Arizona family’s dog vanished 7 years ago. Then came a surprise call from Phenix City

Your dog has gone missing. You’ve made the calls, put out fliers, staked out the neighborhood. You’re sure he’ll turn up. But the days tick away - and with them, your hope to be reunited.

It’s a nightmare for a pet owner, and it’s what happened to the Sisamouth family in Phoenix, Ariz., more than seven years ago. Their dog, a little Shih Tzu puppy named Teddy, just disappeared one night.

“We never thought we'd see him again, you know?” Lay Sisamouth told Fox 10. “We kinda gave up hope after seven, eight years of being lost.” When Teddy vanished, their son Shawn was in 3rd grade, Lay’s wife Melissa said on Facebook. Now, he’s in 10th grade. It’s a long time to hold out hope for finding a lost pet.

But suddenly, a call came in from an animal shelter nearly 1,800 miles away in Phenix City, Ala. Teddy had been found, alive, well and ready to come home - more than seven years later.

“There were so many emotions I felt today... sad .. excited.. happy and then sad again,” Melissa wrote on Facebook. She said a military family had apparently picked up Teddy and traveled around the country with him. Somehow they wound up near Phenix City. Eventually the military family couldn’t take care of him anymore, so they left him with a family member. When that family member got sick, Teddy was taken to an animal shelter, where they discovered a microchip.

That led to a phone call Melissa said the family never expected “in a million years.” He’d finally been found.

Family members have been astounded and gladdened by the news, Lay told Fox 10. “Everybody has just been trying to help us out. They knew that Teddy was just part of the family.”

Now, however, Melissa is worried about what it will be like for Teddy when he is able to come home.

“He is old now and we don’t know anything about his health status,” she wrote on Facebook. “Will Teddy remember us?”

They’ll soon find out. Melissa told the Ledger-Enquirer her husband Lay was looking at flights to come down to Phenix City and pick up their long-lost family member before Christmas.

This story was originally published December 14, 2017 at 11:13 AM with the headline "Arizona family’s dog vanished 7 years ago. Then came a surprise call from Phenix City."