Surprise! Bulldog Has 21 Puppies

An Illinois family is celebrating their unique set of puppies -- a litter of 21 American Bulldogs delivered from their pet Daisy Mae.

Four of the puppies died during delivery, but the other 17 are doing well and turned 6 weeks old Tuesday.

"We wanted to breed her and have a litter of puppies ... but I didn't expect to have this many!" said dog owner Shari Ballard.

The 21 puppies were born over a 20-hour period and the Ballards and their two sons were with Daisy Mae throughout the night.

"We stayed up all night with her and every couple hours one would come out and I kept thinking, 'well, that has to be the end,'" said Scott Ballard.

The family worked together helping Daisy Mae with her ordeal, bottle feeding the offspring shortly after birth to just a few days ago when they started eating dried puppy chow.

The proud papa is a registered bulldog named Groucho who is owned by a friend of Daisy Mae's family.

When asked if they would breed Daisy Mae again, Shari Ballard said "No. We're going to retire her. This is enough!"

And it seems that Daisy Mae agrees.

"I think right now she's pretty sick of them," Shari added.

A 2-year-old Mastiff who gave birth in 2005 holds the record for biggest litter (24) and most puppies surviving (20), according to Guinness.