Lhasa Apso Thought to Be Sterile Surprises Family with 9 Puppies—Meet the Mom: a Border Collie

Lord is a five-year-old Lhasa Apso who wasn’t neutered because the vet said he was sterile. However, some time after his owner, Letícia Santana, adopted Maggie—a two-year-old Border Collie—the dog ended up getting pregnant. Guess who the puppies’ father was? Yes—Lord. How is that possible?

The Dog’s Adoption

In an interview with Amo Meu Pet (our Brazilian website about pet news), Letícia—who lives in São Paulo—shared that when Lord came into her life, he was only three months old.

He was a gift from her parents, and according to Letícia, “he was the best gift of her life!” “From the beginning, he has always been a very loyal, loving, and clever dog.”

Maggie, on the other hand, came from a kennel. According to Letícia, the kennel owner rejected her for being the smallest of the litter.

The dog was put up for adoption, and if no one adopted her, she would have been dumped on the streets. Upon hearing this, Letícia reported the case and adopted her immediately.

Lord’s Infertility

At the time, the family lived in Paraná, Brazil. There, Letícia took Lord—who had just turned three—to a veterinary clinic for tests, hoping to breed him with another dog.

The family wanted to have one of Lord’s puppies to give to Letícia’s father.

“The test results showed he was subfertile, meaning he could still have puppies—but with minimal chances,” she said. “To test it, we had him mate with another Lhasa Apso… We waited, but nothing happened—she didn’t get pregnant. Six months later, we tried again with a different dog… and once again—nothing. So, we gave up.”

The Puppies

Letícia was sure Lord was infertile, so they didn’t bother neutering him. Then came Maggie. Whenever she went into heat, Letícia kept him separated—but she never imagined he’d manage to escape.

While seven months pregnant herself, Letícia was busy preparing for the baby and didn’t realize that Maggie was also expecting.

“When we saw her, she was huge—but we thought she had a health issue, like dysplasia. One day, she woke up and couldn’t move—she was unable to walk because of her weight,” Letícia said.

Letícia’s husband rushed her to the vet, and thankfully, she recovered quickly. The vet performed an ultrasound. “We tested for everything, and the vet guessed it might be an ovarian infection or dysplasia… maybe even because of Lord—since she couldn’t walk,” Letícia said.

“We ran many tests. In the ultrasound, to our surprise, five puppies appeared; the vet said it might be seven. Maggie couldn’t walk because of the weight—it was just 15 to 20 days before delivery,” she recalled. “Can you imagine the adrenaline?”

The family was in disbelief—and even more shocked when the ultrasound turned out to be wrong: it wasn’t five puppies, but nine! Oh my! After the shock came joy: five females and four males—beautiful and healthy—were born.

If Letícia’s father wanted one of Lord’s puppies, now he’s a grandpa to nine—haha!

The puppies—now five months old—were given to loving and responsible families. As for Lord… after this, I think neutering is definitely in his future—lol!