So it may not be a case of 101 Dalmatians, but Wilton has recently become home to a possibly record-breaking litter of 14 Stabyhoun puppies. Owner Martha Outlaw said her family is having a great time with their suddenly much larger group of pets ever since their 2-year-old dog, Stella, gave birth to 14 puppies almost four weeks ago on Jan. 15.
“I try to keep up with them!” Martha says with a wink, in what becomes a familiar refrain. “The fun begins!”
Martha searched a long time before finding out about the Stabyhoun (pronounced stabie-yoon) breed. Mama-dog Stella is a Stabyhoun, a rare Dutch breed that’s a good family dog–they’re sweet and gentle with children and other animals. They’re not overbred so as a breed they tend to be healthy. They’re smart enough to be fun and trainable, and could even be trained as a bird dog for Martha’s husband, Matt Ellenthal, but not need constant working challenges like a herding dog. The breed doesn’t shed much and isn’t high maintenance, and they’re known to enjoy walking, swimming and adventures in the woods or mountains or beaches. And as a medium-sized breed, they’re not likely to be coyote or hawk bait.
The family liked the responsible approach the clubs and owners took to breeding the Stabyhouns.
“They’re not an AKC breed, so they’re not show dogs; people don’t breed them just for their looks. The health and the temperament is really important. They don’t want to change the look, but it’s more about the health,” Martha says.
The breeders are also very conscientious about where their pups are placed. But that meant the Outlaw-Ellenthals would have to wait a very long time–in fact, they were on a waiting list for 12 years because they wanted a girl that would possibly be a breeding candidate.
“Meanwhile we got Darla, a chocolate lab, who is 11, who’s awesome. We were wait-listed for a long time. Then I found a [Stabyhoun] breeder in Vermont who said she had a girl for us. One of the questions was whether we would neuter or if we’d breed. It makes a difference on what dog you can get,” Martha explains.
That dog was Stella. When she was 2-years-old, her hips were x-rayed and she was approved for breeding, which Martha only planned to do once. She needed to be evaluated in person and through photos and videos by her breeder and the official committee in Holland, and was eventually deemed an excellent candidate for expanding the breed. Stella’s breeder found an appropriate match, a male dog named Echo in Cooperstown, NY.
“We met and I was like, ‘I really hope they like each other.’ He was so sweet, lived on a farm with donkeys and chickens. The family was so great. He was good enough for my daughter, I approved!” Martha recalls laughing.
That was in November and as Martha says, Stella and Echo hit it off. It was the first time for both Stella and Echo, but they got along right away.
“Gestation is really short–59 to 63 days. I could have used a little more time but it came fast!” Martha says.
They prepared for home delivery, which some might consider brave on Martha’s part. She wasn’t afraid of the idea of her dog having a litter and turning the downstairs into a doggie nursery for a bit; when she was growing up, her family’s Yorkshire terrier had puppies–but only three in the litter.According to Stella’s vet, Stella was expecting 12 puppies. Martha says the family planned to handle it on their own, though.
“I’m kinda into non-interference and letting nature take its course. The vet was on call and I had done my research.”
On day 60, around dinner-time, Stella started pacing and panting. Martha brought her to the whelping area she’d set up in the dining room. “I never got back to dinner. About 4-minutes later, the first one popped out.”
Stella had the first eight puppies in quick succession, over two hours. “She did it all, she was a pro. We were just telling her, ‘Good girl! Good girl!’ and trying to help her not step on the ones that were already born.”
By 1 a.m., Stella had given birth to three more, which meant there were 11 new pups at this point. “It was a school night, and the girls were up with me helping. By 2 a.m. I told them they had to go to bed, it was a school night. And at 3 a.m., the 12th came, and I texted my vet, ‘They’re all here.’ And then…”
Outlaw takes a breath, recalling what happened next.
“I had a blow up mattress in the room and I was lying there, listening to everything and watching. All of a sudden at 5:40 a.m., Stella starts panting and pacing. Sure enough, number 13.”
But no one would have guessed what would happen next, around 8:30 a.m, more than 12 hours after labor had started. “Stella was lying there, she couldn’t even get up. She just turned her head and looked at her rear end, and another one was coming out! Unbelievable!” Martha laughs.
See the end of the article for more pictures and adorable video.
Stella’s litter may be a record for a Stabyhoun, according to Martha, who says the average litter size is 7 puppies. There are eight girls and six boys.
Stella took to motherhood wonderfully and has been amazing, even though 14 babies is a tremendous amount of work. Considering how many calories she burns feeding them, and that she only has 10 teats to feed them with, she’s been working overtime. Martha, in turn, has been working just as hard ‘mothering’ Stella.
“Stella is such a good mom, at first she wouldn’t leave them. She’d take an emergency potty break, go outside, and come right back. And I was constantly feeding her, she was so thin. I’d feed her kibble, then tempt her with boiled chicken or peanut butter whatever I could to get calories in her. I was switching puppies to make sure they all got fed, and weighing them twice a day. The first week or two, I slept in there. Now they’re three weeks old and I’ve started giving them puppy gruel three times a day.”
As the puppies are getting older, Stella is getting a little more time on her own, especially as they’ve started growing teeth. And Martha will make sure to give the smaller puppies more private time with Stella to make sure they’re getting their fair share to eat too.
“They get to go to the milk bar!” she laughs.
Martha is keeping a good sense of humor, which thankfully she seems to have in abundance. That seems to be key with the litter now completely taking over the dining room.
Outlaw and her daughters are getting adept at telling the pups apart, thanks to distinctive markings that have provided some cute nicknames.
“It’s not easy but, they all have different spot patterns. We had a spreadsheet and we took pictures of all of them so when we were weighing them I could say, ‘Give me the one with the two black shoulders.’ There’s one with a black heart on its back, there’s one with a black widow hourglass. There’s one we call ‘Moji’ because it has an emoji face. The first one is called ‘First Born,’ and the last one is called ‘Teeny,’” she explains, adding that it’s definitely getting easier to tell who’s who.
Meeting the Pups
Getting up close with the puppies can only be described as cuteness overload. While offering guests a squirt of hand sanitizer, Martha warns everyone that the puppies will go to the bathroom right after they wake up so she suggested letting them wake up and move to the newspaper before picking them up.
The little yips and yaps fill the room as some of the pups spot the humans. Others are curled up around each other, little black-and-white fur balls sleeping on the doggie beds Martha has set up for them. She’s covered the polished wood floors of her formal dining room with plastic sheeting, and covered that with newspaper. She does a lot of cleaning up after the 14 puppies.
“Hello baby, did I wake you up,” she coos to one. It’s impossible not to fall in love with the 3-pounds of puppy love each time you pick one up.
Everywhere you look there’s a puppy. Some have more personality, some are more timid. Martha says they’re starting to bark and growl, and they’re learning to go to the bathroom on the paper rather than their beds already. She’s trying to get them used to different situations–being handled by children to adults, meeting other dogs, hearing a variety of sounds. She’s introduced a crate with a door that stays open. She says they’ll be ready to be adopted and go to their forever families by late March.
Some will go to people on the Stabyhoun club wait lists, some will go to people locally who have contacted Outlaw, and at least one will be adopted by the family who owns the male stud dog. Of course, Martha’s family will also keep one of the pups, she just doesn’t know which one yet. “Whichever are the best homes for the puppies. At first I was worried about finding homes for 14; now I’m worried about having to say ‘no’ to people,” she says. “But I just want to find them the best homes possible.”
Anyone interested in possibly adopting can contact Martha via the website they’ve set up about Stella and the litter. She posts pictures and videos there as well as on the Facebook page she’s set up for people to follow the pups as they grow up.
Click photos to enlarge:
some photos courtesy Outlaw-Ellenthal family.
