Wow!  Hector, a Great Dane puppy, was playing in the garden when he got a two foot stick lodged between his neck and stomach.  I guess Hector doesn’t understand the difference between “fetch” and “swallow” just yet.

The accident happened when one year old Hector was running around in the garden of his home in Wheathampstead, Herts. (UK)

“It was a lovely sunny day and he was having a great time, but suddenly he became quite subdued,” said Mrs Panting, 53, a tutor.

“I didn’t worry too much as he ate his supper, but the following morning he wouldn’t touch his breakfast and he was drooling a lot.

Mrs. Panting took Hector to the vet to get him checked out.

Hector’s chest and abdoman were x-rayed and the pictures showed he had swallowed a long straight object, which was an inch wide.

When surgeons passed a video camera down his oesophagus they realised it was a stick, but it was 45cm down his throat and the surgeons were not able to reach it.

The poorly pup, who weighs 153 lbs, was taken to the Royal Veterinary College where they managed to use long forceps to remove the stick.

It cost more than $4000 in vet bills to get Hector stick free.  Mrs. Panting stated “We have kept the stick but we certainly won’t be giving it to Hector to play with again.”  That seems like a very wise decision.