Dog With Broken Foot Gives Birth to 13 Pups, Then Insists on Carrying Them to Safety

Stray Rescue of St. Louis came across an injured female dog with a broken foot in mid-June of 2019. Naturally, they took her in and planned to give her the help she needed. But upon examining the nervous, injured girl, they made a discovery that sent them out into the woods once again.

Armed with flashlights and fierce determination, a Stray Rescue search team headed to the area where the female dog was found. The search was on, because this dog was not alone.

“We were able to trap the dog with the injured foot,” staff reported in a rescue video they later uploaded to YouTube. “It turned out that she was full of milk.” Soon after rescuing the injured dog, Stray Rescue’s staff noticed that she was producing milk, and this could only mean one thing: puppies!

This dog was not only a prime candidate for rescue, care, and treatment, but her puppies were too. If only the team could find them. The puppies were young, and time was of the essence. The rescuers crawled over brambles, branches, and even over fallen tree stumps to find the nest, but after a long and fervent hunt, they hit the jackpot.

Rescuers pushed branches aside and crawled on their hands and knees into the bushes until they uncovered an expertly hidden den. Inside the den, a hole in the ground concealed a squeal-worthy discovery: seven little girls and six little boys; thirteen puppies in total!

The rescuers started counting the sleeping pups into their safe, plastic transport carrier, but after puppy number eight, the carrier was already looking a little crowded. Nobody had expected quite so many babies from this poor, injured momma’s litter. But the pups didn’t mind.

Bundled gently next to and on top of one another, they immediately fell back into a deep slumber. “She did such a good job hiding them to keep them safe,” Stray Rescue posted beside their triumphant footage.

None the wiser, the puppies were quickly driven away to be reunited with their mom.

“She is scared,” Stray Rescue shared, “but will get the medical care she needs and help with all those babies. This is the last litter she ever has to have.”

“Please give if you can,” they added, explaining that the new mom will need surgery on her broken foot. Most shelters rely exclusively upon donations, and funds are never needed quite as desperately as they are when an adorable, unexpected litter of thirteen turns up unannounced!

The puppies, reunited with their loving mom, will soon need to undergo the necessary preparations for their new lives with foster and adoptive families. They will need to be spayed and neutered, get their vaccines, and be microchipped before heading out into the big, wide world.

But for now, these thirteen bundles of cuteness and their incredible mom are in good hands. “They are just too cute!” wrote one social media supporter, in response to Stray Rescue’s Facebook post. “Thank you, SR, for all you do!”

“Hope you find loving fosters/homes for everyone,” added another, “especially [for] the mom who worked so hard to keep her babies safe.” We couldn’t agree more. Believe us; we’ve tried and it’s impossible.

This momma dog and her sweet litter of thirteen are undeniably amazing!