Dog gives birth to 17 puppies

A dog owner in Germany introduced her 17 Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies to the media.

The four-year-old mother Etana gave birth to the puppies in Ebereschenhof, north of Berlin on 28 September.

All 17 of the litter survived. Their owner, Ramona Wegemann has her work cut out caring for the puppies.

The 32-year-old animal psychiatrist had to feed the puppies five times a day for the first four weeks because their mother didn’t have enough milk.

“When I was finished feeding the last puppy, the first was hungry again,” Ms Wegemann said.

The litter is unusual in that all were born naturally with no need for a Caesarian section.