Joyful Reunion As Lost Montauk Dog Is Found

MONTAUK, NY — In the happiest of endings, a beloved dog lost in Montauk on Sunday is home safe and sound with his adoring mom.

Pudge, a 3-year-old boxer/pit mix and rescue, went missing in Montauk at the 7-Eleven Sunday morning close to 11 a.m., said his owner, Christina Clark.

Someone reached into the car to pet him and, startled, Pudge jumped out the window, Clark said.

Clark was told that her beloved pooch set off on quite the journey, heading all the way down Main Street in Montauk, down the center line, past Goldberg's Bagels, a church, and then, running past the Atlantic Terrace Motel and toward the back entrance of Shadmoor State Park.

Clark, her family and friends searched frantically on Sunday. At around 4 p.m., someone reported seeing Pudge walking near a couple on the beach.

And then, all went silent. There were no sightings at all on Monday.

"Monday was a rough day," Clark said.

Monday night, Clark was emotionally distraught, walking around Montauk, crying out her dog's name.

Despite the fact that she was upset, though, she was sensible, tearing up clothes with her scent and the scent of the horses she trains, and placing them with food, and his bed, at Shadmoor, near a freshwater pond.

And on Tuesday, the stars aligned.

Clark was at the Montauk transfer station putting up more "Lost Dog" signs, and her dad was near Camp Hero State Park, with her sister Sue Berkhofer near Ditch Plains Beach.

Clark's cell phone rang, saying her precious dog had been sighted near the former East Deck Motel, by the Ditch Witch food truck.

She headed entering Shadmoor State Park from the west, with her sister heading in from Ditch Plans and her father, from East Deck.

"We all united and we found him on the beach," Clark said.

It was a reunion so sweet that her voice fills with tears of joy as she remembers the moment she saw her dog's face again.

"My dog was smiling ear to ear. I was crying, looking up at the sky and saying, 'Thank you, God,'" she said.

Clark said since the day he was found, Pudge has not left her side. As usual, he accompanies her to and from work, happily ensconced in the back of her truck.

"He is my absolute best friend," she said, adding that all her social media accounts are flooded with photos of her four-footed pal. "My friends know he's like a child to me. I told them, 'I am not going to make it through the summer if we don't know where he is.'"

Pudge, she said, was her faithful companion after a divorce, forever loyal and by her side. "They're amazing animals," she said.

Hearts opened across Montauk to bring Pudge home safely.

Clark said she wants to thank the many who searched for Pudge, starting with the two men who found him, Dave and Kyle.

She also thanked her good friend Saith, whose dog Pickles is best friends with Pudge; the two pups also happily reunited.

To all who came out to help, Clark said, "They were all my guardian angels. The whole community. I got calls from people who saw us at the dog park, and wanted me to keep them posted. It was really amazing, how much the community was there to support me — it was the most heartwarming thing."

Patch photos courtesy of Christina Clark.