A young dog owner from Balsall Common, West Midlands in England, has discovered that her pet dog ate everything she threw to him during games of "fetch."

Eight-year-old Olivia Parkinson was surprised when the vets operated on his dog Barney, to find six golf ball-sized rocks, five large twigs and whole crab apples.

The Mirror newspaper quoted the girl as saying, "I could never understand why, when we played fetch, he would return empty-mouthed. Now I know."

She told the newspaper that she became concerned when she heard clanking coming from the Springer spaniel. Her father, Andrew Parkinson, said, "We thought she was making it up. But when I heard it I couldn't believe my ears. It was like rocks in a sieve being shaken around."

The vet who operated on Barney, identified as Natasha Bright, said, "The sheer amount of stones in him shocked everyone here. He was very lucky. There's no way he could have passed them. If it had gone on much longer he could have died."