Arf! Arf! Dog Pops Out 17 Puppies

Which is an awful lot of work, it turns out
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 20, 2010 4:37 PM CST
Arf! Arf! Dog Pops Out 17 Puppies
Nine Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies from a litter of 17, look out of their box in Nauen, outside Berlin on Monday, Dec. 20, 2010. On Sept 28, and 29, 4-year-old Etana had 17 puppies.   (Markus Schreiber)

It doesn't quite have the ring of 101 Dalmatians, but 17 Rhodesian Ridgebacks are quite enough for one momma dog and her German owners. It took 4-year-old Etana 26 hours to give birth to the eight females and nine males in late September, reports the AP—and it's been nonstop ever since. Owner Ramona Wegemann says that as soon as she "finished feeding the last puppy, the first was hungry again."

"But all of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful," says the 32-year-old, who put her job on hold while her husband took all the vacation he could to cope with five-a-day bottle feedings and round-the-clock playtime. Wegemann is asking $1,315 per puppy, which mostly covers vet bills, food, and paperwork. She's got six takers, but quantities aren't that limited.
(More dogs stories.)

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