Watch Heartwarming Video of Dog Reuniting With Family After Being Lost for 5 Months

Five months ago, the guardians of a dog named Oakley went through a pet parents’ nightmare: their dog went missing. A dog trainer who was supposed to be taking care of her and three other dogs abandoned them all in the woods. After nearly half a year of constant searching, Oakley was reunited with her pet parents, and the joyous moment was all captured on video.

When Oakley went missing, her pet parents reached out to Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery, a South Carolina-based organization dedicated to rescuing missing pets. The team kept thorough logs of sightings of Oakley, hung lost dog posters, and placed food as bait. After Hurricane Helene, she wasn’t seen for three weeks, and Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery went as far as bringing in a drone to search for her. She was finally captured on camera 16 miles away from her hometown.

The rescue team spent three weeks attempting to trap Oakley after spotting her. Finally, they were able to lure her with food bait. “She (Oakley) was very easy to warm up to once trapped, and seemingly relieved to be captured. Within minutes of retrieval, she fell asleep in a padded crate,” Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery shared on Facebook. They contacted Oakley’s pet parents and brought her home.

In the video, Oakley shows some signs of what Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery refers to as “lost dog syndrome” — she appears fearful, approaching slowly with her tail between her legs before backing up. Initially, she doesn’t seem to recognize her family. But after about half a minute of slowly approaching and sniffing her pet parent, Oakley begins exuberantly leaping all over her, wagging her tail and licking her face.

While there is a lot of speculation over the motive behind this terrible act on Reddit, there is no confirmed information about the dog trainer who abandoned these dogs. Anakin’s Trails Stray and Pet Recovery is continuing to search for the final abandoned dog, Juno, who is reportedly pregnant. To support their work, you can donate to their Venmo, @anakinstrails, or PayPal, anakinstrails@gmail.com.