Nicole Grimes saw an older dog needing a home and thought she looked familiar. The dog had the same name as her childhood companion, Chloe.
After bringing her home, Grimes took her to a veterinarian. A microchip number confirmed that the resemblance was more than coincidence: she had adopted the same dog again.
The reunion was reported in 2018, years after her family had surrendered Chloe.
Featured photograph: Illustrative photograph: a Pomeranian, not Chloe, who was reported as a Pomeranian-poodle mix.
Photo: Blackoranges, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain. Photograph reproduced without editorial alteration.
A childhood companion needed a different home
Contemporary reporting by Sunny Skyz traced the account to interviews with the Observer-Reporter.
Grimes's grandmother had helped choose Chloe as a puppy. When Grimes was a teenager, family circumstances led to the dog being surrendered to the Washington Area Humane Society.
Grimes did not know where her companion had gone afterward.
Photo: Dllu, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph reproduced without editorial alteration.
An adoption post brought them together
Years later, a Facebook connection posted about an elderly dog called Chloe who needed a home. Grimes agreed to take her.
According to the report, Chloe had lived with an older couple and needed another placement after they died.
PEDESTRIAN.TV's 2018 coverage also recounted the unexpected adoption and the familiar behavior that made Grimes wonder.
Identification settled the question
Appearance alone could not prove the dog was Chloe. The veterinary microchip check supplied the link to the earlier records.
Photo: Rhododendrites, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph reproduced without editorial alteration.
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At the time of the reunion, Grimes had a family of her own. Chloe joined her household again, rather than returning to an unchanged version of their childhood home.
The dog photographs here are illustrative and do not show Chloe.
A social media post created the opportunity. The identification record turned a hopeful suspicion into a confirmed reunion.