'There he was. It was Luke': Missing dog located after 8 days

A Pasadena couple were so ecstatic and grateful over the safe return of their missing dog, they put out a mattress and laid down with him to sleep.

The dog, a boxer named Luke, had been missing for eight days. 

He had been in the care of a kennel service, but disappeared after the kennel owners had a car accident while travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway near Sheppardville, in western Newfoundland. 

"It's been a hard eight days," Todd Hinks told the Corner Brook Morning Show Tuesday, his voice shaking. "But when we saw him yesterday, it was unreal."

"We took our mattress and put it out on the floor in front of the fireplace and laid down with him."

Hinks and his wife Ericka were in Corner Brook on Monday getting supplies for their cabin when they got a call that someone in the Sheppardville area had a dog who might possibly be Luke.

"We just jumped in our truck and said, 'we got to go,'" he said.

Many false leads

Hinks said they've had many tips on social media over the past week about dogs that someone thought might have been theirs. 

They even drove to Port aux Basques at one point to check out a lead that turned out to be nothing. 

I was starting to lose a bit of hope.   - Todd Hinks

Hinks said he can't put into words what a relief it was that this time was not a dead end.

It turns out that Luke was found by a woman named Stephanie Locke, and another woman named Lucy Burton took him in and cared for him until his owners arrived.

"They told us that she put on a feed of moose for him, which was funny, and gave him some peanut butter sandwiches and some water."

Hinks said one of Luke's hind legs is injured, and they were planning to take him to a veterinarian Tuesday morning.

He admitted it was hard to keep believing his dog would be found alive and well.

"After eight days, I was starting to lose a bit of hope."

Hinks said they may have become more discouraged, if it wasn't for the number of people calling and writing who kept their spirits up.

"That was one thing that kept us going, was the fact that we had so much support. The support was unbelievable."

Hinks said Monday was his wife's birthday, so having Luke's homecoming that same day was the best birthday gift she could have wished for.