A dog’s distraught owner never stopped looking for him after he escaped out of a faulty gate in 2015 and couldn’t believe it when she got an email notification saying his microchip had been scanned

A dog who vanished without a trace nearly a decade ago has ben reunited with his owners (Image: AP)

A dog that disappeared from its back garden nearly a decade ago has been united with his owner who fell to the ground with happiness. But a lot has changed for them both since.

Gizmo the chihuahua vanished from his Las Vegas home in 2015 without a trace leaving Judith Monarrez, 37, to spend the next 10 years fearing the worst. Until the pooch shocked everyone when he was found alive thanks to his microchip.

Dubbed a “miracle” by his ecstatic owners he’s not in the best health but on looking into his eyes she “knew immediately” it was Gizmo. During their emotional reunion, he heartbreakingly tilted his head when he heard his name – the first time he’d heard it in years.

Judith, 28 at the time, last saw Gizmo when he was two before he slipped past a faulty gate in the backyard of the home they lived in with her parents. Now with a home of her own, the 11-year-old dog was dropped off at a vets where his microchip was scanned, triggering an email notification to be sent to Ms Monarrez.

It was lucky he was chipped like this dog (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“Even though he looked so different, when I looked in his eyes I knew immediately it was Gizmo,” she said. “And as soon as I said his name, he tilted his head and he didn’t stop staring at me.”

The family is now putting its efforts into “showering him with all the love” he’s missed out on and he needs some treatment for health problems. She explained how in his time away he’s also become afraid of heights, birds and shadows and even walked with a limp – so things have changed a lot for both of them.