Newly adopted dog makes 10-mile trek to old Texas shelter — and she rings the doorbell

A missing dog in Texas wasn’t quite as lost as originally thought — she was simply making a long journey to her former home.

Micah Baer, the new owner of the dog named Bailey, said the husky mix escaped as he tried to put a collar on her, according to KVIA. Bailey cleared a 7-foot wall during her escape, Baer told the station

When the Animal Rescue League of El Paso shared news on Facebook on Jan. 29 that Bailey got loose, it likely didn’t expect her to show up on its doorstep.

Staff at the animal shelter saw the familiar face pop up on their doorbell camera in the early morning hours Jan. 31 — three days after she went missing.

“Bailey made her own way back to ARL, and rang our doorbell at 1:15 a.m. saying she wanted in,” the shelter said. “Staff rushed to the shelter and put Bailey in her run. She was very happy, and we were too.”

The animal shelter is about 10 miles from her new home where she escaped, USA Today reported.

Staff said Bailey lived at the shelter for so long that it became home for her.

“She felt safe here. When she got loose, she was on a mission to get home,” the rescue league said in a Facebook post.

Bailey “slept so hard the whole night” at her old home and was later reunited with her owner, according to USA Today.

Her owner, according to Today, purchased a GPS collar for Bailey to prevent another “Homeward Bound” journey.

“I was worried I was never gonna get her back,” Baer told KVIA. “I’ve only had her a month. She’s already made herself a part of our family.”

This story was originally published February 14, 2023 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Newly adopted dog makes 10-mile trek to old Texas shelter — and she rings the doorbell."