Dog Names that Start with Et

When was the last time that you read an article, or book, or watched a movie that touched you deeply?  Did that article, book or movie tell a story about animal survival in unusual or seemingly impossible circumstances?  Our pop culture spotlight today is a canine who fits into that category.

Etana is a Rhodesian Ridgeback female dog belonging to Ramona Wegemann in Ebereschenhof, a city near Berlin, Germany.  On September 28 and 29, 2010, Etana performed an incredible feat - she birthed a litter of pups.  While it may not seem so impossible, here are some facts that should change your mind: the birth took 26 hours to complete, resulted in 17 puppies, the delivery took place naturally and without cesarian assistance, AND all 17 puppies have survived.  Are you in awe yet?  While not her first pregnancy, the first one producing a not uncommon eight puppies, the second one will go in the record books, especially as it challenged the norm regarding the survival rates in canine litters of this size.  Generally, within the first week after delivery, several puppies succumb due to a variety of issues, not the least of which is starvation, because the mother can’t cope with the care of so many offspring.  

Ramona, an independent animal psychiatrist and her husband also with a career, put their jobs on hold, taking as much vacation time or staying at home as possible to help care for the puppies.  Ramona freely admits to sleeping very little those first few weeks after the birth, as she needed to help Etana feed the pups.  At least five times each day, Ramona bottle-fed them with a unique formula, finally finishing feeding the last one only to begin again because their little appetite alarms were going off still.  Add to that ordeal the fact that, when the puppies weren’t eating, they wanted to play! 

Becoming experts at juggling, they also had to choose 17 names for the pups, AND keep them straight!  They selected African names all beginning with ‘B’ for each of the eight female and nine male new members of their household.  They chose African names as the Rhodesian Ridgeback breed originated in Southern Africa where they were utilized to hunt lions.  You can see the result of their love and care when you gaze into the huge wooden box which occupies most of their living room, as those darling little doggies look at you with those innocent warm brown eyes, sparkling with good health and love.  The Wegemanns decided to sell most of the pups but only to homes with children and not even consider breeders.