THE playful dog of a Northwood couple had a “miraculous” escape from serious injury after a stick he leapt to catch went through his tongue and lodged in his throat.

Zak, a seven-year-old border collie, was out for a walk in Copse Wood with owner Susan Walters, 66, when he lunged up to grab a seven inch-long stick she had thrown in the air.

Mrs Walters, of The Broadwalk, Northwood, heard the dog yelp and saw that a bit of blood was drawn, but the stick was nowhere to be seen.

She and husband Michael, also 66, thought no more about it until their ex-rescue dog refused to eat, drink or bark afterwards, and so the concerned couple took their pet to Blythwood Vets in Hatch End.

Vet Barry Cameron was horrified to see the shocking injuries the stick had caused when he put Zak on the examining table and opened his mouth for a closer look.

Mr Walters, an optician at a practice in Edgware, said: “It’s unbelievable what happened and we are very lucky.

“It was only a short while ago that a man approached me in a park when I was out walking Zak and told me that his dog had died trying to catch a stick. I thought it would never happen to my dog.

“Zak loves playing with sticks and his favourite game is wrestling with a stick with another dog.”

The couple only decided to take him to the vet when they realised Zak was not eating. At first they couldn’t see anything wrong with him either.

“We had the option to put him on antibiotics and see what happens or for them to operate, as we were going away we thought it best to operate,” said Mr Walters.

“A few hours later, we got the phone call telling us what had happened.”

Mr Cameron said: “The only clue that there was something inside was a small amount of wood visible just inside the wound,” Mr Cameron said.

“We had no idea this was actually an 18cm stick that had lodged in between his windpipe, oesophagus (food pipe) and carotid artery.

“It was miraculous that Zak did not damage himself more seriously.”

Zak is well and back to his normal self.

Though he has no doubt been left disappointed by the Walters’ decision not to throw any more sticks for him.