A devastated dog owner has been reunited with her beloved dachshund after it was found trapped in a rabbit hole five days after he had disappeared.

Sarah Mclellan, 33, was distraught after her pet dog Ralph had gone missing while out for a walk near their home in Haworth, West Yorkshire, last Thursday.

Mrs Mclellan and her husband had frantically searched for their wire-haired Dachshund over the weekend.

The couple stepped up their efforts to find their missing Ralph, taking to Facebook groups to post missing notices as the weather deteriorated on the weekend.

On Monday, the terrified pooch w as sniffed out by his sister, Edie, while on a walk with Mr Mclellan – a mile away from their home.

Mrs Mclellan said her husband heard dog whimpering underground and rang his friend who dropped everything to help dig him out of a maze of rabbit that ran five feet underground.

She explained: ‘Ralph was about five feet down and they had to dig around him so the hole didn’t collapse – it took them two hours.’

‘When he got out the hole he went for a wee – and then carried on as if nothing had happened!’

‘When I got back home I opened the door and there he was in the kitchen – I couldn’t believe it,’ she added.

‘My son had kept asking us where Ralphy was – he was opening the front door and shouting for him – it was heartbreaking. We just had to tell him that Daddy was looking for him.’

Despite losing weight while he was trapped, the shaken dog was not left with any serious injuries.

Mrs Mclellan said: ‘Ralph is completely knackered and he has worn down his nails from where he was trying to dig himself out but he is otherwise fine. He’s lost weight and he’s so tired – he just needs time to build himself back up again.’

The relieved owner added: ‘It was such a drama and I was still in shock when I saw him – I was up till 1am last night just cuddling him.

‘He does like chasing rabbits and he does that a lot but he just took it too far this time. Hopefully he has learnt his lesson this time.’

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