Routine Evening Pet-Sitting Turns Chaotic After Woman Ends Up Delivering 14 Puppies
A woman helped deliver 14 Labrador puppies while she was pet-sitting in the village of Llanharan, Wales.
Rhian Boxall was watching the pregnant dog for her brother, Meirion Thomas, who was on vacation, the BBC reported Sunday.
Thomas had assured Boxall that his lab, Tilly, wouldn’t go into labor while he was away.
But Tilly had other plans.
Around 6:10 p.m., she gave birth to the first puppy, according to the U.K.’s ITV News.
Little did Boxall know, she and Tilly were in for a 15-hour ordeal.
Boxall said the experience was a “rollercoaster of emotions.”
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Fourteen puppies born while owner away on holiday https://t.co/SvRMS312nu
— ITV Wales News (@ITVWales) September 2, 2025
The puppies just kept coming.
“We thought a few times that that was it, especially considering it was meant to be five or six, but it wasn’t. Quite overwhelming really, at one point we lost count!” Boxall said.
At one point, Tilly walked outside to the garden, seemingly to relieve herself, but instead birthed another puppy there, too.
Ultimately, she had 14. Two of those, however, were stillborn.
A dog sitter in South Wales suddenly became a midwife to 14 puppies when her brother’s Labrador unexpectedly went into labour early.@SwainITV is with the newborns and their mum, Tilly. pic.twitter.com/wb0GwZuc7X
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) September 1, 2025
Boxall’s husband, Steve, and their two children also helped with taking care of the newborns, later giving each of them collars.
Boxall’s brother couldn’t believe the news.
“I was shocked,” Thomas said. “It was so frustrating being stuck all those miles away.”
Pet sitters help dog deliver 14 pups as owner away https://t.co/ZEAz3ylwqg
— BBC Wales News (@BBCWalesNews) August 31, 2025
Boxall and Thomas each plan to adopt one of Tilly’s puppies.
“We’ve thought for many years about having a dog, and really the kids are keen, I think going through this experience and falling in love with the pups we just have to,” Boxall said.
Thomas was grateful to his sister for taking care of Tilly.
“And then hopefully I can return the favour of dog sitting, although hopefully not a pregnant one!” Thomas said.
While 14 may be a lot of puppies, it didn’t come close to the Guinness World Record.
In 2004, a Neapolitan mastiff birthed 24 puppies in a single day.
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