It has been raining dogs… and more dogs on a quiet suburban street in Shakaskraal where Scooby, a 3-year-old Pitbull and Boerboel cross gave natural birth to 18 puppies over the course of 2 days this week.

Scooby had been pregnant for just over two months when she gave birth to her first puppy, Pluto, late in the afternoon on Monday, March 1.

Owner Lynette Misthry went to bed thinking another 3 or 4 may be born overnight but awoke to find 10 puppies in the garden.

“We could not believe it.

“We thought 6 or 7 was a standard litter but to have had another 9 born overnight completely took us by surprise,” she said.

Three of Lynette’s grandchildren, Tyler (17), Blake (7) and Lynton (6) quickly began naming the dogs as they picked their favourites.

“We had Pluto, Duke, Rocky, Mickey, Hutch, Peanuts, Buttons, Chuckles, Pinky and Alba, thinking that was already a lot for one litter,” laughed Tyler.

Lo and behold, over the course of Tuesday, Scooby gave birth to another 7 puppies taking the total to 17.

Remembering the names had become all but impossible and it was now surely time for Scooby to rest.

On Tuesday night however, the last puppy was born.

Scooby had delivered 18 puppies naturally in a 36 hour labour.

“They just kept coming and coming, it was hard to keep track after a while but we think this is the end,” laughed Lynette.

The current world record for a litter of puppies in single litter is 24 from Tia, a Neapolitan Mastiff in 2004.

These puppies were born via cesarean section, however, so there may be another record up for grabs.

Currently, the record for naturally born puppies is 21 from Mary-Jane, a Great Dane and American Bulldog cross in 2019.

But 6 of the puppies were stillborn and one died soon after birth.

When The Courier visited Scooby, all 18 puppies were alive and kicking as they hustled to get over each other for a chance at a teat.

This was Scooby’s second litter, after she had 7 stillborn puppies just over a year ago.

Although the father of the litter is unknown, the family does own another dog, Dutch who took on the fatherhood role.

“Dutch was very anxious in the few days before the birth, he refused to eat or drink and only just started having some water,” said Lynette.

Scooby now cuts a tired but satisfied figure as she gently deals with her 18 puppies, trying to feed them all equally.

The family is planning to give away a few puppies to friends and then sell most of the others, but the grandchildren have different plans.

“I want to keep Peanuts, Rocky and Duke,” said Blake.

“I also like Chuckles and the newest one,” said Lynton.

Given the puppies are yet to open their eyes, there is plenty of time to decide where they will end up, for now Scooby is going to have a well deserved rest.