Labrador Retrievers have a reputation for being friendly and affectionate. As such, it’s not surprising to hear that other animals can easily warm up to them. A 15-year-old Lab named Fred is a testament to that.
The senior pooch warmed the hearts of the netizens after he became a foster father to a group of orphaned ducklings. Here’s his adorable story with his cute adopted babies.
An experienced foster dad
It may not be obvious, but Fred is actually an experienced parent to ducks. Several times, the senior dog has taken different groups of orphaned ducklings under his wing. In 2018, Fred became a surrogate dad to nine ducklings. A year later, he looked after another bunch of parentless ducklings at the historic Mountfitchet Castle in Essex, England where he is a resident dog.
This year, Fred is once again a proud adoptive dad to a new brood of baby ducks. Apparently, these ducklings were left orphaned after their mom disappeared mysteriously from Mountfitchet Castle. When the mom didn’t return, the caring Lab took over the role of the parent. He constantly kept an eye on the babies, took them for rides on his back, and even cuddled with them.
The Mountfitchet Castle was so proud of Fred that they shared pictures of him snuggling with the ducklings on Facebook. In the said post, the castle revealed that the Lab is currently taking care of 15 ducklings.
Fred is truly a friendly dog
Jeremy Goldsmith, Fred’s owner, shared that he was not surprised that his dog found himself his own small family. According to him, Fred spent a lot of time at Mountfitchet Castle with different animals. As a result, it became the dog’s second nature to be warm and friendly to his fellow adorable critters.
The ducklings will remain with the Lab at the castle until they grow up and are strong enough to survive on their own.
Source: On Demand News via YouTube
