Footballers may come across as the competitive, hard to please type of people when they are on the pitch trying to win a game but when it comes to their pets they have a softer touch towards them than they do for their opponents.
When a footballer posts about their pet online, many people see this as the players being more relatable than when they just see them out on the field. You might be putting free bets on football games but what bets are you putting on your favourite player being on the list of owning a dog?
Roy Keane
The former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland midfielder is famously known for his love of dogs. After his departure from the Ireland camp during the 2002 World Cup he was spotted in Manchester walking his dog Triggs a Labrador retriever.
Currently he has a dog called Jet and was featured on his first Instagram post and in an interview with Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
Keane is a huge fan of dogs and has his own trust for Irish Guide Dogs.
Lionel Messi
Arguably the best player ever to play the game is a dog person. He might have moved to Paris but his Herculean French breed did not make the trip to France and remains in Spain. A video went viral with Messi playing football with his dog Senor Hulk in 2018.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Not to be outdone by his playing rival Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo is also a dog person. He has three dogs, two Labradors, and a Yorkshire terrier. Last year Ronaldo’s partner added a Chinese Crested dog to the family.
Alexis Sanchez
Well known for having dogs and some would say he spends more time with them than he does his teammates. Atom and Humber, both Golden retrievers, were so famous that Manchester United fans even included them on a banner to welcome the trio to Manchester.
Two years ago Sanchez welcomed two more charming Doberman puppies to his doggy family in Milan.
Ivan Rakitic
The Sevilla midfielder is a fond fan of pups and has two to his name. The Croatian has one Labrador retriever and a very cute Pomsky. He often takes to Instagram to post about his dogs in some very cool looking places.
David De Gea
The Spanish stopper has an amazing little Chow Chow dog called Maxto that he often posts about. The Manchester United goalkeeper’s dog has been voted the best dog by many a poll about which footballer has the cutest pup.
Mario Balotelli
The Italian striker is known for being a dog friendly man after he donated a five figure sum of money to a Manchester dog’s home following a fire that killed 60 dogs.
Whilst he was at Liverpool he would often bring his dogs down to training and when he moved to Milan he had them transferred with him. He has two staffies called Luigi and Bowser who he adopted from a litter of six abandoned dogs. They also joined his lab called Lucky in Milan.
Harry Kane
The England captain loves scoring goals but he also loves his dogs. Alongside his three children Kane also has his two lovely Labradors called Brady and Wilson. When Kane and his wife were expecting their first child, the two Labradors were there front and centre with signs round their neck announcing the arrival.
David Beckham
From one current England captain to a former England captain, David Beckham. With a big family already he has made it even bigger with the addition of our four legged friends. Beckham has three energetic Cocker Spaniels called Olive, Sage and Fig.
He even posted a photo of Sage giving him a big sloppy kiss!
Aaron Ramsey
The former Arsenal man has shown a massive admiration for beagles as he posts online snuggled up to his sleepy little beagle.
Neymar
The Brazilian might be known for his tricky skills but did you know he also has three amazing golden retrievers. The eldest is called Poker and the other two are called Truco and Flush.
With his love for card games such as poker it is no wonder that all three of his dogs are named after card games or a hand in a card game.
