A Dublin dog has been fighting off the pawparazzi as he has become the centre of attention throughout the city.
Meinzai (Zai) is an Instagram sensation who gets into his owners bag when he cycles into town and has caught the eyes of many dog lovers.
The cute little pup has been spotted taking in the sights as he makes his way through the fair city.
The talented pooch, who understands Chinese, has even bit the bullet and made a TikTok account, like most of the trendy kids these days.
Loxi, his owner spoke to Dublin Live and explained that he originally didn’t want a dog and took Zai “by mistake”.
But he couldn’t let him go because he felt sorry for the super cute pupper.
He said: “The first year I had him, I saved him because he was on his way to the dog pound. I didn’t want a dog.
"I used to live in China and a friend of mine was living here, she had the dog but her new landlord wasn’t allowing pets, so she asked me to search for a new home for him.
“I put up posts on my social media and a few months later she asked me if I found anywhere for him because he’s in the car on the way to the pound. I said leave him here and someone will take him.
“He was all shaken because he wasn’t in his home. In about two or three days he stopped and then people became interested in him, but I couldn’t put him through that again so I basically took him in by mistake.
“And because his previous owners were Chinese, he didn’t understand English so I only speak Mandarin to him. He’s known as the Chinese dog around town.”
The dynamic duo instantly became inseparable as Zai decided to go into town with Loxi in the evenings.
Loxi explained: “The first year I had him, he used to run into town behind me. So if I was going to meet the guys after work, he followed me.
"Then he figured out if he got into my bag that he could go on my bike. People started getting photographs with him, he was getting very popular.
“He’s getting a lot of attention. The Instagram has been going for about two years, we were getting snapped cycling during our day-to-day life and a friend on mine set up the account and gave it over to me.
“I never make him get pictures, I can tell by his body language and how he communicates, what he likes and dislikes, I would never make him do anything he doesn’t want to do.
“I get mobbed in town now basically, but he loves the attention, he relishes it. In the likes of Grogan's he’ll go from table to table looking for butt-rubs, he loves it. Wherever I go, he’s off to get rubs or whatever. I just sit and hangout, he does his own thing.
“After all the lockdowns he became even more popular, it’s really snowballing. A girl from the UK came to see him and a couple from the States asked could they meet him.
“I’m getting various international people asking to meet the dog. It’s all over the place, he even has fan-mail.”
But Zai was dognapped in September 2018 and has been feeling anxious since the incident.
“He has major separation anxiety from me, he always has to be with me and panics when he doesn’t know where I am," said Loxi.
“He was stolen before and the news stories to get him back got worldwide attention."
But the best pals were reunited and have been continuing to embrace the love for Zai in Dublin’s city centre ever since.
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