Pictured: The dog who swallowed a two-foot long stick... and survived unharmed

She didn't worry unduly after he wolfed down his supper as normal.

But when he refused his breakfast, she took him to the vet... where an X-ray showed that he had swallowed a stick, two feet long and an inch wide, and it was lodged a foot down his throat.

Fetch: Hector with his owner Pamela Panting and the stick he swallowed

The vet could not reach the stick and was reluctant to remove it via major invasive surgery. So 11-stone Hector was taken to the Royal Veterinary College in London, where staff managed to remove it using long forceps.

Mother-of-five Mrs Panting, 53, a tutor from Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, said: 'We've kept it, but he won't be playing with it again.'

An x-ray reveals the massive stick inside Hector

The stick is slowly pulled from Hector's throat using forceps

It just keeps coming... the two-foot stick appears

Fetch: The 62cm conifer branch is lodged between his neck and his stomach

Dog tired: Hector recovers from his ordeal