LONDON (AFP) - In a feat that put human sword swallowers to shame, a British dog managed to gulp down a stick only two inches (5 centimetres) shorter than its own body, and escape unscathed, a report said.






Millie, a two-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, swallowed the stick by accident while on a walk with her owner, John Hurst, in fields behind his home in Portsmouth, southern England, the Daily Mail newspaper said.


Hurst threw the 16-inch (40-centimetre) stick for Millie to retrieve, but it stuck in the ground like a javelin and the sprinting dog managed to effectively impale herself on it, swallowing it whole.


Fearing the worst, Hurst rushed his pet to a vet, where micro-cameras found the stick had somehow worked its ways down Millie's throat and deep into her stomach without hitting any vital organs on the way.


After a two-hour operation, the only injury to Millie was a small scratch inside her stomach, the report said.


Dogs receiving treatment for swallowed sticks was common, vet Matthew Tyler told the newspaper.


"But for a dog to get a stick stuck this far down is unheard of," he added. source

ohhh....poor puppy.... see sticks are bad.. spend a little cash and get a soft squeek toy.. they will love them as much or more then a stupid stick

Holy crap, thats crazy. Lucky dog. I mean, holy crap, it could have easily been impaled.

Oh mah gawd. That's one lucky dog!

I guess they wont be playing fetch again anytime soon...poor doggy.

I want a dog with as many lives as a cat, that would be cool. This pooch is very lucky.

its amazing how often this kind of accident happens... the trauma to the mouth and stomach can be horrendous.

Wow, lucky dog, hopefully the owner now uses more doggy friendly toys when playing with his best mate!

Good throw! What are the chances of that? Bet he couldn’t do that again even if he tried a thousand times.

He'll probably never go near a stick again and with good reason.

nah.. you'd be amazed by how dopey some animals are...
my uncles dogs' fav past time is snapping at bees (as one does).. well, as you would expect he gets stung... has a whimper and carries on.. and five minutes later, back to snapping at bees.

My old dog use to do that! She would be bounding around the garden, or snapping at seemingly nothing, when suddenly a wasp or bee would drop out of her month onto the patio. She would claw at her face for a bit; shake her head then go find the next luckless flying insect that she can try and swallow whole!