Owner in pebble dash to vet after greedy pooch eats garden decorations

Emma Hamilton and son Oliver with Charley, who is recovering after eating 32 pebbles.

Six-month-old Charley, a yellow Lab, lived up to her breed's reputation by devouring more than 30 pebbles in a single day.

Owner Emma Hamilton, who lives in Corstorphine, realised something was wrong when the pooch, who had eaten the pebbles in the back garden, started being sick and stopped eating her food.

Mrs Hamilton, 43, said: "She previously brought pebbles from the garden into the kitchen and you would know she had something in her mouth, and she would drop them.

"But one night she brought up three pebbles and the next morning she was very sick and wouldn't eat her food, which is very unlike a Lab. She was just very weary. I felt her tummy and I could feel the pebbles crunching together.

"Not for one minute did I think that she would try and bite the pebbles or eat them. She must've been hungry."

An X-ray at the Oak Tree Veterinary Centre the following day revealed a total of 28 pebbles inside Charley's stomach, and a further pebble which had made its way into her bowel. She had eaten a total of 32 pebbles, including the three that she had brought up from her stomach.

Mrs Hamilton, a mother-of-three, added: "The vet did an X-ray and he showed me it - I couldn't believe it. At first he had tried to take the pebbles out via her mouth but they could only come up so far and then he had to let them go. He didn't know what size they were until he opened her up. He phoned me after the operation and told me there were 29 pebbles. She was very lucky."

The X-ray of the stones in Charley's stomach

Alistair Marks, principal veterinary surgeon at the centre, carried out the one-hour operation, which involved opening Charley's stomach and bowel to remove the pebbles, which were between one and two inches long.

Mr Marks said: "I could actually hear the stones grinding when she walked. She made a peculiar noise and you could feel them in her tummy. It was fairly straightforward to make a diagnosis.

"We X-rayed her just to get an idea of what sort of size they were and we had a look down with an endoscope to see if there was any possibility of retrieving them without opening her up, but it was clear they were too big to get back up. We also realised that one was actually in the bowel, which was too far down to get the scope in."

He added: "It was very apparent that we had to act on it there and then. More stones going down into the bowel would have certainly made things much more serious."

Mr Marks said he had come across a number of bizarre items inside dogs' stomachs over the years, ranging from wine corks and party poppers to jewellery and coins - and even something resembling a fascinator.

He said: "Charley's X-ray was quite staggering to see how many foreign bodies the one dog had eaten.

"Foreign bodies are quite a common part of small animal veterinary work. We find all sorts of things but it's rare to get that number of objects in one patient. I think that was the most I've seen."

Mrs Hamilton said it had been a worrying couple of days for the family, especially for her children Lewis, ten, Karen, seven, and Oliver, five.

She added: "Charley is back to herself again.

"We had a muzzle on her for a few days but it was driving her bonkers.

"We have to keep a close eye on her now but she's not gone near the pebbles again. I think she's learned her lesson."