Missing dog and owner reunited after 9 years apart

Sometimes, the journey home is a long one-- and this happy reunion was nearly a decade in the making. Brownie, a 15-year-old Shih Tzu, went missing from his family nine years ago. After searching for him night and day for years, his owners had all but given up hope of ever seeing him again.

But then something amazing happened. Brownie was found about five miles from his family's home!

No one knows who had Brownie, but his rescuers think he had been abandoned after years of neglect. He was in pretty bad shape when he was found.

The person who found him gave him to a rescue group, where his microchip was scanned. The information was out of date, but that didn't stop one of the rescue workers, who turned to social media in a search for Brownie's original owner.

"Found her on Facebook and PMed her, and asked her if she had a dog named Brownie that had gone missing," said Kathy Hamel with Arizona Shih Tzu and Small Breed Rescue.

Although he is deaf and blind now, Brownie could still sense his owner Amy Baca when they were finally reunited in person, and he quickly became excited. It's a love neither of them could ever forget.

"I can't believe it. I just never thought I would see him again ever," said Brownie's owner Amy Baca.

Although it hasn't been an easy road, Brownie can now live out the rest of his years surrounded by love.