Some dogs, like Ramona Wegemann’s Rhodesian Ridgeback Etana, are used to giving birth to large litters of puppies. Etana’s first pregnancy yielded eight puppies. However, no one was prepared for what happened with Etana’s second pregnancy. After a staggering 26 hours of labor, Etana the Rhodesian Ridgeback gave birth to a litter of 17 puppies, all of whom are healthy and happy. The dogs are currently eating their owners out of house and home in Ebereschenhof, Germany.
Such a large litter usually means that some of the puppies won’t live very long, but not Etana’s brood of eight boys and nine girls. Said the dog’s 32-year-old owner, “All of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful. The birth of the puppies was very special. All puppies were born naturally, no cesarean was necessary.”
However, what has been necessary is an insane amount of work. To ease the strain on Etana, Wegemann and her husband have been assisting the dog with some bottle feeding. Wegemann has quit her job as a freelance animal psychologist, and her husband has used all of his vacation time to help care for the critters. Their hard work has paid off with a litter of healthy baby critters. Wegemann hopes to get $1300 per puppy, but on one condition: her dogs go to families, not breeders.
Tags: Ebereschenhof, Germany, dog gives birth to 17 puppies, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Etana, Ramona Wegemann, dog gives birth to 17 living puppies, unusual animals, unusual parent, puppies, dog gives birth to huge litter of puppies, eight males and nine females in huge litter of puppies