Puppy breath! Raleigh dog gives birth to 16

Three weeks ago, Naia, a labrador, gave birth to 16 puppies, more than double the average litter size.

"It was a shock," Dawn Parry, Naia's owner said.

Parry and her husband, Bobby Parry, worked around the clock in the first few days, bottle feeding the puppies every two to three hours to assist Naia.

"It's been really busy. I'll make bottles and Dawn and I will switch shifts," Bobby Parry said. "So I'll leave her a note, 'Hey, all the silver boys have been fed, you're up.' And then I'll go shake her awake."

Dawn Parry said she and her husband were willing to do whatever they needed to in order to keep the puppies healthy.

"We worked very hard, but we wanted them to be healthy, and it was not acceptable for us to lose any of them," she said. "We tried our best and we just got really lucky."

Naia has also been working hard. She's been eating 15,000 to 20,000 calories per day, about 10 times the average amount. She gets a dozen eggs, goat milk, dry food and 10 to 15 cans of puppy food. She's also gotten some fancier meals.

"Chicken and rice, and we did pheasant and rice," Dawn Parry said. "We cook stuff in the crock pot and give it to her. As much as we give her she eats it. She loves it."

In the last few days, the puppies started eating solid food.

According to the American Kennel Club, the national record for a litter of Labrador puppies is 19. Naia's brood ties the North Carolina record.