The Disney movie 101 Dalmatians might be nothing but fiction to you and the rest of the world. That is until you read this story. A record number of Dalmatian puppies was recently born in Australia. The mother, named Miley, gave birth to 18 strong and healthy puppies.
The labour took over 13 hours and it produced the largest litter ever recorded in Australian history. Breeder Cecilia Langton-Bunker says that the number of puppies came as a shock. Initial scans had shown only 3 puppies were due.
The shock grew even bigger when Miley didn’t stop at the 16th puppy, which was the number shown in the scans taken closest to her due date.
‘We got to 16 and thought she was done. After 13-and-a-half hours of labour, it was quite amazing, she popped out another two,’ Langton-Bunker said.
She also added that she was incredibly happy with the litter and believes Miley’s achievement is ‘absolutely superb.’
This is the first time Miley had a litter of puppies, which makes the feat even more impressive. Langton-Bunker added that Astro, the father of the litter, was surprised by the sudden number of little puppies.
She described Astro’s hilarious reaction to the new puppies: ‘He’s a bit disconcerted by the 18 puppies running around,’ Langton-Bunker said. ‘He’s like, ‘Are these all mine?’’’
The average number of Dalmatian puppies in a litter is 8-10, according to Langton-Bunker.
All the puppies in this large litter were microchipped and vaccinated soon after they were born. They’ve also been sold to loving families, including a rare Dalmatian with a heart-shaped spot over his eye.
‘I expect to get an empty nest feeling when they all start going to their new homes on July 22 because this is a very special litter,’ Langton-Bunker told the Herald Sun.
CCDalmatians
She went on: ‘They have been a really healthy, happy, thriving litter from the time they were born which is large because of their mom’s dedication and perseverance, feeding them herself every four hours when they were first born.’
