Doggy daycare OUR POOCH RAISES DUCKS!

When Jake Cederman surprised girlfriend Julie McGuire with an adorable German shepherd puppy on her 31st birthday, she instantly felt there was something special about their new dog

- Kasia Jillings

Named Ben, he quickly became a valued member of the family, but the Tasman couple never expected the large canine would also prove to be a gentle and doting surrogate dad to abandoned ducklings.

"He is a very unique and caring dog, and seeing his interspecies friendship and love with is so ducklings has been quite special," shares Julie, 35, who first noticed Ben's unexpected skills in 2021 when she and Jake took in a paradise duckling, later named Teddy Zoom Zoom.

Over the years, senior orchard supervisor Jake has found several struggling ducks at work and brought them home to Julie, an IT project manager.

"Teddy was this little paradise duck we found all alone in the orchard one Halloween evening," recalls Julie, who has developed a reputation locally for her ability to nurse ducks back to health.

"Ben is naturally very curious with new things and right from the start he would sit by Teddy's cage. Then as he got older and we let him out of the cage, they would run around together.

We were very careful and cautious because when they started playing, Teddy was the size of Ben's paw, but watching them we could rings y and s it in of their which cute' see they were really playing.