Dog Breeds with the Biggest Puppy Litters

Dogs always seem to produce such large puppy litters, don’t they? It’s not uncommon for a pooch to give birth to 5 or even 6 puppies at once! But what are the dog breeds with the biggest puppy litters?

Which breeds of dog produce the most puppies, and which breed holds the record? Well, in this article, we’ll be answering all these questions and more. So, read on to find out which dog breed produces the most puppies.

Springer Spaniels

Springer Spaniels have a pretty small average litter size, with 5 or 6 puppies being typical and 7 puppies being the max. But now and then, a Springer Spaniel has been known to produce a record-breaking litter.

In 2009, a Springer Spaniel named Abbey delivered a whopping 14 cute Spaniel puppies! Abbey’s labor took 15 hours.

Airedale Terriers

A handsome double-coated fluffy pooch, the lively Airedale Terrier typically gives birth to just 9 puppies. But, there have been cases where an Airedale Terrier yields more puppies than average.

A boy named Barney was just about to set off for school when he realized his Airedale Terrier named Gypsy had just started giving birth. Though Gypsy had only one puppy the last time she gave birth, this time Gypsy birthed 11 little Airedales!

Neapolitan Mastiff

Neapolitan Mastiffs are somewhat average in terms of litter size, with 8 being the typical total puppy count.

However, did you know that the Neapolitan Mastiff actually holds the Guinness World Record for the largest litter ever? This award belongs to Tia, Cambridgeshire, England. Tia gave birth to 24 little Neapolitan pups in November of 2004. After an emergency C-section, owners Damian Ward and Anne Lellegher searched for the puppies’ new homes.

German Shepherds

Typically, German Shepherds give birth to anywhere from 5 to 10 puppies, with 7 being the average.

However, in Australia, a German Shepherd gave birth to 14 puppies! This German Shepherd belongs to Natasha Clarke, who spent her vacation caring for and playing with the 14 bundles of fluff.

Irish Setters

From Waterlooville, Hampshire, England, a pure red Irish Setter named Madyson gave birth to 15 little Setter-lets. If this sounds exhausting, don’t worry – Madyson and her owner, Julie Murray, got some extra help raising the puppies thanks to Madyson’s English Setter sister, Liliana!

This was even more of a shock for Julie when you consider that the average Irish Setter litter size is merely 7 or 8 pups!

Dalmatians

Of course, we can’t have a list of large puppy litters without mentioning the Dalmatian! Dalmatians are well-known for consistently birthing large litters. 15 puppies are common.

In fact, the record for largest recorded puppy litter in Australia belongs to a Dalmatian named Melody, who gave birth to 19 puppies. Breeder Mellissa O’Brien from Albury couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the humongous litter sleeping in the basket!

Okay, so it’s not quite 101, but another dog named Miley,  also from Australia – though this time, the town of Ballarat – has given birth to 18 Dalmatian pups! Born on the 18th of May, 2017, the 12 female and 6 male puppies thrived with the help of their first-time Dalmatian father Astro and owner Cecilia Langton-Bunker, before going on to find new homes.

Great Dane

Did you know that the larger a dog’s breed, the greater that dog’s average litter? This is because large dog breeds are genetically and biologically able to safely carry more puppies. This is definitely true of the following Great Danes!

In 2014, Aimie and Brandon Terry were tidying the yard when they heard a persistent sound like a kitten’s mewling. When Brandon checked, he found that their Great Dane, Snowy, had given birth to 19 tiny Danes!

Although the couple had been aware their pooch was pregnant, the birth was earlier than they had been expecting. The pair headed to an animal hospital with Snowy and her six little Danes, where Snowy then successfully gave birth to the remaining 13 pups!

A Great Dane / American Bulldog cross named Mary Jane may have set a new world record with her naturally-delivered litter of 21 pups. MJ and her owner Joanne had been told to expect anywhere from 6 to 8 puppies. However, as MJ’s due date drew nearer, a new examination at their Isle of Man vet’s made it clear that Mary Jane would be delivering a much higher number of puppies!

The record you see in the Guinness World Record books is, of course, the Neapolitan Mastiff Tia’s puppy litter of 24 little Mastiffs back in 2004. But it’s worth remembering that this litter was delivered by Caesarean section. Whereas Mary Jane delivered all 21 of her little Dane Bulldogs naturally. So, could this be a new record?

Joanne has since found new homes for all the puppies, who she has named after different chocolate bars that suit the puppies’ distinct personalities.

Labrador

The Labrador Retriever is another dog breed that routinely whelps large litters, with 8 being the average litter size. But of course, even larger litters are also common.

As recently as October of 2019, a Labrador named Beau gave birth to one of the largest Labrador litters in history. Beau had 13 little Labs!

Then, just six months after Beau’s litter, this record was broken by a black Labrador named Bella. Bella gave birth to 14 black and golden Labrador puppies – 4 black females, and 3 golden male and 3 golden female puppies. Bella’s owner, Hazel Hedges, and her partner James couldn’t believe it as the puppies just kept coming!

This is not all – a Labrador named Annie from Drumlemble in Scotland had 15 puppies in 2014! Owners Rhona and Donald Kelly employed a ‘military-style operation’ to keep the 15 Lab puppies healthy and fed at the time, with both Annie’s milk and milk formula bottles being used to satiate the 15.

The Kellys kept two of the little Labs after finding good homes for the rest.

Dog breeds with the biggest litters

So, the Springer Spaniel, Airedale Terrier, German Shepherd, Irish Setter, and of course, the Dalmatian are some of the main dogs that often whelp large litters, with the Neapolitan Mastiff (Tia) holding the record for the largest dog litter ever delivered – 24 puppies – and the Great Dane American Bulldog cross, Mary Jane, holding the record for the largest naturally delivered litter, at 21 pups. Do you breed dogs? Has your dog produced a large litter? Perhaps your dog has broken the record for its breed! Let us know.