17 Puppies Born in One Litter

Many of us are feeling stressed, overwhelmed and perhaps even stretched out to the max during this time of year. But if you think you are dog-tired, take a moment to imagine just how 32 year-old Ramona Wegemann, living in Ebereschenhof, Germany was feeling when her Rhodesian Ridgeback Etana, gave birth to 17 puppies! I must admit I was yawning a tad, when I came across this story just released on Roadrunner.com a few days ago but the idea of eight female puppies and their nine brothers woke me right up. While it took Etana 28 hours to deliver the litter, happily all the births were normal deliveries with no caesarian section surgery necessary. According to the article, Wegemann was "baffled and amazed." I bet she was thrilled and relieved with this blessed event as well. This was Etana's second whelping. In her first pregnancy she delivered 8 puppies, which is not uncommon for Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs according to Wegemann. But it has been quite an ordeal for this new puppy mom, who was forced to take a break from her work as an independent animal psychiatrist, following the arrival of this outstanding bunch of puppies. Since their mother was not able to nurse the entire brood, Wegemann stepped in to bottle-feed the crew for several weeks. In order to ensure that all the babies survived and thrived, Wegemann was unable to get more than a few minutes sleep without having to keep playing a canine version of musical chairs; as no sooner than the last puppy got a fully belly, the first one was once again noisily making her aware of its ravenous appetite. Since Etana's nipples could never handle the puppies' demand for feeding, at least 5 times a day, this valiant lady gave each of the tiny tykes a bottle of special milk. And if this was not enough to sap her of energy, Wegemann mentioned when they no longer were hungry, they demanded her to entertain them. And while Wegemann said in a litter of this size, often not all the puppies survive the first week, she added, "But all of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful." Wegemann's living room is a puppy playground with a giant box provided to keep them somewhat contained. She finds it challenging to tell one puppy from another, but they all have African names since Rhodesian Ridgebacks are African hunting dogs. The girls are Bahati, Binta, Bahya, Bashima, Batouuli, Binki, Bora, and Bisa. The boys are named Baakir, Banjoku, Belay, Bruk, Bundu, Bayo, Bukekayo, Biton and Bulus. Happily, relief is in sight. Four puppies are sold, with two more paid for and ready to go. The rest will be gone shortly. Wegemann will only let the puppies go to families with children, not to breeders. How's this for an exhausting puppy tail? What do you think? Leave a comment and tell us. Image Source: Flickr user joysaphine