A sight loss charity has welcomed an extraordinary “baker’s dozen” of guide dogs as it celebrates its largest litter in three years.
To mark the above-average litter size, Guide Dogs HQ in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, gave the 13 puppies bakery-inspired names.
The boys are called Biscuit, Crumble, Bagel, Crumpet, Rye, Tiger and Pretzel, and the girls are Apple, Eccles, Cocoa, Chelsea, Custard and Ginger.
The litter was born to Yori, a four-year-old golden retriever-Labrador cross at a home in Chipping Camden in August.
Ten of the puppies were raised by their mother, Yori, while three were fostered by another guide dog mother with a small litter of the same age.
Now eight weeks old, all of the puppies have been reunited at the Guide Dogs National Centre.
They will soon go to volunteer “puppy raisers” around the UK and become guide dogs in 2027.
The charity is the world’s largest breeder and trainer of working dogs, with around 1,350 puppies starting their journeys to become guide dogs every year.
Breeding, raising and training just one guide dog to partnership costs the charity £77,000. This has more than doubled in six years, as costs were £34,600 in 2019.
Janine Dixon, breeding and welfare operations lead at Guide Dogs, said: “Counting puppies during pregnancy is very tricky so we didn’t know Yori had quite so many buns in the oven.
“She had a very straightforward whelping at home and is an excellent mum. We’re thrilled that all 13 thrived thanks to the hard work of our volunteers and staff.”
The puppies will now be allocated to puppy raisers around the UK to help turn them into life-changing guide dogs by 2027.
“Each pup has a bright future, hopefully becoming a guide dog bringing independence and mobility to someone with sight loss,” Ms Dixon added.
