A California sheepdog has stunned veterinarians by giving birth to 17 puppies — 11 males and six females, NBC Bay Area and CBS SF report.
The three-year-old sheep dog named “Stella” has been herding at the farm Napa Grass Farmer in Fairfield, Calif.
The canine’s owner John Costanzo told NBC Bay Area that its veterinarian thinks the puppies represent one of the largest litters ever — at least in the state or for its breed, the Maremma Sheepdog. A Neopolitan mastiff from the U.K. village of Manea in Cambridgeshire once set a Guinness World Record for largest litter from a dog by giving birth to 24 puppies.
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Write to Olivia B. Waxman at olivia.waxman@time.com