‘To put into perspective how far away from home he was... it’s 34 hours away and 99.2 miles away.’: Missing dog travels nearly 100 miles, only to be saved by his microchip and returned to an owner who was forced to confront a painful truth

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Oct 5, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

We have said it before, and we are sad to be saying it again, but unless your spouse seriously loves your pet, do not leave them in charge of them, not even for a second. It always ends badly, and more often than not in an amount of heartbreak that is simply not worth the pain in the first place. You would be better off breaking up with your partner before you leave and then getting back with them when you get back.

At least that is what one pawrent probably thought to herself after coming home from work to find that her deadbeat boyfriend could barely handle the task of letting her dog out to utilize its facilities in its yard. We say barely because at least he did managed to open the first door, he just forgot to check that the second door was actually closed. A fatal error which resulted in the poor pupper escaping to the big wide world for several months and over 100 miles.
 

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  • 01
    5 months ago, I was out shopping for groceries when I got a text from my boyfriend asking if I let my dog out before I left. I told him I didn't and that he was asleep on the couch when I left and I'd appreciate if he let him out while he was over. He
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  • 02
    said of course and that was the end of the conversation until I got home. My apartment has a slider that leads out onto a small yard where my dog does his business. There's one gate fence that leads. out into the parking lot
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  • 03
    that has to be unlocked from the inside. When I came home, my boyfriend was in the kitchen waiting for me and said that my dog accidentally got out. He was very apologetic and said he opened the slider to let him out and
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  • 04
    somehow the gate was open and my dog ran out and he couldn't catch him. I spent two months calling around to shelters, humane societies, rescues, animal control, putting up fliers, going to these places to look,
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  • This madness again? We have said it once, and apparently we are going to be saying it a lot more times because there is simply no escaping the fact that if you leave your pet with your partner alone, there is a good chance that your pet will not be there when you come back. The reasons are endless, though most are rooted in apathy and disinterest.

  • 05
    asked my neighbors, I looked everywhere for him. I was heart broken and I basically haven't stoped crying. My dog has never been one to run even if the gate was open, he loves to be around people and if his people
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  • 06
    are around, he stays put. I adopted him when he was 3 years old when I got an apartment and he's my first dog I'm responsible for on my own, not a family dog. He's now an older guy, going on 7, he doesn't I have it in him to run
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  • 07
    away. He knows he has it good and sees running away wouldn't have any benefits. And beyond that, when I rescued him, he went through training and has very good recall! Not perfect, but he comes 8/10 when he's called!
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  • 08
    And then two days ago I get a call from a vet hospital two hours away saying that they scanned a stray dog and found his microchip matched my information! I may have broken a few speed limits getting to him but he was there! My little man was
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  • 09
    at the freaking vet hospital! I cried and asked a thousand questions. He was found in that town wandering the day prior by an amazing woman who brought him to the vet. They said when he was dropped off, he didn't have a collar on
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  • 10
    and they asked the woman and she said he was found as is. But he was a little malnourished and dehydrated so the vet put him on a drip and got some food into him and scanned him today when they opened. And then they found me!
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  • Holy cheese on a cracker, this is one heck of a comeback story. And what a way to go, in just a few months to roam 100 miles from your home and end up in a totally different town, having gotten rid of your collar and begun to look a little like a street dog. This pupper sure got busy on his wild adventure.

  • 11
    I was so overwhelmed and happy and couldn't even start my car once I got in with him because I couldn't stop crying for a good 10 minutes. I drove him home, gave him a bath, and called/texted everyone he was home safe!
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  • 12
    My boyfriend's response was "Really? Cool Then he came over yesterday and obviously all I wanted to do was tell him what happened, but he didn't even seem like he cared. He just nodded along as I talked. I asked him if something was
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  • 13
    wrong, but he said he was fine. My dog wouldn't go near him which was weird considering my dog loved him before. I just figured he was scared to be home with other people at the moment and needed time to adjust.
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  • 14
    After my boyfriend left, I couldn't help but start maybe overthinking which has led to this post. First: My dog wore a martingale collar with his tags on it and the collar had my information stitched into it. And he
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  • 15
    had his rabies tag, dog license, and an ID tag with his name, address, phone number, and said "I am microchipped!" For those that don't know, martingale collars (the one I had on him) are not buckle or break away collars. They have to be
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  • 16
    physically tightened or loosened to be taken off. Not something my dog could have just slipped when he ran off. At least, not easily. (Don't come for me for having this collar on him, I now know the risks but I didn't at the time! He's now
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  • 17
    wearing a break away collar!) Second: He won't go near my boyfriend. My boyfriend did try to lean down and pet him when he came over yesterday and as soon as my dog noticed, he ran into my
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  • 18
    bedroom and didn't leave until my boyfriend left. Yet, he's said a very excitable hi to a few of his favorite neighbors, both male and female, young and older. Usually my dog would be walking over to my boyfriend and sitting by him until he
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  • 19
    acknowledges him with a few pets or a treat. Third: The gate. It's a very rare occasion I use that gate. Usually I use my front door, walk down the hallway, and get the mail or leave my apartment that way through the
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  • 20
    lobby. I almost never go around the building because that means I have to open the door with my keys and it's a longer route. I don't remember even using it the week my dog went missing. It only opens from the inside. And I've
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  • 21
    never once before had an issue with it opening on its own. There's no damage to it and you can bet I fiddled with it when he first went missing to see if it was broken or there was something wrong with it. Nothing was. It latched fine and closed fine.
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  • 22
    Forth: When my dog went missing, my boyfriend, now that I look back on it, wasn't invested. When I made the first round of fliers to put up, he actually asked "Do you really think these will help?" Looking back, I don't think he cared one way or another if my dog
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    golden retreiver smiline standing next to a kneeling man 'VOLUNTER'
    via kegfire via Adobe Stock

    Disclaimer: This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 24
    was found. Never once before did my boyfriend say anything negative about my dog. He was never overly affectionate or excited that I had a dog, but he would throw the ball and pet him when he came over. They were never
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  • 25
    best friends cuddling up on the couch, but my dog did see him as someone to play with and hang out with. Now I feel like I'm going crazy. I think I might be overthinking this? Maybe it was a freak accident
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  • 26
    and he just ran out the yard because it was open for some reason? Or the alternative is my boyfriend willingly let my dog leave the yard and somehow got him to go away. Because I know my dog and he would never just run unless he thought it was a game or
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  • 27
    something. Is this something I ask him about? How do I even bring this up? "Hey, um, did you make my dog run away?" Or is this just something I'm just
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  • 28
    over exaggerating in my head because I'm happy my dogs home but I'm looking for answers?
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  • 29
    I apologize for my silence since my last update. I appreciate the well-wishes and those who were checking in on me. It's been a rough few days and I honestly just feel drained and didn't have it in me to say anything to
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  • 30
    anyone, I just wanted to be here with Remy. I talked to my now ex-boyfriend Friday night. I asked again how Remy got out. His story didn't change, he let him out through the
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  • 31
    slider into the yard, and Remy ran through the gate that my ex didn't notice was open. He chased him through the parking lot, but Remy got away and he couldn't catch him. And then he
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  • 32
    I went back to my apartment to wait for me. I asked why he didn't keep looking and he got defensive and asked why I was bringing this up. I laid out every issue I
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  • 33
    had with his story: the collar, where he was found, the gate somehow being open, how he didn't want me to get Remy in the first place, how Remy wouldn't go near him the other night,
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  • 34
    how he didn't want to help me find him when Remy first went missing, trying to tell me it wouldn't help to look for him, and didn't seem to care when I brought him home.
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  • 35
    We started arguing about it and he kept saying the gate was open and he must have just gotten lost on his way home. He was adamant he didn't have anything to do with Remy running away, saying it was just a freak
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  • 36
    accident. I didn't believe him and I still don't. I told him the trust between us was gone. The fact that he wasn't there trying to help me when it was his fault
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  • 37
    Remy got out and that I had to practically beg him to help me look for him. I broke up with him, telling him that even if he didn't have something to do with Remy going
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  • 38
    missing, he wasn't there to be supportive and we just weren't working and it was better now that we ended it. And I should've seen this before, I knew
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  • 39
    there were issues and I didn't want to acknowledge them or see them and there's no one to blame for that but me. My landlord talked to me Sunday about the camera. Outside
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  • 40
    my gate is part of the parking lot that wraps around to the back of the building where other residents park. There's a camera that faces the entrance where the cars come in parallel to the residents'
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  • 41
    yards, where my ex said they ran through. My landlord didn't see Remy running or my ex chasing him on the tape the day he went missing. I'm not saying it's definitive proof.
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  • 42
    Could they both have somehow ran in the blind spot of the camera? I don't know, I didn't see the tape. It's anyone's guess at this point. But I'm going with my instinct here.
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missing dogs forced returned microchip truth dog owner reddit story saved painful hours miles dog story perspective home away
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