Couple are reunited with beloved dog after discovering picture pinned to pet shop noticeboard four years later

A couple have been reunited with their dog four-and-a-half years after she went missing. Dennis and Kath Tyler, of Eagle, had never given up hope of finding Labrador cross Holly. They scoured fields and posted messages on the internet in a long-running and exhaustive search. Now, after seeing a picture of their beloved pooch on a notice board in a pet shop, their dreams have come true.

It turns out Holly, now 14, became a stray and ended up in the Doncaster dog pound. She was on death row until she was taken in by Halfway Home Dog Rescue in Collingham, fostered and then claimed by the Tylers. Apart from Holly's slightly patchy fur and her back legs being a little wobbly, she is in good health. And on her first night back home in Harby Lane, it was as if she had never left. "We brought her home and she went straight to her room where she used to sleep," said Mr Tyler, 53, a farm manager.

"When we got inside the house she went through the kitchen and the lounge and was at the door of the room where she used to sleep in a basket on a bed. We never stopped looking. If we saw a black Labrador on our travels we'd always ask ourselves if it was her. I cannot go anywhere on my own now – she just sticks to me. We are delighted to have her back, but it was a real surprise.

"We were in Pets At Home getting something for our ferrets and our other dogs and I saw a poster on the wall from Halfway Home Dog Rescue. I said to the wife: 'Who's that?' and she said: 'Holly'." Mrs Tyler said: "We're over the moon to have her back. We don't know what happened to her during the time when she was missing, but it's great to have her back."