Owners of dog that eats anything left facing £1,000 rubber duck bill

As these X-ray images show, the hapless hound had swallowed the toy whole, leaving his owners worried that this time he had bitten off more than he could chew.

But now they have retrieved what could be considered the most expensive duck in the country after paying 1,060 to have it surgically removed.

Owners Colin Smith and Lorraine Fenton became worried about their much-loved dog when he fell ill just before Christmas.

After rushing him to their local vet, X-rays revealed that Spike had swallowed a rubber duck taken from the bathroom.

Thankfully he is now bright-eyed and bushy tailed once again after a successful operation.

Print engineer Mr Smith, 52, and civil servant wife, 46, from Thorner, near Leeds, were enjoying a relaxing weekend together on December 20 when they noticed the usually vibrant Spike, a Patterdale terrier, was sluggish and lethargic.

When the six-year-old pooch began vomiting, they rushed him to vets Hutchinson, Dunlop and Baird in Wetherby but tests failed to get to the bottom of the problem.

It was only after an X-ray the cause of his illness became clear – with a perfect outline of a rubber duck clearly visible in his stomach.

Mr Smith said: "To be honest, I wasn't surprised that the rubber duck was the cause of it because we noticed that one had mysteriously vanished.

"He will eat absolutely anything and I think he probably eyed up the duck and thought, 'I'm going to have this before anyone can stop me', so he just ate it whole.

"We've kept the duck as a memento and it's gone black. It used to be luminous yellow but he had obviously started to digest it, which stripped away its colour.

"We can laugh about it now but at the time we were really worried about him. Even once they had found the cause of his sickness, he still had a serious operation to go through."

Though the comical revelation left the assembled vets amused – they knew the size of the duck was as potentially life-threatening as the surgery the dog would have to go through.

The duck was lodged in Spike's small intestine, making it impossible for any food or water to pass through and forcing him to repeatedly vomit.

Spike, who was adopted by the couple four years ago from a rescue home, underwent an hour-long operation, followed by three days of intravenous fluids, pain relief and antibiotics, before being gratefully collected by his owners on Boxing Day.

Vet Sylvie McQuire said: "To be honest, when we first saw the X-ray come back with the rubber duck in we couldn't help but laugh about it.

"I just thought, 'Oh my god, I can't believe he's eaten that whole.' But after the initial surprise we knew he had a really risky operation to go through.

"Whenever you are operating on the intestines there is a chance you could contaminate the wound and, even if the object is successfully removed, the pet might not make it.

"A couple of days after the operation Spike was back to his usual naughty, bouncy self. He didn't like vets before so I'm not sure this will have helped but we we're glad to see him back to normal.'"

Mr Smith added: "The operation was obviously very expensive, and was bad just before Christmas, but we didn't even think of the cost at the time – you just pay whatever you have to.

"I think it must be Britain's most expensive rubber duck. It was just a shame to be without Spike over Christmas, but at least he had a nice time getting fussed over.

"It took him a couple of days to get back to himself but he's fine now, you'd never know anything had happened to him. We'll certainly be keeping an eye on him in the future - and steering him away from any rubber ducks."

Knives, pegs, wigs, coins and socks in dogs' stomachs

There are various reasons why dogs eat strange objects – by accident while being curious or because of stress or boredom.

If a dog has eaten a foreign object, they will go off food, may start vomiting and become lethargic and depressed.

The object may pass through the animal's system or surgery could be required, as in Spike's case.

The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals released a list of top 20 bizarre objects swallowed by dogs that included a rubber duck, a 10-inch tent peg, kitchen knife, man's wig, fishing hook, Ann Summers underwear, socks, baby's dummy, golf balls, coins, balloons, shoelaces. and fridge magnets.