IT was a real waiting game after a playful pooch developed a taste for the finer things in life and decided to chow down on a pearl earring – which one of his owners had been wearing just seconds earlier.

Three-month-old Jack Russell terrier Max from Bidford was rushed by his owners to Avonvale Veterinary Centre’s out-of-hours service, at its Warwick hospital, after they realised he had swallowed the jewellery.

Avonvale clinical director Kieran O’Halloran said: “We x-rayed Max and it clearly showed the earring in his stomach.

“We judge cases like this and how we will handle them on an individual basis, and for this one we decided it was best to wait and see if the earring passed through by itself.

“He was kept in overnight and further x-rays the next morning showed the earring was making good progress through the intestines, so we sent Max home and told the owner to do some careful poo watching.

“Everyone was delighted that the earring made a reappearance the next day.

“Dogs, especially puppies, are not very discerning about what they choose to eat, so you have to keep an extremely close eye on them.”

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Owner Maria Rosso, of Bidford-on-Avon, said: “I was wearing my pearl earrings as I played with Max. After we finished playing I realised that one of them had disappeared. I was horrified.

“My husband, Mario, checked in Max’s mouth and could see it at the back of this throat but Max gulped it down before Mario could reach it.

“Of course we panicked, but the Avonvale team was brilliant and very reassuring when we got to the Warwick hospital.

“They thought it best to see if the earring passed out naturally, and they were right. After his third attempt, Max managed to do it."