#GoodNews: Family’s Dog Turns up 10 Yrs After it Had Gone Missing

The family says Abby, the dog, is in great health and still remembers the commands that the family had taught her.

An employee of the Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley with Abby. 

(Photo: AP)

A family in Pennsylvania, US, has been reunited with its dog 10 years after the animal went missing.

Debra Suierveld and her family assumed their dog Abby had died after she ran away in 2008 from their home in Apollo. Decade-old sadness turned to joy on Saturday, 27 January, when Suierveld received word that someone had found her dog.

George Speiring says the black Labrador-mix showed up on his front porch in Lower Burrell, 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Apollo. Speiring contacted Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley, which discovered the dog's microchip and was able to contact Suierveld.

Suierveld says Abby is in great health.(Photo: AP)

Someone had taken good care of Abby over the years. Suierveld says Abby is in great health and still remembers the commands that the family had taught her.

She would lie on the floor and cross her paws, and she remembers my daughter’s commands, and she remembers the commands I taught her... It feels like a part of my kids’ childhood is back, part of our family is back. It’s pretty awesome.

Debra Suierveld to the media

Debra's 22-year-old daughter Carly Suierveld, who was very attached to Abby before she disappeared, is said to have cried when she was told about the dog’s return.

With Abby's homecoming, Suierveld and her family now have three dogs. "We have a retirement home for dogs," Debra told Fox News.

Suierveld also held a reunion dinner with the family last weekend to welcome Abby back.

(With inputs from the Associated Press)