CULTURE: A Puppy for Christmas?

It doesn't quite have the ring of 101 Dalmatians, but 17 Rhodesian Ridgebacks are quite enough for one momma dog and her German owners. It took 4-year-old Etana 26 hours to give birth to the eight females and nine males in late September, reports the AP—and it's been nonstop ever since. Owner Ramona Wegemann says that as soon as she "finished feeding the last puppy, the first was hungry again."

"But all of our puppies survived. This is incredible and wonderful," says the 32-year-old, who put her job on hold while her husband took all the vacation he could to cope with five-a-day bottle feedings and round-the-clock playtime. Wegemann is asking $1,315 per puppy, which mostly covers vet bills, food, and paperwork. She's got six takers, but quantities aren't that limited