A Scots family feared their beloved puppy could have died after he swallowed a sock whole - for the THIRD time.
Black Labrador Walter was raced to the Avenues Veterinary Centre in Glasgow after his worried mum Michelle Page caught the pooch in the act on Wednesday morning.
The six-month old puppy had previously eaten two missing socks before Michelle, 51, saw him running off into the garden with another in his mouth.
As she tried to tempt him back in with some treats, Michelle couldn't believe her eyes as he gobbled it up right in front of her.
Michelle, from Glasgow, said: "On Wednesday morning I saw him with a sock in his mouth as he was running out into the back garden.
"I was trying to get him with a treat but he wasn't for having it - then he just swallowed the sock.
"At least we had seen it this time, so I phoned the vets straight away and they told us to bring him down to make him sick.
"That was the only option, as that going through his body and coming out the other end wouldn't have been very good. That would killed him."
The cheeky pooch appears to have been single-handedly keeping sock companies in business with his antics over the last half year.
With a habit for stealing them out the drier, Walter's mum has been left flabbergasted by the amount of new pairs she's had to buy.
And even when he's not swallowing them down, the ones left behind have been riddled with holes.
Just a fortnight ago, Michelle's husband had to stay up all night with Walter after a sock went missing.
As suspected, the lab had guzzled down the garment, which he brought back up at around 2am in the morning - before trying to eat it again.
But just a day later, Walter threw up ANOTHER sock, as well as the ear of one of his toy teddies.
Despite his apparent feast, cheeky pup Walter's appetite showed no signs of slowing down.
He was out playing with his big sister Penny, two, and brother Blue, six, when he made off with his third sock before proceeding to gobble it down.
After being treated by the vet, a picture showed Walter looking sad while getting cuddles from nurse Lisa.
Michelle added: "The vets were absolutely fantastic, they got him straight in and within half an hour of him eating the sock they'd made him sick.
"We left him for an hour and that was him. Once we got him home, he wasn't in trouble. He just looked a bit sheepish but he was still jumping about.
"He hadn't lost his appetite either, we were trying to feed the other two dogs and he was trying to get in to get some of their dinner."
The couple have now come up with a cunning plan to avoid any future socks being eaten by little Walter.
Michelle said: "After the third incident, my husband went straight to Aldi and bought a baby gate so he can't get upstairs where the drier is.
"You know what dogs are like - he's only six months old. Dogs eat everything, we've had trainers ruined and everything.
"He's had three socks and the teddy's ear in his belly - but it's never stopped him eating. He's a little character."
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