As you may have read in the Echo earlier this week we have had a rare litter of puppies born near Dorchester.

On 5th April Aakfe, a lovely three-year-old Wetterhoun, gave birth to eight puppies. Wetterhouns are one of the world’s rarest dog breeds and this is the first litter ever to be born in the UK (indeed, until last week there were only four Wetterhoun in the whole of the UK and barely 1,000 globally). I am very proud to say that my colleagues and I at Castle vets had a part to play in the birth.

In the early hours of the morning of the fifth, Aafke went into labour and delivered her first puppy but then two hours passed, no more puppies came, and her owners were concerned so contacted my colleague Giles who was on duty that night. Giles examined Aafke and was happy that there was no indication that we needed to head for anything as dramatic as a c-section, gave Aafke an injection to help contractions get going and six more puppies followed in quick succession.

I then went out to visit Aafke at lunchtime – Aafke was happy and comfortable, and her puppies were feeding well, but I could feel more puppies still inside her. Again, happy that there was no blockage or cause for concern, I gave Aafke another injection to help contractions and she was able to deliver the rest of her litter.

My colleague Rachel then scanned Aafke later in the day to be certain she had passed all the puppies. It was a real team effort and great to be there for this special mum (who was a delight to treat throughout) and to be a part of dog breeding history.

Alice Moore is a vet at Castle Veterinary Clinic, Dorchester and Weymouth. Tel 01305 267083