A PUPPY kicked in the face by a startled horse had his jaw repaired by a team of Swindon vets.

Poor little Lenny was enjoying his usual walk when the nasty incident happened.

Owners Lydia Knight and Ryan Woskett rushed him to their vets Hook Norton. Te 10-month-old cocker spaniel was pain relief and kept him in overnight to take scans and see if he could still eat properly.

Lydia said: “It was a freak accident, really unfortunate. We’ve got horses and always have our dogs around them with no issues so this was a shock.

“It was horrible, the blow knocked him out for a few seconds and he made a horrendous noise.

"We were worried about his head, it was so stressful and upsetting, we felt sick.

“The vets were brilliant and saw him straight away. While he was there, we couldn’t sleep and kept waiting for the phone to ring.”

The animal medics realised Lenny needed immediate surgery and referred him to Eastcott Vets, allowing his worried owners to care for him until their appointment the next day.

Lydia and Ryan live in the Cotswolds and made a nerve-wracking hour-long trip to Swindon to have Lenny’s jaw repaired.

Lenny suffered a double fracture and other major dislocation damage that could have been life-changing if it had not been fixed quickly.

The poorly pup returned home 36 hours after the four-hour operation ended and has quickly bounced back to his normal excitable self.

Lydia added: “He thinks there’s nothing wrong with him, he’s barking and yawning as normal and wagging his tail again, it’s amazing how well he’s recovered.

“It was a big wound all along his face but they’ve fixed it with a metal plate. He came back with shaven patches and swelling but he’s fine now.

“Eastcott were so calming and comforting while they explained everything clearly to us, we can’t thank them enough. We’re keeping Lenny on the lead and away from horses from now on.”

Andrew Perry is the head of dentistry and oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Eastcott animal hospital and a European and RCVS specialist in veterinary dentistry.

He said: “Lenny is a young working cocker spaniel who was sadly a little too inquisitive for his own good on this occasion.

“The puppy was out on a walk when he startled a horse and received short shrift, in the form of a glancing blow to the jaw.”