While most pooches are happy enough to chomp on dog food, Storm had his eye on an entirely different treat.

But when he started being sick and had to be taken to the vets, it was clear his new diet of socks did not agree with him.

Vets at Wolverhampton’s PDSA PetAid hospital feared the worst when they got a glimpse of the poorly pet, believing he may have caught the deadly parvovirus infection.

But when owner Julie Belton mentioned his habit of carrying around socks and shoes, vets took x-rays and decided Storm would need an operation.

After a 90-minute op, two socks were discovered in his tum. “There were no obvious signs he was unwell apart from the fact that he’d been sick a couple of times, so we couldn’t tell the vets anything until we remembered he has got a habit of chomping on bits of cloth,” said 29-year-old owner Julie, of Bushbury.

Mother Julie, of Goodyear Avenue, said: “We have to hide everything away from him now. We knew he had a habit of running around with socks but didn’t know he was actually eating them.”