It’s never easy when a dog goes missing — you search everywhere but when they don’t show up, you begin to worry you’ll never see your friend again.

But it’s important to not lose hope: sometimes dogs are found months or even years after they disappeared, in places you’d least expect them.

That was the case for a dog named Nugget, who was found across the country 7 years after going missing.

Jessie Springer, from New Mexico, was devastated after her Jack Russell/Pug mix, Nugget, disappeared without a trace.

“I was devastated. I mean, that’s the original OG snug nug,” she told WXIA. “I was like well he’s microchipped. And so I called the shelters. I called the vet. I check that every couple of days and nothing.”

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Years passed, and Jessie thought she’d never see her friend again — but then, she got a call she never expected.

On February 9, a woman named Jennifer, from South Carolina, was outside her home when she spotted a dog who was in poor condition.

“Not even two minutes after I sat down, I could see something, you know, coming down the road, wobbling really weirdly. I didn’t know, like, what it was,” Jennifer told 11 Alive. “I threw my shoes on, grabbed my phone with my flashlight and ran out and scooped him out of pitch dark, pouring rain, and brought him inside and got him dry.”

Jennifer took the weary little dog to the veterinary hospital, who found the dog’s microchip. The vet discovered that the dog was Nugget — now 16 years old, and 1,700 miles from home after being gone for 7 years.

Years passed, and Jessie thought she’d never see her friend again — but then, she got a call she never expected.

On February 9, a woman named Jennifer, from South Carolina, was outside her home when she spotted a dog who was in poor condition.

“Not even two minutes after I sat down, I could see something, you know, coming down the road, wobbling really weirdly. I didn’t know, like, what it was,” Jennifer told 11 Alive. “I threw my shoes on, grabbed my phone with my flashlight and ran out and scooped him out of pitch dark, pouring rain, and brought him inside and got him dry.”

Jennifer took the weary little dog to the veterinary hospital, who found the dog’s microchip. The vet discovered that the dog was Nugget — now 16 years old, and 1,700 miles from home after being gone for 7 years.

The vet called Jessie, who was shocked by the news.

“I’m like, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘What? What does the dog look like?’ And she said, ‘he’s a little..,’ I can’t even say it because I’m going to start crying, she said, ‘he’s a little yellow dog and his name is Nugget,'” she said. 

Jessie flew across the country to reunite with her dog after so many years apart. When Jessie and Nugget saw each other at the airport, there wasn’t a dry eye in sight.

“My SnugNug is back!” Jessie wrote on Facebook. “Much much love to everyone involved!,” she added, thanking Jennifer and the people at Carolina Loving Hound Rescue.

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Jessie is now flying back home with Nugget. While the dog is older and was found in rough shape, she’s glad to have him home and the two will no doubt be making up for lost time.

And for Nugget’s rescuers, it was truly a remarkable reunion.

‘It’s a once in a lifetime kind of rescue, honestly,” Angie Gschwind of Carolina Loving Hound Rescue told 11 Alive. “This is everything we work for, you know, to reunite these guys.” 

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