It’s funny how some animals tend to bond with each other, even if they’re different species. You might think that they wouldn’t get along.
Even the least likely of animals somehow become friends. This animal friendship is a little bit less surprising than some of them we’ve seen. It’s still pretty sweet though!
Meet The Dude
A golden retriever named The Dude recently made some new pals. Instead of just being friends, he claimed them as his own offspring. Meet this new duck mom!
Now, The Dude’s owners are referring to him as the proud mother to a handful of three sweet ducklings. These ducklings go by the names of Marge, Dot, and Frances.
Of course, when he first met these ducklings, he wasn’t so sure. He might not have seen ducklings before or been that close to them. He spent some time peeking at the ducklings in their box. He smelled them. He watched them.
He really just wanted to know what was going on here. He was pretty curious!
Next, his owners let the ducklings out one at a time. This gave them the chance to meet The Dude and get to know him better.
Getting to know each other
This resulted in the ducklings each taking a turn to walk all over the patient dog. It turned out that the ducklings were just as curious as The Dude had been!
Although the ducklings were intrigued by The Dude and his fluffy coat, they did seem a little nervous. He was much bigger than them and they didn’t know if they could trust him.
But once the ducklings realized that The Dude wasn’t a threat, they felt a lot safer. They weren’t afraid anymore!
Family!
After these first interactions, the animals became pretty comfortable with each other. It didn’t take much time at all for their friendship to flourish. Rather quickly, The Dude stepped up and decided to be responsible for these new babies. He began spending a lot of time with them and taking care of them.
One of the ducklings’ favorite things about The Dude is how soft and cozy he is. They can lay on top of him and take a nice little nap. Plus, the ducklings all trust The Dude to keep them safe from harm. He’s proven to them that that’s exactly what he’ll do.
The ducklings began following The Dude around the yard. Once he decided to lay down, they nestled into his tail. The dog’s fluffy tail was the perfect place for these tired ducklings to relax. It must have reminded them of their nest or of their mother duck.
Ducky swimming lessons
As the ducklings grew, they needed to learn how to do normal duck things. One of these things was swimming. The Dude’s owners found a great way for him to help with this. They instructed The Dude to lay down in a kiddie pool.
Once he was laying down, the ducklings were placed in the water. They were free to swim and play however they wanted to. The reason that The Dude was a part of this was so the ducklings could take a break when they got tired. They could lay on top of their new mom and relax.
A life together
As the dog and the ducklings bonded, they even learned to share their snacks with each other. They all love peas!
Now that the ducks have grown a little bigger, they have started to play fight with The Dude. Of course, they all snuggle up after having fun together.
It’s safe to say that The Dude has done an excellent job raising the ducklings as his own. The ducks are very happy to have The Dude in their life!
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