Pennsylvania Great Dane Gives Birth To 19 Puppies, Surprises Owners!

A female Great Dane in Pennsylvania has given birth to a staggering 19 puppies in her litter – surprising her owners and more importantly, garnering national media attention! The Great Dane named Snowy is owned by York County residents Brandon and Aimie Terry, reports ABC News. The couple were aware of the fact that their Great Dane was pregnant. They were, however, definitely not prepared to welcome 19 brand new Great Dane puppies into their home. Brandon and Aimie treated Snowy’s pregnancy like any other pooch pregnancy and took great care of her. However, there was no inkling that the Great Dane would eventually give birth to 19 little ones!

Brandon Terry later told WHTM that they did expect 15 puppies but anything more than that was not in their radar.

“We had made an appointment to take her into the vet, and they did an X-ray, and found out there were 15 spines in the X-ray.”

Even 15 puppies in a litter is rare for a Great Dane, which normally delivers just eight puppies on average. The highest number is usually not more than 10. In Snowy’s case, however, all rules of a normal Great Dane pregnancy seemed to have been broken. The puppies were also born earlier than expected. In fact, it was a surprise for them when Snowy went in to labor three weeks ago. The first six puppies were born at the Terry residence while the rest of the gang were born at a local animal hospital, where the Great Dane was transported to.

“It’s a shocker, but I’m glad that they’re all here,” Brandon Terry told WHTM.

It’s been three weeks since the new puppies were born to Snowy. They have only recently opened their eyes.

“Right now they’re into exploring and playing, fighting with each other,” Aimie Terry reveals.

While the puppies are tiny now, knowing that these are Great Danes, all of them would grow to nearly three feet in height very soon. Needless to mention, the family is also looking for like-minded people who would adopt some of the puppies and give them a new home.

While the 19 puppies born to this Great Dane are truly an amazing number, it is still short of the world record. The current record for the largest known litter of puppies to a single dog is 24. These were born to Neapolitan mastiff in Cambridgeshire, England, back in 2004, according to Guinness World Records.

[Image via ABC News]