A litter of twelve for Honey

Female labrador Honey surprised her owner, Peter Butler, by producing a litter of twelve puppies

LOOKING after one child can be a handful so spare a thought for Newbury dog Honey who had a litter of twelve puppies recently.

Honey, a female labrador, had her second litter this summer but to the surprise of her owner, Peter Butler of Speen Place, Newbury, she produced nine bitches and three dogs.

And the puppies have become stars of the internet after being placed on a webcam for prospective buyers to view.

Mr Butler said: “Interested buyers came over to look at the puppies but often they wanted to see them again so we thought a webcam would be a great idea.”

But the 53-year-old admits that looking after the puppies, who will be six-weeks-old on Saturday, has been hard work.

“The reason we let her have puppies in the first place was because we wanted another girl,“ Mr Butler said. “This was her second litter after she had five boys last year.

“If someone had said to us there were going to be twelve puppies, I think we would have had second thoughts because it's been hard work.

“We've had to use a different colour collar system because that was the only way we could tell them apart.

“We've got a gazebo in the garden which they like to sit under during the day and at night they sleep in a welcome pen which has heated lights."

Mr Butler is keeping one of the bitches, which he has named Poppy, but there are still two bitches available.

To see the remaining puppies, click on the link below and enter ‘view' in the username box and ‘dogs' in the password box.