A 3-year-old Chihuahua toy poodle that had been missing has been returned safely to its owner.

Ernie, who had been on the loose since Oct. 22, was found hanging out at a house on Hahn’s Dairy Road in Palmerton on Oct. 30.

“We caught Ernie in one of our traps (Oct. 30) thanks to the help of Christine and Hound Hunters of NEPA,” said Kevin Major, the fiance of Madalyn Jucewicz, the owner of Ernie. “He is home now and doing very well.”

Jucewicz, who lives on Gilberts Hill Road in Lehighton, said Ernie had been missing after she dropped him off at a groomer in Palmerton.

She said she got a call to pick up Ernie. However, when she got there, Jucewicz said the groomer was nowhere to be found.

A little while later, Jucewicz said the groomer came running down from the woods just holding Ernie’s collar and leash, and said he slipped out of the collar and ran into the woods.

Thanks to Hound Hunters of NEPA, Ernie was found hanging out about three houses from the groomer in the woods, Jucewicz said.

Jucewicz said the support her family received during the search was phenomenal.

“The fact that the entire community on Hahn’s Dairy Road was just so helpful and caring, complete strangers coming up to me about Ernie, people literally giving their time to look for our dog, our whole family, we were all shocked,” Jucewicz said. “It was just amazing. It was incredible.”

Jucewicz said after Ernie was found, he was immediately taken to the veterinarian.

“He had a couple of tick bites, also just so tired,” she said. “He’s just exhausted, he slept so much.”

During the search, Major set up a GoFundMe page for a tracker dog from Pure Gold Pet Trackers of Virginia. The dogs are taught to sniff out where the dog has been, where it’s been hiding, and know where it is if it’s stuck.

Jucewicz said her family has five cats and an Australian shepherd Lab.

In September, the family lost its female Jack Russell, which it had for 16 years.

That Ernie is back safe and where he belongs is all that matters at this point, Jucewicz said.

“He’s doing great, he’s so happy,” she said. “I’d like to thank Hound Hunters again.”