--- description: A sheepdog gave birth to 17 puppies around Napa California. title: Here's What 17 Sheepdog Puppies Looks Like image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's What a Litter of 17 Sheepdog Puppies Looks Like  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Mar 1, 2016 4:39 PM CUT  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Mar 1, 2016 4:39 PM CUT A California sheepdog has stunned veterinarians by giving birth to 17 puppies — 11 males and six females, [NBC Bay Area](http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Vet-Says-Napa-Sheep-Dogs-Litter-of-17-Puppies-is-the-Biggest-Ever-in-California-370576251.html "undefined") and [CBS SF](http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/02/29/napa-sheepdog-has-17-pups-largest-litter-ever-in-california/ "undefined") 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](http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Vet-Says-Napa-Sheep-Dogs-Litter-of-17-Puppies-is-the-Biggest-Ever-in-California-370576251.html "undefined") 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. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4242991/sheepdog-napa-17-puppies-litter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4242991/sheepdog-napa-17-puppies-litter/"},"headline":"Here's What a Litter of 17 Sheepdog Puppies Looks Like","datePublished":"2016-03-01T16:39:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:30:36.713Z","description":"Bow-wow","url":"https://time.com/4242991/sheepdog-napa-17-puppies-litter/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4242991/sheepdog-napa-17-puppies-litter/","name":"Here's What a Litter of 17 Sheepdog Puppies Looks Like"}}]}] ```