‘I knew in my heart:’ Adopted dog looked like the one she’d given up — because it was

Eight years ago, Nicole Grimes had to give up her beloved dog.

“I was really sad because I loved the dog,” Grimes, now a 21-year-old pharmacy technician in Brownsville, Penn., told TODAY.

Still, Grimes said that even as a child she understood that the dog’s yapping was putting her father’s customer service job — which he did from the family’s Pennsylvania home — at risk. So when the family was unable to find anyone they knew to take Chloe, a fluffy, rambunctious little Pomeranian-poodle mix, they took the dog to a local shelter, the Observer Reporter reports.

The dog had been a gift from Grimes’ grandmother when Grimes was just 10, Grimes told the newspaper — adding to the difficulty of saying goodbye. Grimes was 14 when she last saw the dog.

But as it turned out, it wouldn’t be the last time Grimes would call the dog hers.

A few weeks ago, a friend of Grimes posted on Facebook about an older dog she was looking to find a new home for, KDKA reports. The dog’s name was Chloe — and she looked suspiciously similar to the Chloe that Grimes had given up years ago.

The only difference? This dog had lost her teeth and was slightly smaller with age, Grimes told the TV station.

So Chloe decided to adopt the dog — and when they reunited, she knew.

“When she was dropped off she came running up to me and was licking my face,” Grimes told the BBC. “Then I knew in my heart that she had to be the same dog.”

But even as Grimes was celebrating, her husband wasn’t quite buying it, she said. After all: What are the chances?

“He thought I was crazy, so we went to check the microchip,” Grimes told the BBC.

And after checking with the local humane society, it turned out Grimes was right. It was Chloe, the dog she had given up eight years ago as a child.

“It’s a crazy story,” Kelly Proudfit, executive director of the local humane society, told the Observer Reporter. “It sounds like the dog must have recognized her, and dogs have amazing memories in that respect. It’s a great, happy ending.”

Now Grimes is planning to make Chloe a part of her family with her husband and young daughter, she told the newspaper. Chloe is now 11 and has mellowed with age

“I felt like I won the lottery,” Grimes told TODAY. “I never thought I'd see her again.”

This story was originally published February 13, 2018 at 9:14 PM with the headline "‘I knew in my heart:’ Adopted dog looked like the one she’d given up — because it was."