Animals | “More of them just kept coming” – the Malin dog gave birth to 14 puppies

The tenth in the case of a puppy, the breeder Heidi Karves was sure that was it.

“There were four more puppies and all were vigorous. It felt incredible. Not one had to be resuscitated.”

Karves, who runs the Karvini kennel in Kangasa, Pirkanmaa, says that the golden retriever Malin gave birth to her puppies without major problems and even in a short time.

Only five hours were spent on the whole ruljans five weeks ago.

“They just kept popping up,” repeats Karves. “The mother was calm. It wasn’t like giving birth at all.”

The number of puppies surprised Karves.

“In the pregnancy ultrasound, there were five heartbeats, but of course I thought that there were eight or nine puppies.”

A litter of fourteen puppies is exceptionally large, but not record-breaking. He was the first to tell about the litter Morning paper.

Kennel Association according to that, larger litters of at least 17 puppies have probably been born in Finland. However, they are very rare, and not all puppies may survive.

Karves, who has been a breeder for a long time, knows this.

“The bigger the litter, the less likely it is that everything will be born alive.”

Since the two-year-old Malin dog had 14 puppies, seven females and seven males, they were smaller than normal when they were born. The hard work and watching that everyone survives the first weeks began.

“For the first three weeks, they had to be watched day and night. When there are so many puppies, there is a big risk that one will be left under the mother. There can also be birth defects that don’t show up until a few days later.”

The large size of the litter and the size differences between the puppies have required special arrangements. The mother’s nipples are not enough for everyone at the same time.

“The bigger ones are sometimes taken to a box somewhere else so that the smaller ones have peace of mind.”

The litter was the first for the Malin dog. The father of the litter, five-year-old Walle, can be found in the same kennel in Karvin.

“Emä has been hard. You have to keep the puppies clean and eat a lot in order to have enough milk. Mother has been held like a flower in the palm of her hand.”

Mother According to Karves, the work is starting to get easier now that the puppies are five weeks old and have had supplementary food for some time.

“After a week, it doesn’t want to go anywhere near the puppies anymore, who cling to them with their tight suction grip. The visits to the puppy box are already starting to become quite a rush.”

Normally, the dogs at the Karvini kennel have given birth to six or seven puppies at once.

“Once before, we had a litter of 12 puppies, where all the dogs were bitches. I thought at the time that it might have been some sort of record.”

For most of the Malin dog puppies, families have been chosen. The next litter in the kennel will be born already next week.

“I get to supervise again. Hopefully not with such a large litter, though.”