Not quite like Disney's 101 Dalmatians, but a mother Dalmatian just gave birth to a huge litter of 16 puppies on June 24. Luna is the name of this Dalmatian from Fredericksburg, and she is very much alive and attentive to her puppies to this day.
Dalmatian Puppies
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - MARCH 10:A Dalmatian Dog licks their owner in the show ring on day three of the Cruft's dog show at the NEC Arena on March 10, 2018 in Birmingham, England. The annual four-day event sees around 22,000 pedigree dogs visit the center, before the 'Best in Show' is awarded on the final day.
The Dalmatian is known for giving multiple births, as the average litter for a Dalmatian is about seven puppies. These puppies actually enter this world with a pure white coat, then start developing spots three to four months after birth, and continue to grow them until the dog is around 18 months old. So what makes Luna the Dalmatian so special?
Luna gave birth to a huge litter of 16 puppies via emergency C-section at Fredericksburg Veterinary Center. Brittni Turner, the veterinarian who helped deliver the puppies expressed that she has done a lot of emergency C-sections but has never had a litter this big before.
Luna was brought to the Fredericksburg Veterinary Center when her labor stopped progressing at home. The X-ray revealed that after 5 naturally born puppies, the sixth was malpositioned and unable to come out on its own, as its head was turned backwards.
"I was so focused on the surgery preparation, I didn't even check the number of puppies left inside," Turner said. "When we got into surgery, I was just pulling out puppy after puppy and we ended up needing to call in all of our receptionists and staff for an all hands on deck to help clean and revive puppies" Turner said in an interview with KSAT.
"The staff kept saying. 'surely there can't be anymore and then I would pull out two more. It was absolute chaos," said Turner. "The staff was amazing, and it was truly a team effort... lots of 101 Dalmatian jokes were made."
Also read: Puppies Can Understand Human Cues from Very Young Age
Multiple Births: Record Breaking Dalmatian
According to the BBC, the world record for the most Dalmatian puppies born in a single litter goes to a dog named Melody, who gave birth to 19 puppies in Albury, Australia - 2019. This leaves Luna the Dalmatian to a near-record breaking position, as she has just given birth to a huge litter of 16 puppies.
Melissa O'Brien (Melody's owner), said that her dog weighed 15 kilograms during the pregnancy. Although this was an obvious sign that multiple births were incoming, Melissa expressed that she didn't expect her dog would end up with 19 puppies. Nine of the puppies were female and 10 were male. All of the puppies were also named after Disney characters, as this was Melody's first litter, and according to breeder Melissa O'Brien, her last as well.
"No more puppies. She's retired now. She's had two litters in one, so that's it for her".
Veterinarian Chris Wolmarans, who assisted in the delivery, spoke to 9 News and said, "We knew this was big... Everybody had a puppy they were resuscitating, and cleaning, and dealing with. They're just white, and you think what's gone wrong here... But the spots actually only come out, sort of, the week later."
Also read: Your Pet Dog May Get Jealous By Imagining You With Another Pet