of playtime and as they get older (12 months or more) increase the distance.”
The former Manchester United captain underlines the importance of petting and talking to your dog and having a positive tone in your voice when addressing them.
He treats his dogs to a pig’s ear every night in order “to thank them for behaving themselves and they love that treat as they always behave themselves.”
These days, Roy Keane has a Labrador puppy and his German Shepherd, Jet, who has been getting a lot of attention on his Instagram account. The dog-loving ambassador for the Irish Guide Dogs, who has raised their profile enormously as well as much needed funds told The Pulse:
"My own family would not be complete without our dogs.” And so say all of us!
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