2 years later, dog lost in Windsor finds family that moved to Hamilton

When KathleenJuhasz'spuppy was stolen from her backyard in Windsor, she thought he was lost and gone forever.

Shinerwas a baby when theymet. And it was love at first sight. The bulldog mixwas a giftfrom her ex-husband that she and her threekids could share. He wasthe kind of dog you might mistake for a rabbit."Shiner was so small that I actually thought he was a rabbit,"Juhaszsaid.

Their time together didn't last long. Shiner was just five months old when he disappeared. Stolen fromthe backyard,Juhaszsays,"I was heartbroken.I searched everywhere for him, when people would be walking their dogs in the park I'd be looking for him." She put up a notice in theWindsor-EssexCounty Humane Society too, but no luck.

Then she stopped hoping and stopped looking. Soon after she moved away.When the family moved to Hamilton,Juhaszbrought Shiner'sold bed and leash with them. Gone but not forgotten.

Two years passed since he disappeared. Then, out of the blue, a call came from her daughter's friend in Windsor. A dog that looked like Shiner had been spotted in a photoon theWindsor-EssexCounty Humane Society'swebsite. The dog was up for adoption.

"I called them up and said this is my puppy,"Juhaszsaid.

'I was just in so much shock,' Juhasz said

Turns out, the humane society had taken him in as a stray in February and put up his photo on theirwebsitejust last week, after no one came to claim him.

Juhasz took the kids and headedto Windsor. It was love at first sight again, two years later.

At first Shiner gave Juhasz a dead stare, she said. A pause.Then he went crazy. "I went to meet him with my ex-husband so Shiner recognized us. I thought he'd break his hip, he was wagging his tail so much!"

Melanie Coulter, Executive Director of theWindsor-EssexCounty Humane Society said"Initially, we were very skeptical that it was Kathleen's dog, but when we saw his pictures as a puppy, we were sure it was their dog. We were all amazed that she found him after such a long time."

Juhasz was amazed too.

"I was just in so much shock that I found him, after so long," she said.Juhasz says her kids remembered him too, even though herson was just 3-years-oldwhen Shiner was taken. "Just two days before we travelled to Windsor, my son mentioned that he missed his dog, it was so strange."

Shiner has a new home with theJuhaszfamily, living in Hamilton.