A broody dog has taken a clutch of abandoned ducklings under his wing and become their 'very protective' surrogate dad. <br /><br />German Shepherd Ben was once BFF with an adult duck, which flew away one day, so he was keen make a good impression on the newly hatched ducklings.<br /><br />Ben, and the ducklings, bonded immediately and he loves watching over them as they sleep, eat, play or have a bath.<br /><br />And he will even bark and chase off the family cat - if it gets too near to his little fluffy family.<br /><br />Ben's owner Julie McGuire, 35, from Motueka, New Zealand, said: "He's extremely curious and wanted to know what was going on in the room we had them in.<br /><br />"He's very protective. He watches over them and makes sure the cat doesn't get too close."<br /><br />The ducklings were found abandoned in a stream by local orchard workers, who waited in vain for the mother duck to return, for eight hours.<br /><br />So Julie agreed to take them in. <br /><br />She said: "They were found in a stream - not a moving body of water, but more stagnant stream. <br /><br />"They were spotted by orchard workers and were watched for the next eight hours, with no mum coming back."<br /><br />Julie now lets the ducklings roam free on her property. <br /><br />She said: "If they decide to fly away. I'm happy with that. <br /><br />"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."<br /><br />The footage was captured in July.
