Largest ever litter of puppies

by Clare Jones on September 8, 2008

The largest number of puppies ever recorded in a litter was from a Neopolitan Bull Mastiff called Tia, in Manea in Cambridgeshire.

Tia gave birth to 24 puppies! That’s a huge amount, considering a normal size litter even for the Neopolitan Bull Mastiff breed is around six to eight puppies.

Imagine having to look after twenty four of these great big beauties…

Tia’s owners, Damian Ward and his girlfriend, Anne Kellegher, had thought it would be quite a large litter after their vet did a scan and thought there would be around ten puppies, so imagine their shock when they had twenty four.

The bull mastiff grew so large that she could barely move, so the breeders took her to the vet, who decided Tia needed an emergency caesarean. Just two hours later, a record 24 puppies had been born.

Unfortunately, four of the puppies were very weak and passed away, however the other twenty were healthy and thriving. The owners sold 17 of the puppies, each of which was worth more than £900 each.

The Guinness Book of Records showed the previous largest litter was 23 puppies, making this litter of Neopolitan Bull Mastiffs a new world record for the most puppies born in a litter and also for the largest number of surviving puppies.

The Neopolitan Bull Mastiff is a great breed, but not one for the fainthearted.

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24 Comments »

  1. I have had a dog recentely have puppies, and she had 9, and I thought that was a lot of puppies.

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    Comment by Alby — September 19, 2009 @ 1:18 am

  2. Nine is certainly quite a lot!

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    Comment by Darren — September 22, 2009 @ 12:37 pm

  3. My Jack Russell has just given birth to 8 pups. Does anyone know what the most Jack Russells in a litter is?

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    Comment by Jo — December 4, 2009 @ 11:30 pm

  4. The dog you show is a neopolitan mastiff not neopolitan bull mastiff as that is not a breed but a mix between a neo and a bullmastiff.

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    Comment by kalder — December 14, 2009 @ 8:28 pm

  5. Just thought Id mention that my standard size Yorkshire Terrier has just given birth to eight beautiful healthy puppies. We are so proud of her. We was expecting a little of about 2-3 which is the norm for a first litter and were absolutely amazed when she produced eight bonny puppies. They are pure bred yorkies. Polly and my sister’s Yorkie also Standard sized but maybe an inch or small shorter – Monty got together in the New Year! We would love to know what the maximum litter ever produced by a Yorkshire Terrier is?

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    Comment by christine — March 11, 2010 @ 5:15 pm

  6. My yorky of 3 kg just had 8 puppies on monday. i thought it was a record for yorky :) we lost one :( on the second night, but the rest of 7 are perfectly happy :) And the funny thing is that we went to Xray and they told us 3 – max 4 puppies, we sow 3 on the screen!!! and they told us to expect one more :) )

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    Comment by natalia — April 2, 2010 @ 8:46 pm

  7. Hi Natalia, that is marvellous. So glad your Yorkie and puppies are all doing fine. Ours are now 6 weeks old and are just about to be weaned. We have been topping up their feeds with Welpi and Lactol as Polly was struggling to cope to all eight. Going to try them with some baby rice this week. If you have any queries or any advice for us even send me a message. Regards, Christine.

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    Comment by christine — April 6, 2010 @ 1:11 pm

  8. My aunt’s Lab gave birth to 11 puppies :O

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    Comment by Christopher — May 9, 2010 @ 11:53 pm

  9. Sorry, forgot to mention that that was her first litter too!

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    Comment by Christopher — May 9, 2010 @ 11:54 pm

  10. 1st of all…there’s no such thing as a “Neopolitan BullMastiff”…they are simply known as Neopolitan Mastiffs…in show they’re commonly referred to as Neo’s…FYFI!!

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    Comment by Sal — May 30, 2010 @ 5:04 am

  11. My Basset Hound recently had 15 puppies.

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    Comment by Jamie Pennington — July 29, 2010 @ 5:39 am

  12. first litter yorkie had 8 pups last night,all doing well,do you know the biggest litter recorded?

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    Comment by garry higgins — September 22, 2010 @ 7:30 am

  13. My great dane had 14!

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    Comment by tnt — November 26, 2010 @ 9:10 pm

  14. There is a new champion! 30pups born to a a siberian husky name shawnee. Ill post link in min!!(2died)

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    Comment by Hevin — December 27, 2010 @ 10:13 pm

  15. Ms Belle is 1/2 Mastif 1/2 pit. Her and Mikey, pit, had 17 puppies today. 14 survived. Lotta love at my house. <3 Belle Babies <3 The Februalous 14! Closest thing to Valentine Babies Belle was willing to give us. =) But they are GORGEOUS! :) I'll try not to be fainthearted and keep only ONE. LOL

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    Comment by Treava — February 12, 2011 @ 11:34 pm

  16. treava how old are they and how much are you selling them for

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    Comment by Vikkie — March 28, 2011 @ 2:26 am

  17. My bull mastiff just had her first litter today and she has had 19 but sadly 2 have passed away. We are unsure if she has anymore.

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    Comment by Tamarra — April 13, 2011 @ 1:30 pm

  18. My labrador had 10 puppies in her 1st litter,
    11 in her 2nd and 3rd lot and 7 in this lot :) she has had a fair few puppies but they are all healthy and some of them are over a year old and have some puppies of their own :)

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    Comment by Samantha Lynette — June 13, 2011 @ 7:11 am

  19. My chow/wolf mix had 3 litters 1st-16 pups 2nd-13 pups 2 died 3rd-11 pups.

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    Comment by Grayson Wolfe — September 14, 2011 @ 11:09 pm

  20. My Boston Terrier Dazy is about 12-15 lbs and had 11 puppies in her litter WOW!!!!! They were all so cute….

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    Comment by Heather — September 26, 2011 @ 2:58 pm

  21. My mothers Irish Wolfhound had 13 pups

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    Comment by Mark — October 24, 2011 @ 4:25 pm

  22. I hav an Akita who gave birth to 14puppies all doin well.

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    Comment by Julie dugdale — October 26, 2011 @ 8:31 pm

  23. My Chocolate Labrador had her first litter and whelped 13 beautiful and healthy pups. They are now 4 weeks old and still thriving. 4 Black and 9 Chocolates 7M/6F. The first was born at 11 minutes to 11pm on 11/11/11 the remaining 12 were born on the 12th.

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    Comment by Alison — December 11, 2011 @ 12:36 pm

  24. In 1993 my yorkshire terrier “Tweetie” gave birth to 10 healthy puppies @ Kents Animal Hospital, in Birmingham, Alabama, Tweetie wasn’t able to feed all of them enough, so daily they were carried to Kents Hospital to be fed by the staff while I worked and I would feed them through the night just to be sure all were fed properly. They were a joy and beautiful, people called from all over the world to buy one but I refused to ship them, all were sold locally and I kept up with all until Tweetie passed away in 2001. Barbara

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    Comment by barbara — January 14, 2012 @ 9:05 pm

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