Fearing the worst, the springer spaniel's horrified owner rushed him to the vet, where he underwent an hour-long operation.

Unbelievably, the stick – which had sunk 11cm into Barney's head – had narrowly missed his brain, leaving the vet who operated on him amazed.

Barney was out on a walk with his owner Martin Hook, of Wordsworth Avenue, Billinge, when the horrific accident happened.

Although it is unclear how the stick managed to enter the five-year-
old's eye, it missed his eyeball and has left him with just minimal damage to his tonsils and a small amount of scarring on his eye.

Martin's wife, Sue, said: "My husband had taken Barney out at about 5pm one day last week and it was going quite dark.

"He was running around like he always does, he's very boisterous, and then he just suddenly yelped.

"That's when Martin knew something was wrong. We're not sure if the stick was on the ground and Barney stood on it or if he ran straight into a tree.

"When Martin saw what had happened, he took him straight to the vet."

The stick had become lodged in Barney's eye socket, pushed his eyeball upwards and plunged a further 11cm into his head, just missing his brain and bypassing his tonsils.

Martin said: "He was lucky it hadn't gone into his brain. There was
some damage to his tonsils, but apart from that he is fine.

"I thought he would lose his eye, but because it was pushed upwards he was OK. If it had gone above his eyeball, is would have been different."

The lovable dog was operated on for around an hour while veterinary surgeon Chris Copeman eased out the stick.

Sue said: "When Barney came out of surgery, I was expecting him to be stitched up but he wasn't, he just slept all night to recover, it's amazing really."