He never lost hope and sure enough ... his dog had returned!

Rocco and his family had been looking for their dog Jack everywhere but could not find him and had eventually resigned themselves. But even so, Rocco still continued to cry because, he said, he had lost his best friend.

His parents had tried to console the boy saying Jack would be back, but with little conviction. For months and months, that had been Rocco's only a hope and even the most confident had begun to believe that there was nothing left to do.

Then, a Monday after eight months since his disappearance, a neighbor called and said they had seen a dog that looked like Jack and ... it really was him!