A rare bulldog has given birth to a massive litter of twenty puppies despite being predicted to bear just six!
Two-year-old pedigree Cali had the huge brood over a period of more than 24 hours.
Owner Amber Rees, 20, is immensely proud of her pet, who is currently resting up and recovering.
Part-time breeder Amber is also trying to catch up on sleep, having stayed awake during the whole birth to look after Cali.
The puppies are currently living with their mum and owner in Swindon, Wiltshire, before they are sold on.
Cali the bulldog and her massive brood of puppies. Her owner was told to expect just 6
A close-up picture of four of the puppies who were born on the 11th and 12th of March
Amber said: ‘It’s been chaotic and crazy but quite fun.
‘Seeing all those puppies together has been really heartwarming and sweet but it does test your patience sometimes.
‘When we first took her for a scan the vet told us to expect six or at most eight puppies.
‘That was how many I expected in my head. It happened last Wednesday. I said: ‘Cali looks like she’s panting a bit’.
‘I was staring at her and then she just started to push!
‘Within two minutes there was a puppy and they just kept on coming. It got to the eighth one and it didn’t look like she was sIowing down.
‘I was shocked but delighted.
‘She calmed down a bit after the first 12 so we rushed her to the vet.
‘They gave her an injection to help give her contractions and push the last six out.
Bulldog Cali is an Alapaha blue blood bulldog, seen here with the puppies’ father Kongo
The puppies nurse and sleep beside their mother, Cali, a rare breed of bulldog
‘It was a bit of a traumatic birth and Cali’s water broke before some of them were ready to come out.
‘The others are happy and healthy, fortunately, and we’ve stocked up on beds and dog food for them.
‘We are so proud of Cali, she’s done so well, all things considered.
‘This was her first litter and it was tough to see her go through so much effort but she’s been such a good mother.
‘She was very tired for a few days but she’s started wagging her tail again and is back to her funny, ditzy old self.
‘I’m running on empty now, but it was so worth it. Even though they are only a week old they have grown so much.’
Cali nuzzles some of her pups who are now eight days old. Nine of the twenty pups sadly died
Some of the pups are dark like their father, Kongo, rather than sandy coloured like their mum
Sadly nine of the puppies died but Amber still has eleven puppies.
Amber works as a payroll and tax consultant as well as running Blue Blood Empire, a company specialising rare breeds. Cali is an Alapaha blue blood bulldog.
Although sad about the deaths, she said they weren’t unexpected.
She said: ‘The vet said he was surprised there wasn’t more [deaths]. Cali did well to push out the ones that she did.
‘We haven’t decided any names yet other than Bambi, for the last one.
A pic of new mother Cali, pictured playing with the puppies’ father bulldog Kongo
The pure bred pups catch forty winks. The massive size of the litter may be a record for Amber’s home town of Swindon, Wiltshire. They will stay with Cali until they are rehoused
‘I thought about going with Disney princesses for the females but after calling one of them Ariel, I decided that it didn’t really suit her.
‘When a new owner buys them, they can rename them.
‘This is my first breed, I have just registered as a breeder. I still work part-time but I’d love to go full-time as a breeder.’
Amber added that she believes the litter may be a record for her hometown.
The first birth took place at 7:20pm on Wednesday, March 11. A total of 12 births had taken place by 12:50pm on Thursday, March 12 when Cali was taken to the vet.
The rest were born over the following hours.