For 60 days, Waikanae resident Christine Alty did everything she could to try and find her missing dog – and this week, Sydney was found alive and reunited with her family.
Sydney is a 14-year-old Labrador – about 90 in dog years – and she disappeared in March after getting scared by fireworks.
"Some people down our street let off quite a fireworks display, and she's absolutely petrified of fireworks, so she took it upon herself to jump a fence and run," Alty said.
After that, Alty started to spread the word in Waikanae.
"We dropped leaflets to every household, we walked and hand delivered," she said.
On one of the nights Alty was looking for Sydney, she had an accident and injured herself.
"We were doing a walk twice a day, two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset just to lay a scent trail for her, just so that she could find her way back home, and I managed to trip and fall and I broke my wrist," she said.
This week, a member of the Waikanae community found Sydney at a property near the bush.
"We couldn't believe it, overwhelmed," Alty said.
Sydney was very skinny, hungry and thirsty, and her weight had dropped by 10 kilograms.
Alty said Sydney's experience as an ex-farm dog could've helped her survive on her own.
"She was brought up on a farm, and we knew that she did eat some sort of fruits," she said.
Don Schwass from Nelson helps people in New Zealand find lost dogs, he offered his assistance and advice to help find Sydney.
"I'm not sure we'd be sitting here with her if we hadn't followed his steps and advice," Alty said.
"So, we're just really grateful and happy, it's a happy ending."
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