Baffled vets who thought a sickly pooch was suffering from cancer were stunned when an x-ray showed a teddy bear lodged in his stomach.

Poorly British Bulldog Hooch had been off his food for weeks and was down in the dumps when owners Tracy and Ashley Orr took him to the vets.

But they were shocked when vets found the cause of his illness was a plastic teddy bear lodged in his stomach.

Tracy and Ashley think the eight-year-old hound could have gobbled up the bear while out for a walk.

There were puzzled faces all round as none of their four children recognised the bear after vets operated to remove it.

The operation was carried out just in the nick of time, as the bear's feet had started to rub away at his bowel.

Tracy became increasingly concerned at why Hooch was shunning his dog-food and took him to Gateshead's PSDA hospital, in Felling, Tyne and Wear.

Staff at the hospital became worried when they discovered a strange lump in his stomach and initially thought it might be cancer.

Ashley and Tracy warned their children, Christopher, 15, Toni, 11, Liam, 6, and Lara, 14 months, Hooch could die.

Tracy, who also has Staffordshire bull terrier Susie, said: "The kids love the dog and they were devastated to hear that he might not make it."

When vets took x-rays they were astounded when a clear teddy bear image came up on the screen and operated soon after on April 14.

Tracy said: "I can't for the life of me think what prompted him to eat it but he is a hoover and picks everything up of the floor.

"The vets thought it was really funny but they did say he was lucky because it could have ruptured his bowel.

"When they gave us the bear I had a bit of a laugh but before the operation we were really worried because we thought we were going to lose him.

"But now it's like having a new dog and he has put on all the weight he lost while he had the bear in his stomach."

Hooch's lucky escape has promoted vetinary charity PDSA to issue a warning to people to watch out for their pets picking up inedible objects.

Last year PDSA vets saw 2,500 foreign body cases, including two rubber ducks and two pairs of socks from dog's.