In Orlando, United States, the owner of a fox terrier was reunited last week with her missing dog after 12 years.

While 12 years is a long time to be away from home, the fox terrier, Dutchess, is not the first pet dog to go missing and return to tell the tale.

In Singapore, Spikey, a Jack Russell terrier, was reunited with his owners in 2005 after going missing for nine years.

Here are five stories of other dog owners who had their prayers answered when they were reunited with their missing dogs.

1. Singapore, 2015

Spikey, a pet dog of political scientist Bilveer Singh and his wife Gurdial Kaur, had gone missing from their home in Kovan for nine years before he was found in a coffee shop in Yishun.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority were able to get in touch with the owners because Spikey had been microchipped and registered under their names.

Mrs Singh, a part-time supervisor at National Institute of Education at the time, said: "When the cage (at Action for Singapore Dogs) was unlocked, Spikey immediately moved forward and I held him in great delight."

She added that Spikey recognised them even after nine years and responded to his name.

2. Montana, US, 2019

Dog owners Carole and Verne King returned to their dog-friendly hotel only to discover their seven-year-old border collie, Katie, was not in the room, the New York Times reported last month.

The dog had managed to unlatch a door after been spooked by a thunderstorm and bolted out the front door of the hotel.

The couple spent the next 57 days searching for their dog. They even bought night-vision goggles and Carole, quit her job. They finally found Katie after someone spotted her in their backyard.

3.California, US, 2018

The Washington Post reported that as wild fires raged on in California in November last year, killing at least 85 people and displacing thousands more, Anatolian shepherd Madison waited for her owner to come home.

However, Ms Andrea Gaylord was unable to do so while the fire raged on. A month later, the owner was finally able to return to home where she found her property destroyed by the fire, and Madison guarding what little was left of the family's home.

4. California, US, 2016

An 18-month-old German shepherd-husky mix, Luna, was believed to have drowned after disappearing from a fishing boat off the California coast.

She was found by Navy employees on an island used by the US Navy as a training base where she had apparently swam 3.2km to get to. Her owner had searched the waters for two days before assuming she had drowned.

5. New Jersey, US, 2009

In 2009, Fox News reported that four-year-old Buddy the Beagle had been reunited with his family after 98 days spent on an uninhabited island in the Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey.

The Kelley family has lost the control of their dog while trying to switch his leash on a beach. The coast guard had seen him digging in the sand before he was eventually trapped and returned to his owners.

Sources: Fox News, New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters