When your dog is pregnant, you want to know how many pups to prepare for.

After all, this number could affect everything from potential adopters to whelping space. It will help you figure out if you’ll need help caring for all of them or if you can handle the puppies on your own.

Cecilia Lanton-Bunkergot was the human mom of a Dalmation Miley. Cecilia and her husband were so excited to welcome some new puppies to the family when they discovered Miley was pregnant.

The vet overseeing the gestation predicted a three puppy litter, but Miley’s tummy seemed a bit too large for that. As it turns out, Miley’s litter was much bigger than three pups.

Let’s not be too hard on the vet…it takes a lot of training to earn a DVM. One has to get a four-year undergraduate degree and then four additional years of vet-school PLUS a residency. I mean, these guys are highly trained.

So maybe the vet was working with faulty equipment or maybe the vet is not specialized in prenatal care. Whatever the case, Miley and her breeders were in for a surprise.

Miley the Dalmation gave birth to 18 pups instead of the predicted 3…#whoops

Not only was the litter a staggering 18 pups, but it also set the world record for the largest dog litter ever birthed. The average Dalmatian litter is eight or ten pups. A dog’s first pregnancy normally produces fewer pups than the average. It’s all worth it though. I mean, this dog looks quite pleased with herself.

This might remind you of the movie 101 Dalmations. If it does, you are not alone. Miley and her pups are always compared to the dogs in the classic Disney film.

Based on her size during gestation, Miley’s breeders estimated around 15 or 16 puppies, just like Pongo and Perdita in the movie. But Miley and Astro blew that fictional record out of the water.

It took 13 hours of labor for the pups to be delivered.

The 18 pup litter has 12 females and 6 males. Those brothers are outnumbered 2 to 1. I wonder how that will affect their childhood (puppyhood?).

Since there are so many little guys, Cecilia and her husband are helping the new mother with the puppy-care. There is always a fresh supply of warm milk available for the little guys.

Since there are so many puppies, the breeders have placed a temporarily dyed dot on their neck. These will be replaced with collars when they arrive. In the meantime, Miley’s record-breaking achievement has been recorded by the Australian National Kennel Club as the largest litter in Australian history out of over 40,000 Dalmation births.

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Source: I Love My Dogs So Much