Homeward bound! Springer spaniel is reunited with her owner FIVE years after she went missing

Daisy was spotted foraging for scraps 40 MILES from home
She wagged her tail as soon as she saw delighted owners Colin and Margaret Froggatt


By Rob King


When Colin Froggatt heard his beloved springer spaniel Daisy had been found after more than five years, he thought it was nothing more than a shaggy dog story.

But the call he had been waiting so desperately for was true.

Now the pair have been reunited after the missing dog was discovered wandering the streets 40 miles from home.

And Daisy immediately showed that she recognised her owner by wagging her tail.

Reunited: Daisy the English springer spaniel is back at home with owner Colin Froggatt five years after she went missing

Mr Froggatt, 62, and his wife Margaret, 60, feared the worst after Daisy and her brother Flynn ran off while going for a walk in a park in 2007.

They found Flynn nearby but there was no trace of Daisy - until she was seen foraging for scraps on a street in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, two weeks ago.

Daisy had been micro-chipped in case she got lost which meant her owners, from Toton, Nottingham, could be traced.

Mr Froggatt, a retired plumber, said: 'We were over the moon when we got the phone call.

'We were on the way home and got a mobile call from a couple in Doncaster who had found Daisy wandering with another dog.

'We were wondering if it was a hoax at first but when we got back home there was a message from the dog warden.

'After the couple phoned him, he had checked Daisy’s microchip and got in touch with us.

'We phoned the kennels where she had been taken and arranged to collect her the next day.

'Margaret couldn’t stop crying, she was astonished.'

Daisy is already settling in at home and preparing herself for more adventures with Flynn.

Mr Froggatt said: 'When Daisy was back, she was really obedient and really friendly and she got on with Flynn as if nothing had happened.

Roaming: Daisy was found wandering with another dog in Doncaster, South Yorkshire - 40 miles from where she went missing

'After a couple of days they were inseparable again. It was like she had never been away.'

The couple, who have been married for almost 23 years, gave up hope of finding Daisy after she vanished during a walk in April 2007.

Daisy was only a year old then and, because she and Flynn could be lively, the Froggatts would put one of them on a lead and let the other run free for a while.

Mr Froggatt said: 'On that particular day I had Flynn on the lead and Daisy off, but Flynn managed to back out of his collar.

'The both of them just looked at each other as if they were telepathic and did a bee-line for the exit of the park. They just disappeared.

'A couple of hours later we found Flynn but Daisy was nowhere to be seen.

'Every time someone rang with a sighting of her we would go off in the car and look but there was never any sign of her, until the phone call.'

Best behaviour: Daisy, right, has been more obedient since her return and gets on with her brother Flynn, left, as if nothing happened

Mr Froggatt said it was an 'amazing feeling' to have Daisy back.

'She had certainly not been living wild for five years, somebody had been looking after her,' he added.

'I think she was picked up by somebody shortly after she went missing. She is a very pretty dog.

Cosy: Daisy and Flynn were inseparable as puppies, as these pictures, taken before the ran away from their owners, show

'Whether she was sold on or kept, and then ran off again, I don’t know.

'She is very lively so she could have been working on a farm.

'I can’t see how she could get to Doncaster by her own power.

'
Mr and Mrs Froggatt run company Animals at Home, which cares for pets while their owners are on holiday.

Mrs Frogatt, a retired nurse with two children from a previous relationship, said they 'searched everywhere' after Daisy went missing.

'We made up posters, did a door-to-door hunt, went online and even asked the local radio station to ask if anyone had seen her,' she said.

'We thought we would never see her again and just hoped that someone kind had got her and was looking after her.

'It was a very emotional reunion. We took her home feeling as if we had won the lottery.

'We have no real idea about her life up to the time she was found.'

Mrs Froggatt said Daisy was 'truly part of the family once more'.

'Flynn realised that the boss was back but, despite a few moments early on, they get on well now.'



source:dailymail