8-Year-Old Sheltie Dog Reunites with Owner After Being Lost in Mountains for 5 Weeks

8-year-old Riley traveled over four miles and 4,000 feet in altitude before being found by a hiker

An 8-year-old Sheltie named Riley has finally returned home after going missing for five weeks and walking four miles and nearly 4,000 feet above his home in Summit County, Colorado.

The dog's adventure started when he wandered away from his home after a significant snowfall blanketed the five-foot fence in his backyard, on April 8.

“We got a lot of snow that day, sure enough, I walked to the far south side of our property and we didn’t have a fence — it was 100% covered in snow,” Riley’s owner Mike Krugman told KDVR. “I’m assuming he walked over the fence and kept walking.”

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After searching for Riley, Krugman alerted Summit Lost Pet Rescue but weeks went by without any good news or updates. Then, after a month on the lam, Riley was discovered by Zachary Hackett, during a hike on May 14.

“I heard the smallest little yip and at first I was startled ‘cause you don’t know what is behind you,” Hackett told KDVR. “Then I said 'wait a minute, that’s a dog. There shouldn’t be dogs up here.' ”

Hackett cautiously approached Riley so as not to startle him and found the dog could no longer walk. So he scooped him up and carried the dog four miles down a mountain, where he cared for him overnight — something he recalled as being “touch and go” — before taking him to an ER vet. There, Riley received the care he needed and stayed on an IV for three days.

“That little yip, I’ll never forget it. That was him saying help me,” Hackett told KDVR.

The rescue was even more fortunate because Hackett only found Riley after he had accidentally veered off from his original hiking route. “I wasn’t supposed to be in that area,” Hackett told the outlet, “it was random.”

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Krugman told KDVR that he couldn’t believe it when he received word that Riley had been found alive on the mountain.

“He traveled 4 miles and up,” Krugman said in disbelief. “We live at 8,200 feet and he was found at 12,000 feet.”

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“He was around 24 pounds before he went missing and when I weighed him at the vet he was 12.6,” Krugman added. “He lost at least half his weight.”

“I don’t understand how he lived,” Krugman continued about Riley, who belonged to his late wife, who passed away in January. “Someone had to be looking out for him, maybe it was my wife.”

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