Remember Hachikō? He was the remarkably loyal Japanese Akita dog who waited for the return of his owner, who unfortunately passed away, for nine whole years until he himself died at the age of 11. He is one many dogs throughout history who have proven just how amazing dogs are—and one more dog now enters this list.
A golden retriever recently got homesick after staying for a long time with some of her family’s friends and decided to trek over 60 miles back home just so that she could be with her family again.
Meet Ping An, a good girl who was left with her family's friends 4 months ago while her home was renovated
Image credits: Xu Ge
Meet Ping An, the adorable one-year-old golden retriever from Qidong, Jiangsu who was taken to stay with her human companion’s friends in Nantong, which is around a two-hour drive away from Ping An’s home.
Ping’s stay was supposed to be temporary as the owner was renovating her home and would take her back once it was all done. However, four months later, Ping got homesick and decided she was done waiting. So, she simply stood up and left.
The family presumed Ping An had simply run away, but what they didn’t know was that he went on a solo adventure—a trek that took her 2 weeks and great amounts of energy and perseverance to complete.
During this time, she got homesick, so she decided it's time to go home—and walked over 62 miles in 14 days!
Image credits: Xu Ge
You can imagine what toll the long road had on the goldie—by the time she reached an office building where she was rescued by a group of workers, Ping was limping and her paws were bleeding. She also looked quite sad and undernourished.
People provided help by tending to the dog’s wounds and needs, and surprisingly managed to track down the owners by sharing info about a missing golden retriever on WeChat, which is a popular Chinese messaging app.
It didn’t take long for the owners to catch wind of this information and rush to retrieve their pooch, who they’d believed to be lost. Ping also received medical attention at the vet and has since then been recovering from the long trek.
The family and those who took care of her thought Ping ran away and went missing for good
Image credits: Xu Ge
But the goldie was found 14 days later at an office building, limping, malnourished, and with bloodied paws
Image credits: Xu Ge
A video soon surfaced of their heartwarming reunion. In it, the owners are heard talking to Ping and saying that she had worked hard, that she will be able to stay at home with them from now on, regretting sending her away: “Ping An, you’ve worked hard. You just stay home from now on. We would never send you away.”
People estimate that Ping An, whose name means safe and sound, had been on the road for 14 days and traversed over 62 miles (or a bit over 100 kilometers) to reach the office building where she was rescued.
The workers who found Ping An fed and tended to her needs, whilst also searching for her owners online
Image credits: Xu Ge
And it seems that Ping isn’t the only dog to have done this. Earlier, a family traveling with their dog had stopped at a motorway facility and, by accident, left their dog named Dou Dou behind whilst departing. Like Ping An, Dou Dou too decided he’d walk home—he crossed 37 miles in 26 days.
People online were overjoyed by the news of Ping not only braving the 60-plus-mile walk home, but also being reunited with her family. Some commented on how strong her love for her family was that she would go on such a dangerous trek, while others pointed out that she is one smart and loyal dog if she managed to pull off such a trip. Needless to say, everyone agreed that dogs are truly amazing and that we as a species don’t deserve their immense love for us.
In a day, Ping was reunited with her family, who swore never to part with her ever again
Image credits: Jianghai Evening News/WeChat
What are your thoughts on this? What are some amazing things that your dog has done? Let us know in the comment section below!
Here's how people reacted to this bit of feel-good news
