As everybody knows, a dog is a man’s best friend!

The relationship between a dog and a hooman is truly special. As soon as a dog enters a house, they become an integral part of the family, sharing love, laughter, and comfort.

That is why when somebody goes through the unfortunate event of losing their beloved dog, their heart breaks into a million pieces as they are unable to accept the fact that their best friend is no longer in their life.  

Unfortunate Event

Memphis is an adorable dog who became a part of his family when he was just two years old.

Not long after he arrived at his new home, he made sure to let everybody know that one of his favorite pastime activities is having fun adventures and exploring the outside world.

“He has always been an opportunist who likes adventure. His most memorable rendezvous [was] a trip to the bar a few blocks over, where he spent the night enjoying popcorn with some of the patrons. He’s an extremely friendly dog, so he often got picked up by strangers until I’d find out where he was and retrieve him,” Memphis’ mom, Felecia Schoonover, told The Dodo.

Another instance in which Memphis managed to escape was in April of 2019. While Felecia was taking a shower and her kids were in the back yard playing, this smart little doggo saw it as the perfect opportunity to have another adventure.

When Felecia got done with her shower, she started looking for the adorable four-legged friend, but to her surprise, he was nowhere to be seen.

“We drove up and down the neighborhood yelling his name with no luck. I spent the next week posting on Facebook and periodically checking the animal shelter. Over the years, I’ve periodically checked their website and Facebook page in hopes of finding him,” she said.

Being separated from her beloved pup, Felecia was heartbroken. However, since her love for Memphis was so great, this incredible dog mom never gave up hope!

After spending years looking for her best friend, Felecia finally found him – but not in the way she expected.

Familiar Face

After scrolling through some internet posts, Felecia came across a missing dog poster with a very familiar face.

It was Memphis!

His new family made a post about another one of his escapes, but luckily, they managed to find him this time.  

Finding out where Memphis was all this time really eased Felecia’s mind. However, as she saw him with his new family, she didn’t have the heart to take that away from him.   

“I was so excited to know that he had been cared for over the years. I made a post in the same group regarding his origins and someone on there informed me of how his new family came to have him — someone had snatched him up and sold him to them. I didn’t want to rip him away from a family who loved him and missed him the same way I loved and missed him,” she stated.

As much as his old family missed him, they didn’t want another family to go through what they went through when he was no longer in their lives.

However, Felecia did decide to leave a note to the local animal shelter letting them know that if Memphis ever ended up in their care, they should contact her immediately as she would take him back in.

“I never contacted the family as I didn’t feel there was a need to. I wanted him to be happy, and they had been providing that. It hurt my heart that he had been across town this whole time, but it wouldn’t be fair to uproot him,” Felecia said.

After some time, Felecia received a call that she never thought would come.

Finally Home

On the other side of the phone was the animal shelter letting her know that they had Memphis and were wondering if she wanted him back. Saying yes in a heartbeat, Felecia was on her way to be reunited with her pup.

As Felecia already adopted another dog after she lost Memphis, she was a bit scared and overwhelmed as she didn’t know how she would take care of two dogs at once.

She also had no idea if the two would get along, but she knew that she had to give it a shot.

“Baby sister loves him and he’s quite fond of giving her kisses. He’s the same old Memphis we all remembered. His favorite place is still next to Mom on the couch, he still loves rooting under furniture in search of hidden crumbs and he still loves cuddling up with my son, just like when they were young pups together,” she concluded.

Memphis sure had a long and interesting journey back to his original family.

Hopefully, he had all the fun he needed and will retire from his job as an adventurer, settling down with the family whom he grew up with in a house full of love.