Beardie bitch Flo couldn't resist the powerful call of nature when a passing dog swung by her owner's Parua Bay farm.
Three months later Flo produced her first litter - a whopping 14 pups, all of which have survived.
Now 5-weeks-old, the 14 bonny, boisterous, yawning, yelping, curious, cuddly pups - whose
other parent might have been a huntaway - are a credit to their mother.
"She's been a great little mum," Ben Beasley said of the 3-year-old collie, who had a rough time before he got her.
The six female and eight male pups are especially demanding at feeding time - when Flo flows they don't exactly line up patiently to take turns at her 10 teets. Feeds have been supplemented with milk and puppy food for the past 10 days and in another week or so mother's milk will be off the menu altogether.
Mr Beasley, who's never been without a dog since he was 4-years-old, has never seen or heard of such a large litter of pups. He now has the job of finding homes for them.
"I haven't any takers yet, not one," he says.
Three vet clinics the Northern Advocate contacted agreed that 14 was indeed an unusually big litter, especially with a 100 per cent survival rate and for a bitch's first litter. Some breeds have been known to whelp up to 17 pups but seldom with all surviving.
Please contact the Northern Advocate if you know of a larger litter of pups in Northland.
