An adorable 3-year-old black German shepherd has dozens of animal friends from different species: rabbits, ferrets, rats, and a whole lot more.
Owner Nicole Yates, 36, of Melbourne, Australia, has been sharing pictures of her dog Nuka with her other pets.
“Nuka is the gentlest dog in the world and absolutely loves getting his picture taken," Nicole said. “I have a lot of smaller animals at home, and he is just fascinated by them and always is happy to let them cuddle up to him and play.
“It is almost like a natural instinct he has to protect and be gentle with the animals.”
Nuka seems to have a best friend from every group of animals that Nicole has.
“I am not sure how he does it, but he seems to find his favorite from each group of animals I have every single time,” she said.
“For example, I have 40 rats and Nuka is specifically drawn to one who he spots every time based on his fur color, which never ceases to amaze me.
“He also finds his favorites amongst my rabbits, ferrets, and birds in the same way.”
Nuka’s best friend of all, though, has got to be one of Nicole’s ferrets, called Raye.
She said: “We often go out to see the ferrets because they are very sociable animals and always want to play when we visit ... he’s always focused on Raye.
“She is just his best friend and always seems to brighten his day when he goes to visit.”
Nuka was adopted by Nicole from a breeder in New South Wales in April 2018 when he was just 8 weeks old.
“I made a 12-hour drive to pick him up to take him home and just fell in love the second I saw him,” she said.
“I had to stay overnight at a facility that didn’t allow dogs, so we had to sneak him in, and I was terrified he would be really noisy and cry all night.
“I was so surprised with how well he slept and how relaxed he was, so when we finally got him home, it really didn’t take him long to adjust to his new setting.”
Nuka’s love for his animal friends started really early in life, with Nicole eager to introduce him to her other pets.
“When we brought him home, we had an older shepherd called Zeki who was 13 at the time.
“Nuka learned a lot from Zeki, which was really beneficial to his development from an early stage and also helped his behavior around the animals.
“Zeki was also an incredibly smart dog who was brilliant with other animals, and her presence around Nuka molded him into the dog he is today.”
Over time, Nicole gradually introduced Nuka to more of her animals once she felt his confidence had grown.
She explained: “We introduced him to the chickens really early on and he was really good around them. We then progressed to a rat, followed by the guinea pigs, and at 6 months old, he met the first rabbit I took in.
“I was nervous with the rabbit because it was larger, but it was honestly incredible to see them interact, as Nuka just sniffed and licked a couple times before wanting to cuddle and play.”
Nicole’s pet animals have found their way to her through many different routes, with most of them being predominantly animals rescued from families who just couldn’t keep them anymore.
“A lot of children sadly lose interest in, and they become an expense for the family, so I am always happy to take in and care for small animals if I have the room,” she said.
“I have bred the rats, and the chickens are from a farm, but the vast majority of the others come either through this route, or perhaps a rescue charity may reach out and ask if I can take them in.”
Nuka’s Instagram page, @nuka.and.co, boasts nearly 10,000 followers, who regularly interact with the posts and reach out to Nicole for advice for their own animals at home.
She said: “It was about two years ago we made the account after my family members helped me set it up after mentioning how the pictures would be enjoyed by lots of people.
“It is really humbling to hear people love the pictures, and on a couple of occasions, I have had people saying how they have been going through a tough time and Nuka’s pics have cheered them up.
“It just goes to show that cute animal pictures can really be medicine for the soul!”
