Gina the Doberman said by vets to be pregnant with six pups stuns owner by giving birth to litter of 13 (and they sell for £1,000 each!)
- Owners Mark and Olga Holtom compared the litter to '101 Dalmatians'
- Said Gina was exhausted at the end of the mammoth labour
- Couple from Suffolk has sold seven of the puppies but want to keep one
By BECKY EVANS
|
A doberman has stunned her owners by delivering a litter of 13 puppies despite vets saying she was only pregnant with six.
Gina's owners Mark and Olga Holtom compared the huge litter to '101 Dalmatians' but with each pup worth up to £1,000, they have received an unexpected windfall.
The couple decided to breed their family pet in January and chose an award-winning dog called Storm to father her pups.
Scroll down for video
Proud mother: Gina the Doberman was believed to only be carrying six when she had her scan
Adorable: The 13 five-week-old Doberman puppies left owners Mark and Olga Holtom stunned
Windfall: Mark and Olga Holtom expect to sell each puppy for up to £1,000 but want to keep one in the house
Two-year-old Gina fell pregnant and vets did a scan at six months and told Mr and Mrs Holtom to expect a litter of half a dozen - warning only half were likely to live.
The couple left Gina at home last month when they popped out for an hour and returned to find she had already given birth to three puppies.
Over the next six hours they helped deliver a total of nine puppies on the floor of their kitchen in Offton, Suffolk.
Convinced exhausted Gina had finished giving birth, Mr Holtom popped to his local pub for his weekly Wednesday night drink with friends.
But when he returned home two hours later, he was told by his wife that she had helped Gina deliver another four puppies - taking the final total to 13.
The puppies have all survived and are now five weeks old and have been named after types of storm and natural phenomena in honour of their father.
They are called Tempest, Zephyr, Hale, Alize, Blizzard, Aiolos, Aurora, Kazahana, Auster, Talvi and Storm.
Pint sized: The size of the litter of pups has been compared to 101 Dalmatians by their owners
Cute: Two of the sweet puppies cuddle up as they pose in the Wellies
Basket full: Seven of the puppies, born to Gina and Storm, have already been sold
The only two to not have weather-related names are Istas and Amaya-A, which IT businessman Mr Holtom , 57, has named after computer programmes.
He said: 'At the time of the scan they were only 2.5cm long so it was difficult to put a definite number on how many we would get.
'We came home and there were two puppies already and one more hanging out.
'Gina looked terrified because she was worried that she had made such a mess and we would be angry.
'Then she kept going pop, pop, pop for the next nine hours.
'After six of the puppies had been delivered we went for a cup of tea and then we looked at Gina and there were seven puppies, then eight, then nine.
'After that there was about an hour with no activity so I went out because Wednesday night is drinking night with the lads.
'I came back two hours later and my wife said "guess what - there's 13".
Loveable: Mr Holtom said they were worried for Gina but that she has been 'very calm and motherly'
Motherly instinct: Gina groomed all the puppies despite being exhausted from the mammoth labour
Midwife: Olga Holtom, pictured left with her husband, help Gina deliver the litter. Experts said it is 'very very rare' for a Doberman to have a litter of that size
'At the end Gina was absolutely exhausted and was like a skeleton. She struggles to feed them all at the same time.
'It was getting like the 101 Dalmatians. We were a bit panicky but she was very calm and motherly, licking them and feeding them.'
The couple have already sold seven of the puppies and Mark hopes to keep one in the family.
Caroline Kisko, secretary of the Kennel Club, said: 'Well done to mum and good luck to Olga and Mark who have a big job ahead of them.
'Bringing puppies into this world is not easy. They are a full-time job and the breeders will now have their hands full making sure the pups are well socialised and healthy.'
Experts said it was 'very, very rare' for any dog to give birth to 13 puppies.
The Guinness World Record for the largest litter of puppies is 24, born to Tia, a Neapolitan mastiff, in Manea, Cambridgeshire, in 2004.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343924/Gina-Doberman-said-vets-pregnant-pups-stuns-owner-giving-birth-litter-13-sell-1-000-each.html#ixzz2WbQF03ek
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment