Dog returned after two days

Somerset, After two days of searching and crying for her silky haired golden retriever, Teri Shannon knew all she wanted for Christmas was her gentle pet Ben. Ben already has a pile of squeaky toys in his stocking.

After wandering away in a snowstorm Sunday, Ben was returned to Shannon’s Somerset Township home Tuesday afternoon for a tearful reunion.

A fellow Somerset Trust Co. employee, Bev Lucas, spotted Ben leaning against a fence a couple miles from home.

“Bev is my angel for bringing him home to me,” Shannon said, with her arms wrapped around an exhausted Ben.

“I’m so thankful for all the friends, neighbors and businesses who helped. I want to wish them all a Merry Christmas because they made mine.”

As the weather worsened Sunday, Shannon’s husband, John, finished putting up decorations outside. Ben, a 3-year-old retriever, had joined him outdoors.

But, when John Shannon came back inside, the couple realized Ben had disappeared.

The Shannons and their children, 20-year-old Brad and 18-year-old Amanda, adopted the good-natured dog in Virginia, after Mrs. Shannon’s sister took in a pregnant golden retriever, Goldie.

“We will do anything to get him back,” a distraught Mrs. Shannon said Tuesday, just hours before Ben was found.

Shannon stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday to look for Ben. Her other dog, a shih tzu named Ebony, seemed gloomy, she said.

Shannon’s sister, Sandy Silko, drove nearly three hours Tuesday to join the search, and she created fliers with pictures of Ben to post at area businesses.

Ben was tired after days out alone, but seems healthy otherwise. The first thing he did at home was jump into Shannon’s bed, where the two pooches sleep.

Silko said the whole family is relieved at the happy conclusion.

“It wasn’t going to be Christmas without Ben,” she said.