Dalmatian Gives Birth To Litter Of 18 Puppies After 14-Hour Labour

A Dalmatian left a breeder stunned after she gave birth to a litter of 18 puppies.

Caters

Louise Clement, from Preston, said three-year-old Nellie's pups 'just kept on coming' during a 14-hour labour last month.

The final litter of 10 males and eight females was double the size of the average litter for a first time mum and Louise said she was 'immensely proud' of Nellie.

The 46-year-old said: "She had a great natural labour, but they just kept on coming

"I thought she'd stopped after number 15, because it looked like she had laid down to go to sleep. But then along came another one, and two more after that.

"Nellie is making a really lovely mum. I'm immensely proud of her, she's been amazing."

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Louise has been breeding dalmatians for 30 years now and currently has 27 dogs running around her place - and as 101 Dalmatians has taught us, having a load of dogs darting about can be quite chaotic.

Louise said: "Fortunately, we have a lot of outside space and the dogs have lots of things to play with.

"They've got their own Wendy House, and swings and slides that they love to play on. Some sleep in the kitchen, some sleep in the utility room, and some sleep in the living room. A couple occasionally join me in bed."

She added that she will keep only one of the pups, with the rest going to new owners.

But while Nellie has clearly done a great job, she was one puppy shy of a record-breaking dalmatian litter born in Australia last year.

Breeder Melissa O'Brien said her dog, Melody, gained 15 kilograms during her pregnancy, so she knew it would be a big litter - but she didn't realise quite how big it would be. They were born by C-section, and speaking to local reporters, Melissa said it was like a 'never-ending supply'.

A team of eight people helped O'Brien and Melody deliver the puppies, which all came out white, instead of spotted like their mother. The puppies develop their spots as they get older - as Cruella de Vil famously found out.

Assisting in the delivery was vet Chris Wolmarans. Speaking to 9 News, he said: "We knew this was big... Everybody had a puppy they were resuscitating, and cleaning, and dealing with.

"It's a picture because they're just white, and you think what's gone wrong here... But the spots actually only come out, sort of, the week later."

Topics: Dog, World News, Awesome, Cute

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey