It was a gathering that took eight years to come to fruition.

When Paul Guilbeault’s dog, Damian, went missing in 2017, he remained optimistic that he would eventually be located.

However, he can hardly believe that after receiving a call from an unknown number earlier this month, he has finally reconnected with his long-lost friend.

“I still have the impression that it’s all just a big dream,” Guilbeault mentioned to ABC News.

Eight years ago, Guilbeault relocated from Massachusetts to Arizona, where he currently resides. While taking a break in Oklahoma, Damian slipped out of his leash and took off running.

Guilbeault, together with his father and a traveling companion, reported that they searched for Damian until well past midnight, only giving up after coming across a mountain lion. He mentioned that they spent another week in Oklahoma, scouring the area in vain for the dog.

In the years that followed, Guilbeault mentioned that he distributed missing posters of Damian, widely sharing his picture in the hope that someone would locate him.

“I continued my search, but it began to fade over the years. Eventually, just seeing his missing poster was too painful, and I stopped sharing it as frequently as I did in the beginning,” he stated. “To be honest, I started to think that he might have become a meal for that lion we encountered.”

Guilbeault expressed that losing Damian was devastating.

“It was extremely hard — that dog helped me cope with many emotional challenges and family problems, always being there for me as a friend,” he expressed. “I was his whole world, just as he was mine, and losing him was incredibly difficult.”

On January 15, Guilbeault and his husband were en route to California to deliver clothing and supplies to victims of the wildfires. Approximately an hour away from the California border, he received a call from an unfamiliar number. He chose to ignore it, but the number called again.

Ultimately, the unknown number sent a message that was received on Guilbeault’s Apple Watch.

He remembered, “My Apple Watch sent me a quick notification that read, ‘Your dog, Damian, has been found,’ and I was thinking, ‘What the …?!’”

Guilbeault mentioned that he was skeptical at first, but he asked his husband to return the call, and it was confirmed that it was true.

It was revealed that a woman in Oklahoma City informed Guilbeault that she had almost hit Damian, but instead took him in and brought him to her brother. The brother looked after the dog for two weeks in early January until he could take him to a vet, who scanned for a microchip and found that Damian belonged to Guilbeault.

Upon hearing the news, Guilbeault and his husband promptly reversed their car and drove for 14 hours to Oklahoma, reaching their destination around 6 a.m. the following day.

When Guilbeault encountered Damian again, he noticed that Damian looked older and more unkempt than he did eight years ago. However, there was no doubt that he was still Guilbeault’s dog, happily wagging his tail at their reunion. Guilbeault mentioned that he has no knowledge of where Damian had been during the past eight years.

During the journey back to Arizona, Damian was the joyful dog that Guilbeault recalled from many years earlier.

“While he was nestled in my husband’s lap, curled up tightly, he would occasionally turn his head to look at me driving, wearing a huge grin,” he recounted. “It felt like he was thinking, ‘Wow, is this real? Did I actually find him at last?’”

Since they reunited a few weeks ago, Guilbeault and Damian have been enjoying every moment together, visiting the park daily. However, Guilbeault mentioned that Damian is happiest when he’s sitting in his owner’s lap.

“Whenever I stand up to leave the room, he always asks, ‘Alright, where are you headed now?’” he mentioned.

Guilbeault expressed his appreciation for having microchipped his dog and urged all pet owners to follow suit.

“Make sure to microchip your pets!” he urged. “You can microchip your dogs, your cats, and even your birds!”

Ref: https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-reunited-dog-8-years-after-lost/story?id=118196475