CATH Hyde scoured the streets and fields near her home in a round the clock search for her missing dog - before the beloved pet bounded into her arms after two weeks living 'ruff!'

Max, a collie cross, wandered out through an open door from Cath's house in Brownhill, Blackburn, on February 21.

Cath was worried he'd never find his way home as she had only moved there a short time before - so she mounted a major round-the-clock search.

She enlisted the help of all nearby vets and kennels to keep an eye out for Max, placed advertisements in newspapers and put up a £100 reward.

And she took to the streets in all weathers to search herself - including an all-night search at Pleasington Cemetery, where someone had spotted him, and a walk in the rain from Brownhill to Langho and back.

Fellow animal lover Jacqueline Francis, of Pleckgate Road, Blackburn, helped Cath scour the streets after seeing one of her ads in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

But it was not until Sunday that their efforts proved worth it - when Cath finally found Max at Wilpshire Golf Course.

She said she was ecstatic - but added: "I am exhausted. I have been out scouring the streets until two in the morning looking for him.

"On Friday I was out all night.

"I would never have given up looking.

"It was just determination and love that kept me going."

She said she was overwhelmed when she realised she had found him.

"I was walking up through the golf course and there he was on the top of a hill.

"He took one lunge at me and knocked me into the mud.

"I was crying and he was kissing me all over.

"It was unbelievable."

She said she wanted to thank all those people who had helped her - from those who had telephoned with possible sightings to those who had put out food in the hope of attracting the wanderer.

Cath and Max, who has lost a lot of weight since his disappearance, are now recovering from their ordeal at home.

And Cath plans to ensure he never wanders off again - by buying a child safety gate for the front door.

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