A dog owner has been left stunned after her pet gave birth to a record-breaking litter. Miranda Pellecchia and her family, who live in Blean, near Canterbury in Kent, got an incredible surprise when their two-year-old Irish setter Marigold whelped 17 puppies.
The pups are a crossbreed known as Irish Doodles, the result of Marigold mating with a poodle. The pooch’s brood is thought to be the largest litter of the crossbreed ever recorded in the UK.
The litter is now around eight-weeks-old, and proving quite a handful for the family.
Miranda, 42, said the birthing process was « exhausting for us, so I dread to think how poor Marigold felt ».
Marigold is a bit tired from looking after her pups, but the devoted mum has « recovered well from her ordeal » after being in labour for 13 hours, Miranda told BBC News.
All 17 of the newborns have been given names and will be vaccinated and microchipped.
They will then be found forever homes.
And while Miranda’s will be a lot quiter once the pups have gone, says as she has three children, meaning she ancitipates things are « set to return to the level of chaos we normally have around here ».
Marigold breaks the previous documented record of 16, set by an Irish Setter from Hampshire in 2019.
It’s some way shy of the world record for a litter of of a dog of breed, set in 2004 by a Neapolitan mastiff from Cambridgeshire who delivered 24 puppies.
Source link
