Oregon Great Dane Eats Nearly 44 Socks

— -- The abyss of the washing machine usually gets blamed for missing socks, but one Oregon family discovered that the dog literally ate theirs.

Doctors learned that the 3-year-old male Great Dane had swallowed 43-and-a-half socks after its owners brought him into a local veterinarian office with symptoms of vomiting and retching.

An X-ray conducted at the DoveLewis Emergency Animal Hospital in Portland discovered the dog’s stomach held a “large quantity of foreign material,” according to the trade publication Veterinary Practice News, which hosts an annual X-ray contest, aptly entitled, “They Ate What.“

Click HERE to See More Unusual X-Rays

Dog's Race to Open Water Captured on Camera

GoPro's $60 Harness Turns Dogs Into Filmmakers

The nearly 44 socks inside the Great Dane’s stomach were enough to merit DoveLewis a third-place win in this year’s “They Ate What” contest, coming in behind a frog that ate ornamental rocks and a dog that ate a shish kabob skewer.

In the Great Dane’s case, all 43-and-a-half socks were successfully removed from his stomach in a nearly three-hour surgery conducted by Dr. Ashley Magee.

"She said, 'I just kept pulling out sock after sock after sock,'" DoveLewis spokeswoman Shawna Harch told ABC News of Magee. "She was definitely surprised."

The dog’s surgery occurred in February but was made public last week when the trade publication announced its 2014 X-ray contest winners.

DoveLewis was awarded a $500 prize, which the nonprofit hospital plans to put toward its Velvet Assistance Fund that helps low-income families with their veterinarian needs, Harch said.

The Great Dane was discharged from DoveLewis the day after the surgery and is back home with its owners, who declined to be identified.

The family did send photos of the now-healthy dog to Harch today, who shared them with ABC News.