Being a dog owner definitely has its struggles. But add a young child into the mix, and things can go from difficult to crazy very quickly.

For one Oklahoma family, they got the surprise of a lifetime when their 4-year-old Shar-Pei, Dovey, started not feeling very well. They weren't entirely sure of the cause, but had recently noticed Dovey's penchant for stealing pacifiers, which they didn't realize had become a problem until they saw Dovey grab one off the counter, and subsequently throw up another one.

So they brought Dovey into the vet to get her checked out. The vet was concerned with Dovey's rapid weight loss and decided to do an x-ray.

It was then that they learned that Dovey had swallowed 21 pacifiers, and would require surgery to remove them all from her stomach.

In an interview with KRON 4 News, Dr. Chris Rispoli, who performed the surgery, called it the "craziest surgery" he'd ever done in 20 years as a vet. "They were pretty stunned because we thought there were seven to nine in there, and I pulled out 21," he said of Dovey's owners.

In a post shared on the General Care Animal Hospital's Facebook page, Rispoli shared some unsettling images from the procedure.

We'll spare you the photos showing the surgery itself, but here's a photo of the pacifiers after they'd been removed from Dovey's stomach:

In the post, Rispoli felt it was necessary to show dog owners the reality of the situation, saying:

So fare warning, some people may find the following series of photos disturbing!! I have to show them for two reasons, first, this was the most fascinating and exciting surgery I have ever done or my staff has ever been a part of. We love Dovey, and she is doing GREAT post op. Dr. Dad (who incidentally sutured my forehead together last year when the leaf blower fell off the shelf in the garage onto my face!!!) and Mom recently had there second beautiful child but were having a missing binkie dilemma, then grandma saw Dovey jump up on a counter and take off with one. She recently had slowed down her eating and vomited a little phlegm for a few days but other than that was acting fine. When she vomited up a binkie, plus the story from grandma, dad brought her in for an x-ray. You can see the binkie’s stacked up in the stomach, we counted 7-9. Well......by the end of surgery we had pulled 21 out of her stomach. That is the second, and most important, reason I am sharing these photo’s. Dog’s will eat anything, anytime and at any age so always be watching!!! Thank Dr Dad and Mom for letting me share this with clients!!!

"Put things away," Rispoli reiterated. An important message to remember.

Luckily for Dovey, her bad habit was caught in time, and she's expected to be just fine.

Lesson learned. Hopefully.

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H/T: Mashable, KRON 4 News, Gentle Care Animal Hospital