Kristy Zimmerman and her son Cory trudged through the autumn leaves, and later through the winter snow, looking and calling for their lost dog. Sometimes dogs barked in response to their calls.

"When you have a dog, you know its voice, as well as you know your child's voice," Kristy Zimmerman said. "We'd have that instant of hope, but we'd both realize right away that it was not her."Eight years before, Cory's dad had gotten him the dog, a female pointer and pit bull mix. In late October 2014, she slipped away from his dad's house. Cory and his mom launched a search."As time went by, I began to believe that she probably hadn't made it, that she'd been hit by a car or died from exposure," Kristy Zimmerman said. "But Cory never stopped hoping, and he kept posting her picture on his Facebook page and on other Facebook pages."One of those posts was to Schuylkill County Animals for Free/Sale/Lost & Found. Through that site, the family that had their dog saw the pictures and reached out to the Zimmermans."We found out that when she got lost, someone had caught her and taken her to the Hillside SPCA (Pottsville)," Kristy Zimmerman said. "She was adopted out quickly, around Thanksgiving, because she is beautiful and friendly."Zimmerman does not blame the Hillside in any way, in fact, she calls them "angels, animal lovers, who do a fantastic job." She had called the Hillside several times during the time that her lost dog was there, but she'd been labeled a "pointer." Her advice? If you're looking for a lost dog, visit animal shelters in person. With the constant turnover of animals and abundance of mixed breeds, descriptions can vary."The Hillside is terrific, with many wonderful volunteers who do a very difficult job every day taking care of those animals," she said. "They took great care of her while she was there, and I'm grateful to them."The Zimmermans live in Shenandoah, and the family who adopted their dog lives in Mount Carmel. They spotted Cory's post on the Schuylkill County Animals Facebook page and contacted him."They told us that they loved the dog but wanted to do the right thing," Kristy Zimmerman said. "The website is great because it helps the animal-loving community band together."Ironically, seeing how sad Cory had been about his lost dog, Kristy had gotten him a puppy earlier on Wednesday, the same day the Mount Carmel family messaged them via Facebook. She calls the pup a real "Heinz 57" mix, most likely boxer and mastiff, which they named Ranger."I picked up Cory from school and showed him that I had a bag of dog treats with me," she said. "I said to him, 'Guess where we're going?'""Mount Carmel is not that far from Shenandoah, but it seemed to be a long ride there," she said. "We stepped up on the porch, and we heard her bark.""Cory's a complete tough guy, going to be 16, but we both started crying when we heard that bark," she said. "Cory just looked at me and said, 'That's my girl.'"The dog's name? Appropriately, it's Lucky."It's been like Lucky and Ranger have always been friends," Kristy Zimmerman said. "We're the lucky ones."