(FOX 9) – The holidays are much brighter for a Twin Cities couple who were recently reunited with their mini goldendoodle. Their dog ran away more than two years ago.

Corduroy the dog goes missing

The backstory: Some of you may remember when Corduroy went missing two years ago. His owners searched everywhere but no dog.  Their search ended last month when Corduroy was found in Iowa.

“I went up to him, bent down, and had him smell me, and I said, Do you remember me?,” said Chris Hoefer, Corduroy’s dad.

October 22, 2022 is a day the couple will never forget.

“A friend of ours was dog sitting room. Our friend was taking him on a walk, and he was actually attacked by another dog. He broke loose of his collar and ran away,” said Hoefer.

Finding a missing dog

What We Know: It’s a moment Chris Hoefer and his husband have been waiting for since Corduroy went missing. They’re now embracing the love and joy of having him again.

“He’s so comfortable with us, and he’s still just such a sweet and gentle dog that you know, the same dog that he was two years ago,” said Christiaan Montgomery, Corduroy’s dad.

What followed was nearly 500 tips and two years of searching led nowhere.  That is, until this one voicemail:

We had a stray dog come in and we scanned for microchips, and checking that chip, it came registered to you.

It was on November 10 by the Dubuque Iowa Humane Society.

“I was in disbelief. And I couldn’t believe that it was in Dubuque, Iowa, which is almost 300 miles away from here,” said Montgomery.

The couple took the drive, and Corduroy was able to come home for the holidays because of his microchip.

“I’ve been keeping his chip active since he went missing, just in the hopes that one day he might show up at a location where they had a scanner,” said Montgomery.

What’s next: Lindsay Koopmann with The Retrievers Volunteer Last Dog Team says if you find a stray dog, get it scanned. So, dogs like Corduroy can enjoy Christmas with their parents. 

“There’s no way he ever would have made his way home here and be reunited without being microchipped,” said Koopmann.