ROCKVILLE, Md. - A Maryland jeweler learned an important lesson about patience after his beloved golden retriever swallowed a $20,000 diamond.

George Kaufmann brings his dog Sollie to his store, Robert Bernard Jewelers in Rockville, every day. On the evening of January 26, Kaufmann and his business partner, Robert Rosin, were meeting with a diamond dealer and were taking a look at a 3-carat stone when it fell on the floor right next to Sollie.

The men watched in horror as Sollie ate it.

The men quickly called a veterinarian to find out what they should do to retrieve the diamond.

The doctor said nature would have to take its course, so for three days Kaufmann walked Sollie hoping to find the gem in Sollie's stool.

"When we took a walk in the morning and evening I collected and went through everything.

It wasn't glamorous, but you gotta do what you gotta do," Kaufmann told Fox 5.

The morning of the third day Kaufmann found the diamond, which he had cleaned and returned to the dealer.