A dog has become an unexpected caretaker of some baby ducks after his owner brought in the abandoned animals.
Ben is a German shepherd from Motueka, New Zealand.
He recently stepped into the role of “surrogate dad,” according to his owner Julie McGuire.
The ducklings were found by local orchard workers, said McGuire — and had been abandoned by their mother duck, as SWNS reported.
After waiting with the ducks in a stream for eight hours, hoping the mother would return, McGuire decided to take the ducklings in and take care of them.
“They were spotted by orchard workers and were watched for the next eight hours with no [mom] coming back,” she told SWNS.
Once McGuire brought the small ducklings home, Ben the dog took a real liking to the animals, she said.
McGuire noted that before these ducklings came into their home, Ben had an adult duck friend — but one day last year, the adult duck flew away and never returned.
McGuire told SWNS that she is taking care of the animals for now — but if they decide to fly away one day, she wouldn’t be upset.
“They deserve the best life, and I am just happy we could help some of them survive, and Ben has had fun with them growing up,” she said.
McGuire even started a TikTok account on behalf of Ben and the ducklings — @life.of.duck.