A broody dog has taken a clutch of abandoned ducklings under his wing and become their 'very protective' surrogate dad.

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.

Ben, and the ducklings, bonded immediately and he loves watching over them as they sleep, eat, play or have a bath.

And he will even bark and chase off the family cat - if it gets too near to his little fluffy family.

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.

"He's very protective. He watches over them and makes sure the cat doesn't get too close."

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.

So Julie agreed to take them in.

She said: "They were found in a stream - not a moving body of water, but more stagnant stream.

"They were spotted by orchard workers and were watched for the next eight hours, with no mum coming back."

Julie now lets the ducklings roam free on her property.

She said: "If they decide to fly away. I'm happy with that.

"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."

The footage was captured in July.