Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/dog-doesnt-recognize-mom/

Choosing a career in the military can be rewarding and worthwhile, but it comes with a lot of sacrifices too.

One of those sacrifices is having to leave home and everyone you know and love for weeks. During basic training, recruits aren’t even allowed to have their cell phones to keep in touch.

While family members can understand what’s going on, furry family members are a different story. Leaving a dog behind to go to basic training or another form of military training can be brutal. The pup doesn’t know if you’re ever coming home or why you left.

It’s all worth it, though, when a reunion finally takes place. You’ve probably seen your fair share of post-deployment or training reunion videos between a military member and their pet. Usually, a dog will get so excited to see its human after weeks or months apart, but that’s not always the case.

For a dog owner in Salem, Ohio, the reunion she had with her pup, Murphy, was far from anticipated. According to ViralHog, she said:

“I thought about Murphy every day I was at basic training and AIT. I think I missed him more than my family because I knew he didn’t know if I was ever coming back. My best friend went to my house one day, found Murphy sleeping outside my room, and got one of his paw prints on a piece of paper to mail to me. It hung inside my locker by a band-aid for the rest of basic.”

Needless to say, she was beyond excited to be reunited with her fur baby, but the reunion didn’t go as planned. When she finally got home and kneeled on the ground, Murphy ran up to her – but he didn’t recognize her!

She said, “When he didn’t recognize me at first, I was so heartbroken.”

After a few moments of talking to Murphy and trying to spark some recognition, the woman decided to take her hat off and that’s when it clicked for Murphy.

He went from acting like she was a total stranger to the person he loves the most! She said, “The happiest moment of my life was when he finally figured out it was me. He’s been the light of my life for over three years now, and I’m hoping to have many more with him by my side.”

Check out their reunion in the video below:

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Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog